2019 Winners & Shortlists

THE SUPER-NATURAL GREEN WRAP

BrandZAATAR W ZEIT
Product/ServiceTHE SUPER-NATURAL GREEN WRAP
EntrantPUBLICIS LEVANT Beirut, LEBANON
CategoryTravel, Leisure, Retail, Restaurants & Fast Food Chains
Idea Creation PUBLICIS LEVANT Beirut, LEBANON
Idea Creation 2 MSL BEIRUT, LEBANON
PR PUBLICIS LEVANT Beirut, LEBANON
PR 2 MSL BEIRUT, LEBANON
Production PUBLICIS LEVANT Beirut, LEBANON

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

A behavior within human nature is to feast our eyes before taste. The visual communication aspect of social media is founded on this and compels the best possible representation of food in the F&B industry. Thus, F&B brands now rethink food offerings complimentary to the modern lifestyle of market segments to continue serving that hot plate of relativity. This means more greens for a health-conscious consumer. A casual urban eatery, Zaatar w Zeit reigns the “wrap category” & so, we give you the Green Wrap: a wrap so bold, it cuts through the clutter in order to redefine brand experience.

Background

The fast-paced high-turnover in the Lebanese food scene is marked by the excessive launching of new concepts, with almost the same number shutting down. This implies the importance of brands sharpening their knives to cope with cut-throat competition. Zaatar w Zeit is Lebanon’s number one fast-casual eatery, dedicated to urbanize the classic wrap sandwich. Today, we decided to reinvent it. With limited budget, we gave people green dough! We served every Instagram foodie and health enthusiast a news feed they could eat up. The brief was to launch the product as a limited offering in an effort to stand out and grasp the attention of a foodie in a saturated market where offerings are so similar, they are hardly distinguished from one another. Objectives were to launch a new innovative product with KPIs: · Sell 20,850 wraps during first month · Increase brand equity, measured through positive online engagement

Describe the creative idea.

In Lebanon, there is an emerging obsession with sharing and commenting what is on one’s plate, on social media. The interest in culinary novelty is undeniable, with F&B outlets trying to “innovate”: releasing colored bun burgers, poke bowls making a successful debut, sushi burritos, etc. Also, the Lebanese are fickle in nature: they are loyal to Zaatar w Zeit, however they get bored easily, expecting constant new offerings that exceed their expectations in terms of aesthetic, taste, and composition. Every time an outlet tried to release an ‘innovative’ product, it would peak and then fade away, like a hit-and-run. What if the Lebanese needed a product that wasn’t just ‘innovative’? What if they wanted a differentiated product that could sustain itself? We wanted to position the Supernatural Green wrap as ‘out of this world’ in its aesthetic, taste, and composition, one doesn’t have a choice but to try it.

Describe the strategy.

Food has become a lifestyle, especially for millennials – the generation between roughly 18 and 36 years old – with millions of food pictures posted on social media yearly. For our target, Instagram is the most popular medium for picture-perfect dishes and drinks. Our Super-Natural Green wrap became the perfect contender to take part in the Insta-food revolution, attracting our target audience to document their experience and moments of consumption due to the product’s unusual aesthetic, composition, mysterious name, and visual communication. Features and benefits such as organic and natural are more likely to make Middle-Eastern millennials feel responsible and health-conscious, even if it costs more, millennials prefer getting value for what they are paying.

Describe the execution

Communication of the Supernatural Green was a full-fledged integrated campaign with 3 phases. Pre-launch teaser: an unbranded emblem was designed and launched, appearing all over the city on flyers, posters, OOH, graffiti stencils and embodiments on-ground, via the presence of 2 ‘green people’ in a mall stunt. The pre-launch ended by seeding revealing content on Zaatar w Zeit’s social-media and an unpaid collaboration with influencers that helped propel the news. Revealer phase: the wrap was unveiled through an exclusive ‘green’ event to the influencers community, in addition to a radio activation on Lebanon’s most listened radio station, Virgin Radio Lebanon. Post-launch phase: to keep the conversation going, competitions were held online with influencers, and on air with Virgin Radio Lebanon. Online and offline communication channels worked together during all phases to fill the gaps and reach the largest portion of our audience through social media, radio, OOH, and on-ground activations.

List the results.

As per F&B success markers, our main objective was to sell 20,850 green wraps in the first month of release. Results were record breaking, with Zaatar w Zeit selling 30,895 wraps as opposed to the initial objective, surpassing the target by 48.18%. Upon the launch of the Super-Natural Green, and when compared to data from 2018 and 2017, we notice that sales from the brand’s most popular items decreased in favor of increased sales of the newly released wrap. For example, in the Wraps Category of the Zaatar w Zeit menu and during the launch of the Super-Natural Green, the Famous Chicken suffered a decrease in sales of 14.9% while the Super-Natural Green enjoyed an increase in sales of 21.4%. Interest around the wrap’s aesthetic, taste, and composition lead to a spiked increase in online interaction by curious individuals wanting to know what the new wrap was all about.

Credits

Name Company Role
Bechara Mouzannar Publicis Communications MEA Chief Creative Officer
Malek Ghorayeb Publicis Communications MEA Regional Executive Creative Director
Wael El Husseini Publicis Levant Managing Director
Sary Najjar Publicis Levant Creative Director
Jo Chemali MSL Beirut Managing Director
Francois Mehchy Publicis Levant Communications Manager
Roy Khachan MSL Beirut Strategic Planner
Annie Kassardjian MSL Beirut Communication Executive
Lynne Khodr Publicis Levant Copywriter
Joe Atiyeh Publicis Levant Production Manager
Jalal Safi Publicis Levant Art Director
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