2016 Winners & Shortlists

SAUDI WOMEN’S ONLINE MARCH

Short List
BrandPROCTER & GAMBLE
Product/ServiceALWAYS
EntrantLEO BURNETT BEIRUT, LEBANON
CategoryFast Moving Consumer Goods
Entrant Company LEO BURNETT BEIRUT, LEBANON
Advertising Agency LEO BURNETT BEIRUT, LEBANON
Media Agency STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Campaign

While women all over the world are sharing their lives online, this is not the case in conservative Saudi Arabia, where a woman is not socially permitted to show a picture of herself online. It is even less accepted for a woman to seem like she is protesting for a cause. And with regards to Feminine Care products, women do not like to associate themselves with menstrual pad brands online, given the embarrassment factor. Always, the market leader in menstrual pads, saw an opportunity to connect with Saudi women online to overcome these limitations and challenges. The movement launched on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram with three influencer videos sharing their personal success stories and encouraging girls to participate in the movement. Also, an instameet was organized where women contributed in making a video explaining how others could participate; people pushed this on Instagram, while Always shared it across its platforms. Women discovered this movement on Facebook and Instagram through influencers, a trending hashtag #MoveForward (and its Arabic equivalent), and posts by Always. Women shared their stories across platforms, while Always was curated the submissions and created its own, all around the purpose of women empowerment. The movement received over 3,000 user-generated entries on Instagram and Facebook, and Always chose three women to support their dream.

The Brief

Main KPI was amount of user-generated content, so all our PR activities were focused on encouraging participation. The secondary KPI was community growth, which would indicate a shift perceptions and lift brand affiliation / positive sentiment. Always has struggled to establish a connection with consumers, considered ‘taboo’ girls were ashamed to be associated with the brand and interact with it online. Targeting girls 15 to 28, we needed them to listen to our empowering message. This was done by pushing content through influencers and ensuring that it happened in an intimate setting: social media.

Execution

The Online March movement launched on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram with three influencer videos sharing their personal success stories and encouraging girls to participate in the movement. Also, an instameet was organized where women contributed in making a video explaining how others could participate; people pushed this on Instagram, while Always shared it across its platforms. Women shared their stories across platforms, while Always curated the submissions and created its own, all around the purpose of women empowerment. Influencers shared key posts to help discoverability of the movement, leading people beyond these impressions, and organically engaging with other users’ content. The PR role was to create the initial snowball and then allow the momentum to build itself. Users could post to either Instagram or Facebook, while the brand along with influencers would help give visibility to the content. The campaign ran for two months as planned, on Facebook and Instagram.

The Online March exceeded our targets for user-generated content and community growth: - It generated more than 45 million impressions on Facebook and Instagram, and 4.6 million print impressions. - The participation mechanism allowed over 5,000 women to express themselves with content they submitted. There were +1 million interactions around that content and +2.6 million organic views on the videos. - Brand affinity has also improved as a result: the Facebook brand page got a +12.51% fan growth (+10,000 new fans in two months), while the Instagram page received +5,500 new Instagram followers (starting from zero).

The Strategy

The Online March movement that Always created on Facebook and Instagram made it easy for women to express their thoughts on the power of women and what they can achieve. Given the taboo of engaging with a menstrual pad, the movement needed credibility from influencers, a topic that is relevant and can lead to conversation, an easy way for users to generate content for later use by the brand. The movement was thus supported by influencers, giving key content visibility then letting people organically discover what others were expressing, making them part of a larger movement. It began with a few influencers adopting the movement, followed by an instameet to create reference videos by Instagramers, and then went mainstream on Facebook and Instagram with intermittent promoted support on Facebook.

Credits

Name Company Role
Bechara Mouzannar Leo Burnett Beirut Chief Creative Officer
Malek Ghorayeb Leo Burnett Beirut Regional Executive Creative Director
Youssef Naaman Leo Burnett Beirut Regional Operations Director
Yasmina Baz Leo Burnett Beirut Creative Director
Lea Salibi Leo Burnett Beirut Creative Director
Ralph Arida Leo Burnett Beirut Associate Creative Director
Karen Feghali Leo Burnett Beirut Art Director
Miguel Issa Leo Burnett Beirut Art Director
Lama Bawadi Leo Burnett Beirut Copywriter
Zeina Joujou Leo Burnett Beirut Head of Planning
Jad Jureidini Leo Burnett Beirut Digital Communication Director
Tala Arakji Leo Burnett Beirut PR Planner
Fadi Bustros Leo Burnett Beirut Regional Communication Director
Cecilia Accad Leo Burnett Beirut Communications Director
Philippe Araman Leo Burnett Beirut Digital Planner
Nader Naamani Leo Comm Jeddah Communication Manager
Saria Francis Leo Comm Dubai Community Manager
Robyn Aris Leo Comm Dubai Communication Manager