2019 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

In KSA, F&B outlets dominate the media landscape in major cities turning roads/streets into one giant menu. However, during the month of Ramadan displaying high definition pictures of food can be considered insensitive towards a population who is fasting during day time. McDonalds wanted to show that it understands the local culture while creating a new way of communicating to its audience during the holy month. We created the first interactive billboard that pixelates our menu on OOH during the day and revealed them daily just after sunset thus creating a brand experience for customers.

Background

Ramadan, the holy month whereby Muslims across Saudi Arabia fast during day-time to purify their souls are bombarded with mouthwatering food commercials. For many Saudis this creates frustrations towards food brand. Our client, an American company, wanted to connect with the locals especially in such an important moment of the year. The challenge was to show the Saudis that a foreign brand could understand and respect their condition while still being able to promote its Ramadan bundle.

Describe the creative idea.

Saudi Arabia is a country where the religious rules are very strict. People can get arrested if found eating in public. In Saudi, the culture is to pixelate everything that is tempting. So, we pixelated each food item during the day in several malls, then revealed it at night, along with the Ramadan bundle.

Describe the strategy.

People don’t enjoy being tempted by images of food while they are fasting, but they still like to take a little peak. The pixelization was something they are very familiar with, used in malls for censorship. Instead of showing our offerings like everyone else did and tempt the people who are fasting, We’ve hid it. The food was timed to be revealed on the outdoor right before Iftar time.

Describe the execution

On various strategic locations we created digital leds/billboards that were programmed to pixelate a high definition food shot during day time and then reveal it high definition after sunset. A simple execution that leverages a visual language used by Saudis and that was able to speak to them with respect and consideration.

List the results.

Despite the usual sales drop in Ramadan in western food outlets and restaurants, sales went up by +10% in Saudi Arabia in comparison during the period of the campaign. On top of that, the stream of positive praise on social media proves that McDonalds, a foreign brand, can really understand the Saudi people as much as their “local” competitors.