2016 Winners & Shortlists

DARK IFTAR

Short List
BrandCOCA-COLA MIDDLE EAST
Product/ServiceCOCA-COLA
EntrantMEMAC OGILVY Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryFast Moving Consumer Goods
Entrant Company MEMAC OGILVY Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Advertising Agency MEMAC OGILVY Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Advertising Agency 2 FP7/DXB Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Agency UM MENA Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production Company DEJA VU Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Brief

First impressions last, but those first impressions are rarely reflective of reality. We wanted to challenge people to look beyond the superficial and see others for who the truly are, not merely who they appear to be. This flies in the face of everyone’s basic instincts, so we needed to dramatically illustrate just how wrong these first impressions can be, which we did by hosting an Iftar in the dark. We wanted to get people to think twice before they themselves resorted to jumping to conclusions about others in the future.

Creative Execution

Coca-Cola believes strongly in tolerance, equality and togetherness, values that struggle when faced with the intolerance and prejudice that results from the first impressions people naturally form of each other. Our campaign was designed to challenge this. The campaign was predicated by the provocative nature of the Dark Iftar and the prejudices it revealed. It was designed to use Coca-Cola’s online fan base and the millions of our 6 social media influencers’ followers to gain traction, and then draw the attention of global news and social commentary channels. The promotional ‘No Labels’ can was sent to key media influencers to prompt them to get involved publicly. It went according to plan, achieving over 18 million views and generating over 25,600 news and social commentary articles during the month of Ramadan, the season when our message was at its most poignant. The campaign was viral by design, and it flowed seamlessly.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

• 53.9 million impressions • $30.7 million worth of PR and earned media • Over 18 million YouTube views (Coca-Cola’s 2nd most viewed video globally, of all time) • Over 25,600 online articles generated • AdWeek’s 2nd most viral video of 2015 • 97% positive sentiment score • Coca-Cola Consumption Intent score increased +51% vs. Ramadan 2014 • Coca-Cola Brand Love score increased +15% vs. Ramadan 2014 • Coca-Cola’s brand equity score of Bringing People Closer Together increased by +39% vs. Ramadan 2014 • 35% engagement rate on Facebook and 33% on Twitter

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

The entire campaign was a one-off activation that was then filmed and spread online. The promotional ‘No Label’ cans were also sent to key media figures and influencers to get them involved in the campaign and to prompt them to talk publicly about the campaign and its message, which they ultimately did.

Credits

Name Company Role
Ramzi Moutran Memac Ogilvy Executive Creative Director
Sascha Kuntze Memac Ogilvy Creative Director
Sarah Bamford Memac Ogilvy Art Director/Copywriter
Gavin Stradi Memac Ogilvy Copywriter
James Alfred Memac Ogilvy Agency Producer
Tarek Shawki Memac Ogilvy Business Director
Sarah Sherif Memac Ogilvy Account Manager
Sami Moutran/Shefali Vyas/Charlotte Tansill/Dalia Halabi Ogilvy Public Relations PR Director/Account Director/Group Account Director/Account Manager
Paul Banham FP7 Executive Creative Director
Tahaab Rais FP7 Regional Head of Strategic Planning/Creative Strategy
Tarek Ali Ahmad FP7 General Manager – Business Unit
Josephine Younes FP7 Associate Creative Director
Nayaab Rais FP7 Associate Creative Director
Aya Shedid FP7 Account Director
Sameer Ketkar FP7 Senior Designer
Tolga Cebe/Islam ElDessouky/Wasim Basir Coca-Cola Middle East Marketing Manager/IMC Manager/IMC Director
Effie Kontopoulou/Amina Ijaz/Ibrahim Wagdy Coca-Cola Middle East Marketing Manager/Brand Manager
Manasvi Gosalia/Pratixa Kanojia/Mazen Fayad Dèja Vu Executive Producer/Producer/Director
Antoine Challita/Marsha Hofstee/Elias Elkoussa/Ricardo Campo Perez/Abed Daya Um Regional Business Director/Media Director/Associate Director/Digital Manager/Media Supervisor
Farah Ibrahim/Tammam El Atrache/Carla El Hachem/Khaldoun Zaghir/Hazem El Ghousin Um Media Planner/Media Executive/Media Executive/Head of UM Society/Social Media Executive