2019 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Integrated?

The Roamophobia campaign was integrated on many levels, starting with traditional TV & outdoor, followed up by everything from targeted campaigns across the consumer journey all the way to online banners while searching for travel info, visiting the visa center, booking the ticket, and even inflight magazines. The campaign was also complemented with an (attempted) Wikipedia page to explain the Roamophobia concept, a teaser phase on social media on the different types of phobias, in addition to several social film executions and social posts that showed in more details the symptoms of Roamophobia.

Background

The roaming category has been dropping year after year, with cheap tourist lines being more and more common, along with further accessibility to Wi-Fi while traveling. Accordingly, Etisalat introduced its new revamped roaming packs with a different offering to appeal more to the target audience. Our brief was to reposition roaming in the mind of the consumer, and show them that we understand their roaming worries, and that our packs are here to release them from any roaming complication they might have. Our objective was to reverse the category decline, through increasing the adoption of our roaming packs.

Describe the creative idea.

The idea was simple, while roaming packs had changed, the consumers still had an inner natural fear of roaming, making them automatically opting for tourist lines and Wi-Fi when traveling, instead of checking their Etisalat roaming options. In order to address this ‘fear’, we tackled it head on, establishing the fear of roaming as a condition, coining the term “Roamophobia”. Accordingly, the idea was manifested through a scientific video about the condition, and how it is now a thing of the past thanks to the new Etisalat roaming packs.

Describe the strategy

Looking at consumer research, we can find easily that consumers are simply switched off when it comes to roaming, automatically choosing tourist lines and using Wi-Fi wherever they go. Accordingly, we wanted to highlight that there is nothing to fear anymore, and grab their attention through an unusual execution to learn about the differences that our new roaming packs bring. By developing this Roamophobia platform, we were able not only to create a film launch to communicate the message, but also create a multitude of digital and social banners that added entertaining content around the concept. We were able to connect with the consumer through every touch point from searching for trips, visiting a visa center, booking an e-ticket, going to the airport, to even being on the flight itself.

Describe the execution.

The campaign was launched starting with teasers on multiple forms of phobias, establishing the B&W art direction and hinting to the launch of Roamophobia as a concept. Then the film was launched, focused on a scientific discussion about the state of Roamophobia in the 1940s, covering the various symptoms around it, therefore presenting it as a thing in the past with the arrival of Etisalat’s new roaming packs. The campaign also was complemented by OOH, and social video content on the symptoms of Roamophobia. In addition, we had special social posts, digital banners, and digital screens targeted to the Etisalat travelers, everywhere from when they started looking for flights till they were actually onboard of these flights.

List the results.

Our campaign managed to reverse the decline in the roaming category for Etisalat. Until the end of July 2018, Roaming pack adoption rate among Etisalat users traveling abroad had increased by 18%, exceeding our objective by a staggering 8% (Client Research, July 2018) Our sales results were equally impressive. We achieved 62% over target in roaming pack activations among postpaid users in the four months following the campaign, and 33% above target in roaming pack activations among prepaid users in the four months following the campaign (Client Data, July 2018) Due to effective targeting, our display campaign online achieved a CTR of 1.12%, more than triple the UAE average of 0.34%. The campaign also achieved 15% higher ad viewability than the UAE benchmark (Client Data – Media Agency Report, July 2018 / Benchmarks from Richmedia Gallery by Google & MOAT Analytics Benchmark – Q2 2018)