2019 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Integrated?

Saudi Broadcasting Authority is a governmental entity of Saudi Arabia, that operates almost all broadcasting outlets in the Kingdom. This launch has changed an environment that has been overruled by a few selected channels for decades, we were able to reclaim television and introduce a new quality option the entire region can enjoy, which wouldn’t have been possible without a campaign as powerful as the Ghasb Campaign. There’s no denying that this campaign has stirred more conversation and record numbers not just within its category, but also in advertising in the kingdom as a whole.

Background

The Brief SBA is launching a new revolutionary Saudi channel targeting the new generation of Saudi viewers. The channel called SBC is to be the center of televised entertainment broadcasting an attractive Saudi and Arabic content. The Challenge Saudi TV has been around for decades but it’s been incredibly static, people stopped watching Saudi channels and would only tune-in to watch occasional royal announcement, which didn’t exceed two times a year. Saudis used to mock Saudi channels as they were forced to watch nothing else, which become this generation’s inside joke about STV (Ghasb). Objective: The main objective for this channel launch was to connect people and entertain them as part of the economic vision, and as for the campaign objectives it was to create a memorable impact and buzz and become one of the top 5 regional channels and to be attractive for advertisers to promote on.

Describe the creative idea.

As a local agency, we had the advantage of understanding the business environment and audience and being part of it. We knew how symbolic this new channel would be as part of the entertainment revolution happening in the region, we needed this campaign to be impactful. For years Saudi TV was referred to as Ghasb 1&2 which literally translates to “Forced”. We knew that by using such a strong word it would not only spark interest in people who didn’t know the backstory, which is the younger target audience but also trigger nostalgia in the older audience which in result would start a conversation between both generations. The word Ghasb is controversial, as it wasn’t only a negative word in itself but it also represented a time where people had no choice, taking that negativity and turning it positive from being forced to watch it to Forced to love it.

Describe the strategy

70% of Saudis are under 30, and SBC wanted to revolutionize the Saudi TV experience into this generation’s the channel of choice, therefore our focus target audience was between the ages of 18-35, however, it wasn’t only a new young audience that we wanted to attract, it was also important to regain the older generations who experienced the rise and fall of Saudi TV. We started by asking ourselves a question. Could we rely on a creative idea to spin this negative into a positive? Years after the nickname had been forgotten, Ghasb became the starting point for our launch campaign concept. To build intrigue and get people talking with ambiguity, we started with a teaser campaign. The word "Ghasb" became front and center of a teaser campaign that ran across the entire GCC region, creating a spark of interest in both sets of the TA.

Describe the execution.

The 360 campaign was divided into 3 parts; Teaser (2 weeks), revealer (2 weeks) and launch (2 weeks). The target countries were Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and UAE. OOH, Digital, newspapers, and radio were the mediums used in this campaign. As the teaser campaign began, a website was created to redirect users from the digital platforms to a landing page that had a countdown to the revealer stage of the campaign. The revealer campaign was launched after a successful teaser and the general public was introduced to the campaign message “Ghasab Tahbha”- which means “Forced to love”. The launch campaign was launched and we started focusing more on the content that would be broadcasted on the channel.

List the results.

With its associations to the golden age of national TV, the nostalgic associations of ghasb rekindled embers in older hearts. A bold attitude and the promise of something new won over younger minds. Despite our initial reservations, the success of the campaign has been mind-blowing. Since helping Saudi TV with the launch SBC has become the second most viewed channel in the GCC region. Not only did the launch reconnect Saudi TV with viewers within the Kingdom, it also managed to attract large regional audiences. Given the incredible choice afforded to a modern viewer, that’s an astonishing achievement The campaign’s impact presented the new image of Saudi TV. Total OOH faces: 6000 Total Print ads: 27 Impressions (instagram, twitter, facebook, youtube): 95 million