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 creative idea.

Using Google Trends, we noticed that the top searches among Saudi women were related to employment: “How can I start working?”, “How can I open a business?”. This was a revelation: a topic that was ignored for so long and overshadowed in the news by women driving, and cinemas opening in the Kingdom. They were longing to work but were struggling and were still not getting the right support from the community, and men. It was still not socially acceptable for them to work. MAGGI wanted to change that. After all, true empowerment begins with economic independence. But how does a food brand talk business? “Food Opens Doors” was our creative idea. Data showed that interest in ‘food businesses’ was rising, and possibilities were endless: food trucks, Insta-food businesses, restaurants etc.. We decided to search online and on-ground for real, ambitious women who were struggling, and help them succeed.

Describe the strategy.

Through pinpointed data research, social listening, tools and analytics, we dug deeper into the topic and detected the top issues that women were facing: lack of know-how, failed attempts, lack of acceptance from the community, etc... and in parallel, we researched and chose specific experts and influencers in the food business that have knowledge and experience related to those top issues; in order to effectively support them. The approach was authentic, and real. From across the Kingdom, we identified different women who were asking for help on social platforms on how to open their business - some conservative, some ultra-modern; and paired them with those well-recognized influencers to share their knowledge and advice on how to succeed based on their own experiences. 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 acted as a hub, encapsulating all content in one location for people to go back to.

List the results.

Effective use of data led to ground-breaking results: 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 per Eman, Saudi YouTube creator: “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!”