2019 Winners & Shortlists

Background

Saudi women are on the front line of change. They are more educated, they are driving, and they are exposed to new possibilities… However, it was still the beginning of the journey. In fact, women were still facing many obstacles in other areas that mattered to them. As a leading brand whose purpose is to make a real difference in women’s lives, how could Maggi play an active role in supporting them? Our main goal was to deliver on our promise by listening to women, understanding their struggles and giving them the right support. Objectives: • Contribute to a real change on-ground • Become a source of advice (measured through website traffic) • Reach women at mass (despite 24% drop in media budget vs previous year) • Generate above norm engagement rate on FB and IG (category norm 4%), and a 20% view-through rate on YouTube (regional norm 14%)

Describe the cultural/social/political climate in your region and the significance of your campaign within this context

Saudi Arabia leads one of the most patriarchal societies in the world and has among the worst levels of female workforce participation. This is mainly due to the belief that men should work and be the breadwinners; while women should stay at home and care for the children. This has been the case for generations: women were restricted to work for many cultural reasons. Other bans include traveling or marrying by choice, and women could also be denied access to health, judicial and other public services without first obtaining permission from a male guardian. In 2018, and under vision 2030 of Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the government started to act in an attempt to support women’s rights, by allowing them to drive and watch live sports at the three national stadiums. However, true empowerment starts with economic independence; a concept that was unfortunately still not appreciated by society. While women account for 51.8% of Saudi university graduates, they are still longing to apply this knowledge where it matters; and contribute to society and to the economy. Maggi believed, it was time to make a difference.

Describe the creative idea

Everyone talked about women driving, but no one talked about women wanting to join the workforce. After all, true empowerment begins with economic independence. Women in Saudi were searching for: “How can I start working?”, “How can I open a business?”. They were longing to work but were struggling and were still not getting the right support from the community and from men. It was still not socially acceptable for them to work. As MAGGI, we wanted to change that. But how does a food brand talk business? “Food Opens Doors” was our creative idea. In fact, interest in ‘food businesses’ was on the rise, and possibilities were endless: food trucks, Insta-food businesses, restaurants etc.. We decided to go on the ground and search for real, ambitious women who were struggling, support them and help them succeed, to set the right positive example for other women and the whole community.

Describe the strategy

Through pinpointed data research, we detected the top issues that women were facing: lack of know-how, failed attempts, lack of acceptance from the community, etc... and chose experts and influencers in the food business industry to support, in order to guarantee effective results. The approach was authentic, and real. From across the Kingdom, we identified different women - some conservative, some ultra-modern who were struggling to open their business and paired them with those influencers to share their knowledge and advice on how to succeed. The stories were amplified through Search, programmatic, YouTube and social media, expanding the reach of our message, in a targeted way based on what women were searching for.

Describe the execution

The stories were featured as episodes, showcasing how those influencers mentored and helped the women depending on their struggles. - Nihal, who wanted to open a restaurant, was paired with Hatun, one of the most recognized women of change in Saudi, who shared her learnings from her past failures and successes. - Hamama’s insta-business was not picking up: Eman, one of the top YouTube food creators, gave her recommendations on food styling, photography and growing her business. - Afaf’s food truck was losing money: Marwa advised on marketing efforts to revamp the business. On social media, we offered real-time advice through tips, articles, business plans; and gave women at mass the opportunity to have live social influencer discussions to make the experience more personal and get hands-on advice on their own businesses. The website encapsulated all content in one location creating a reliable source people could go back to.

Describe the results/impact

MAGGI inspired millions of women who had the ambition but lacked the courage to start. • 218M impressions and 28.7M video views (across all platforms) • 79% reach on FB/IG • Completion rate on FB/IG @30% (3x industry norm) and 28% on YT (2x industry norm) • Active engagement rate on FB/IG of 15% (industry norm 4%) • We drove 533K sessions on site with a massive time spent of 2min 10sec • Massive engagement with influencers who interacted with thousands of women Real impact on-ground: • New businesses opened even in the most conservative parts of Saudi, defying cultural norms and inspiring many others. • Small businesses expanded • As pointed out by Eman, one of the top YouTube creators in Saudi Arabia: “When a woman goes on camera and breaks the rules, she pushes other women to do the same… and she is basically telling them it’s ok!”