2019 Winners & Shortlists

WORLD WITHOUT WALLS

BrandBABYSHOP
Product/ServiceRAMADAN CAMPAIGN
EntrantFP7/DXB Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryTravel, Leisure, Retail, Restaurants & Fast Food Chains
Idea Creation FP7/DXB Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Placement FP7/DXB Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Placement 2 OMD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
PR FP7/DXB Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production FP7/DXB Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production 2 MITRA FILM Bucharest, ROMANIA
Production 3 ABIS STUDIO Bucharest, ROMANIA

Background.

Babyshop is a leading children's retailer in the Middle East; in terms of number of stores and customers served, every day. But, the retail category in the Middle East has been on the decline. In a tough retail market, we believed the Babyshop brand and business needed to go to the next level by creating an emotional connection. In a time when many retailers focused their advertising budgets on rational persuasion, we persuaded Babyshop to invest their relatively modest marketing budgets in not overtly 'selling' products, but in emotional brand building. Analysis of sales figures revealed that a majority of Babyshop’s profits could be achieved over the crucial Ramadan trading period. But, most Babyshop consumers didn’t relate Babyshop with Ramadan. We needed one emotive Babyshop Ramadan story, that was as omni-channel as Babyshop was, creating an emotional connect and reversing the trend of declining sales in a potentially profitable Ramadan.

Describe the creative idea.

WE NEEDED TO WIN OVER TWO AUDIENCES: CONSUMERS (CHILDREN) AND BUYERS (PARENTS). · Children needed to be part of Babyshop’s Ramadan story. · Parents needed to feel a respect and emotional connection to Babyshop. WHAT WE NEEDED TO DO IN OUR PURPOSE DURING RAMADAN: EMBODY THE REAL CHARM AND VALUES OF RAMADAN. · Emotional and heart-warming: People needed to feel affinity, for our story to endure in their minds. · Memorability: Parents use Ramadan as the stage to impart key human and moral values to their children. We needed to do the same. · Surprising: Be surprising, in a month where a lot of expected advertising abounds. · Music: An ownable ‘musical handwriting’ that'd resonate. · Originality: An original perspective that'd stand out in the clutter of retail communications and content during Ramadan. THE CREATIVE IDEA: "World Without Walls": Getting adults to see the world through the eyes of children.

Describe the strategy.

SHOW HOW RAMADAN AND OUR WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE, WHEN SEEN FROM THE EYES OF CHILDREN: We live in a time when those who we should look up to, are building walls, and where voices of reason and logic are dividing instead of uniting. The need for a new way of looking at the world, couldn’t be stronger. Now, Ramadan is the month for over a billion Muslims around the world, where new resolutions are vowed. And most importantly, new perspectives are born. Based on the truth that: "If we see the world through the innocent eyes of a child, we too could see a world without prejudices and boundaries; because children see the world so clearly; the beauty and the possibility of it." We wanted Babyshop to stay away from the retail clichés and share a uniquely ownable and timely perspective, during Ramadan, through the eyes of children.

Describe the execution.

We brought World Without Walls to life through an integrated trans-media campaign to drive conversations, with each channel embodying the spirit of the idea. A moving film about a boy's journey launched the campaign. And its soundtrack, in English and Arabic, was composed by upcoming artists from Dubai, USA and Lebanon, and promoted online on popular music platforms. Children’s story-books and e-books were created. Proceeds from the song's and book's sales went to a charity for refugee children. In-store, using Google Cardboard, kids could immerse themselves in a world without walls. We co-created a program, with schools, getting children of different abilities to work together. We crowdsourced messages from children to adults to see the world through their eyes. Malls in the UAE invited Babyshop to bring a World Without Walls on ground. And through a crowd-sourced photography project, we created an online world without walls, featuring kids from everywhere.

List the results.

"A message of unity from the Middle East to the World." (says Arab Ad) In an era of 6-second and 15-second ads, the campaign, led by a 2-minute-35-second film as the centrepiece content, surpassed regional benchmarks: • With US$4.3 Million Earned Media Value, it generated Babyshop’s highest-ever return on earned media investment. • Along with clocking 37 million+ cross-platform views, it became the most engaged-with campaign, during any Ramadan, from a pan-regional retailer in MENA, with time spent 22% higher than MENA benchmarks. • +26% Advertising Awareness, pan-regionally, surpassed every other retailer in MENA. This influenced key brand equities with parents: • Brand Respect: 27% pan-regionally • Brand Preference: 43% pan-regionally Web-traffic and footfalls increased: • Web traffic: +63%. • Footfalls: +55%. And importantly, in a declining retail category, sales and profitability increased: • Recruiting a record number of customers, pan-regional sales value hit record-levels increasing +29% vs. Ramadan 2017.

Credits

Name Company Role
Mikkel Blaabjerg Poulsen Octopuss.tv Film Director
Jonas Berlin Octopuss.tv DOP
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Nima Askari FP7 McCann Dubai General Manager - Business Unit
Vicky Kriplani FP7 McCann Dubai Senior Account Director
Oliver Robinson FP7 McCann Dubai Executive Creative Director
Karol Akl FP7 McCann Dubai Agency Producer
Darine Kanj Maalouli FP7 McCann Dubai Agency Producer
Mark Williams McCann Manchester Creative Director
Khazmin Jumain FP7 McCann Dubai Social Strategist
Brittin Lane Brittin Lane Singer
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Regional Head of Strategy
Joe Dickinson BKP Compsoer
Costin Rantes Mitra Films & Abis Studio Producer
Tibi Hristu Mitra Films & Abis Studio Set Art Director
Brandusa Ioan Mitra Films & Abis Studio Wardrobe Stylist
Cristi Ciurea Mitra Films & Abis Studio First Assistant Director
Theodora Penciu Mitra Films & Abis Studio Editor
George Bodrug Mitra Films & Abis Studio Colourist
Loredana Moise Mitra Films & Abis Studio Post-Production Producer
Liviu Gherghe Mitra Films & Abis Studio Production Manager
Ruban Shanmugarajah Babyshop Chief Operating Officer
Deepak Mahnot Babyshop Head of Marketing
Mitin Chakraborty Babyshop Senior Marketing Manager
Dina Barakat Babyshop Marketing Manager
Ashraf Muhammedunny FP7 McCann Dubai Case Editor and Motion Artist
Links
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