2018 Winners & Shortlists

CAREEM- THE MAZE

BrandCAREEM
Product/ServiceCAREEM
EntrantJ. WALTER THOMPSON CAIRO, EGYPT
CategoryCopywriting
Idea Creation J. WALTER THOMPSON CAIRO, EGYPT
Media Placement MINDSHARE Cairo, EGYPT
Production MAGIC BEANS PRODUCTIONS Cairo, EGYPT

The Campaign

Replacing the automated GPS navigation with a local human one. Cairo streets are so complicated that there is a local term used by Egyptians who master Cairo streets; “Street Smart”. Because if you mastered Cairo streets you can master just about anything. And this is how the new brand point of view was brought to life: you only know the streets of Cairo if you’re from here. We literally celebrated Cairo’s streets and made them our communication vehicle.

Creative Execution

A verbal navigation took the viewer on a street-focused visual journey film. Traveling through the streets of Cairo from a perspective never seen before in Egypt, from up high – aerial to down low in tight alleyways, showing the magnitude of the concrete jungle we navigate through - everyday. A film that needs to be viewed more than once to grasp the details. A film that only a local would appreciate & relate to. The film was launched online given the nature of our primary target audience, accompanied by teasing mind-stimulating posts to further emphasize on the confusing streets of Cairo

Results

- Less than 10% of the new users used the campaign’s promotional code versus the average of 38% in previous campaigns, illustrating that new users following the campaign were not after the promotion. - increase sign ups by 30%, and the number of active users by 20% - Increase net promoters score (NPS) by 20% - increase brand relevance vs previous campaign by 30%

With car-hailing services on the rise in Egypt, Careem has been seen as the local knock-off brand in the market, with no advantage over its global competitor. Our objective was to build a brand point of view to change the promotion-driven strategy, through a clear brand positioning, in a ‘competition-named’ category.

Machines are taking over humans, but to what extent can you solely rely on them. Thanks to GPS, commuting from point A-B has never been easier, but what if GPS is not enough, because streets that used to be 2 ways are 1 way overnight, when certain streets are suddenly closed for months for maintenance;when you have more than one street under the same name. Cairo streets are a mess. Try to describe it to anyone and you will feel how challenging that is, seldom does it make sense, it’s an urban jungle, with barely any signage whether directional or labels, streets with names that doesn’t necessarily reflect their actual location. In a nutshell, GPS in Cairo is not enough, you can’t just fully shut down your brain and follow the automated navigation, it requires a human interpretation. The human behind the machine is more important than the machine itself.

Credits

Name Company Role
Ibrahim Islam J. Walter Thompson Cairo Head of Creatives
Amr Hadad J. Walter Thompson Cairo Creative Director
Karim Ayesh J. Walter Thompson Cairo Creative Director
Mostafa Sherif J. Walter Thompson Cairo Creative Director
Youssef Hammad J. Walter Thompson Cairo Senior Art director
Ahmed Waheed J. Walter Thompson Cairo Senior Copywriter
Maged Nassar Freelancer Director
Ahmed Abdel Kader J. Walter Thompson Cairo Business Operations Director
Sally Ezzat J. Walter Thompson Cairo Business Director
Menna Hagrass J. Walter Thompson Cairo Account Manager
Diana George J. Walter Thompson Cairo Senior Planner
Shady Abdel Aziz J. Walter Thompson Cairo Senior AV Producer
Mayar Makhlouf J. Walter Thompson Cairo Producer
Links
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