2019 Winners & Shortlists

FUNNY THINGS OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD

Short List
BrandHEAD & SHOULDERS
Product/ServiceHEAD & SHOULDERS ANTI DANDRUFF SHAMPOO
EntrantSAATCHI & SAATCHI DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryUse of Talent
Idea Creation SAATCHI & SAATCHI DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Placement STARCOM Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production DUBOMEDY Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

FUNNY THINGS OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD is a live comedy show starring five Middle East’s biggest stand-up comedians such as Ali Al Sayed (UAE), Nemr Abou Nassar (Lebanon), Bader Saleh (KSA), Ahmad Al Shammari (Kuwait) and Khalid Mansour (Egypt) — all of whom have millions of fans around the region and have been featured in Comedy Central Arabia, Showtime, Esquire, Gulf News and Rolling Stone Middle East. It was a sold-out event with over 2,000 unsuspecting comedy fans. We followed up the live event with 14 webisodes across social media, including via the comedians’ social channels.

Background.

SITUATION The anti-dandruff shampoo market is saturated and stagnating. Head & Shoulders is facing a fierce competition from more affordable brands, the lack of conversation around dandruff and the declining perceptual importance of anti-dandruff shampoo in the eyes of younger customers. BRIEF To relaunch the brand and appeal to a younger audience by telling them that Head & Shoulders is an effective anti-dandruff solution that remove dandruff and scalp worries, allowing them to feel confident about themselves. OBJECTIVES To keep Head & Shoulders on top of consumers’ mind and grow sales.

Describe the creative idea.

Since looks and image are everything in the Arab world and nobody talks about dandruff, we made everyone laugh at it with our original dandruff jokes. FUNNY THINGS OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD is a live comedy show starring five Middle East’s biggest stand-up comedians and a full house of comedy fans — on-ground and on social media across the region. We followed up the live event with 14 webisodes across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, including via the comedians' social channels.

Describe the strategy

TARGET AUDIENCE Millennials and Gen-Z (18-35) in Head & Shoulders’ existing customer base and the competition’s. COMMUNICATION STRATEGY • Keep dandruff on top of consumers’ mind with a sharable live experience and online content that get talked about. • Break the age-old mold and formula of anti-dandruff commercials to appeal to a younger audience. CULTURAL TENSION In the Middle East, it’s a taboo to have dandruff and to talk about it. So we turned this belief on its head and made everyone laugh at it. MEDIA STRATEGY To amplify the impact and widen the reach, first we hosted the live event and seeded the online webisodes through the comedians’ social media channels all totally unbranded. Once it gained momentum, we branded the webisodes and promoted them further across social media as well as through the comedians’ channels.

Describe the execution

We wrote original dandruff jokes and hosted an unbranded live show in Dubai titled FUNNY THINGS OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD starring the Middle East’s biggest stand-up comedians such as Ali Al Sayed (UAE), Nemr Abou Nassar (Lebanon), Bader Saleh (KSA), Ahmad Al Shammari (Kuwait) and Khalid Mansour (Egypt) — all of whom have millions of fans around the region and have been featured on Comedy Central Arabia, Showtime, Esquire, Gulf News and Rolling Stone Middle East. It was a sold-out event with over 2,000 unsuspecting comedy fans. We then launched 14 webisodes across social media, including via the comedians’ social channels. First totally unbranded. Then fully branded. We then toured around the region (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan) to spread more laughter. It was a huge success that it is planned to become a permanent yearly event.

Describe the outcome

• 19.4+ million views • 79% completion rate • 140,332+ comments • 4.18+ million shares • +36% brand recall • +1.7% sales growth • +1.2% market share • Free media and PR coverage worth USD837,000+

Credits

Name Company Role
Bechara Mouzannar Publicis Groupe Chief Creative Officer
Adil Khan Saatchi & Saatchi CEO
Komal Bedi Sohal Saatchi & Saatchi Chief Creative Officer
William Mathovani Saatchi & Saatchi Creative Director
Milad Issa Saatchi & Saatchi Associate Creative Director
Daniel Zacatenco Saatchi & Saatchi Senior Designer
Vineet Naik Saatchi & Saatchi Designer
Maged Kamal Saatchi & Saatchi Account Director
Qais Mustafa Saatchi & Saatchi Account Executive
Ali Al Sayed, Nemr Abou Nassar, Ahmad Al Shammari, Khalid Mansour, Bader Saleh Independent Comedians
Links
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