2017 Winners & Shortlists

SAUDI HERO

BrandSAUDI TELECOM COMPANY - STC
Product/ServiceSAUDI HERO
EntrantY&R Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA
CategorySeries: Fiction & Non-Fiction
Idea Creation Y&R Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA

The Campaign

STC was a part of the conservative establishment. A giant monolithic corporation that used to be owned by the government and is barely distinct from it. As a brand it was not engaging with young people and its attempt to do so in the past were perceived as being patronizing and disingenuous. Idea here was to present STC as the brand for youth, creating a character that is inspired by them and represents what is humorous to them,, while also chosing a format that is widely consumed in Saudi Arabia and the most in the world YouTube to make sure we are able to reach them where they are.

Creative Execution

* Saudi Hero, so far, is a two season series, running since 2015. * Each season consisted of 4 episodes * Published on Social Media channels owned by STC, namely YouTube and pushed through STC Twitter

The results were a real game changer for STC’s YouTube channel. Not only did they surpass all their objectives for the campaign but they also saw a major lift in the entire channel and all the content they were generating on it. increasing exponentially the numbers of viewership and subscription in STC channel. - Over 22 million views - 220,000 likes - Viewership on STC channel exceeded by double

Saudi Hero by STC is a pure online series, running for two seasons now with 4 episodes each season. Saudi Hero is not product\service centric is focuses on social aspect of Saudi Society in an entertaining and relevant matter to the Saudi Youth. Saudi Hero as a series has become one of the most viewed videos on STC channel as a whole

How could STC begin to change perceptions about itself in the minds of a young and disinterested audience? How could they consolidate their CSR efforts in a direction that would talk to young people without sounding preachy? How was this campaign going to achieve the stated corporate objective of “humanizing the brand”? Business Objective: * To double the number of views that STC was getting on their channel (45M views in the 12 month period prior to launch) * To increase the CTR on pre-roll to 2% * To increase the number of subscribers by 50% Behavioral Objective: * To start a conversation with young people about their behavior on a number of social issues Perceptual Objective: * To change peoples attitudes and perceptions about STC * To portray the brand as young and vibrant and get a person talking about something that wasn’t sales related

Credits

Name Company Role
Kalpesh Patankar Y&R Executive Creative Director
Qasim Akbar Y&R Art Director
Links
Social Media URL