2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Background

Mountain View, an established brand in residential real estate, would be a new entrant to the offices / commercial real estate market with no portfolio in this sector. The market traditionally competes over per meter prices and the location of the office building or business park. To create a new market space in the offices sector which focuses on the happiness and well-being aspects of community building and architecture, leveraging our brand’s long-time focus on these aspects, and our partnership with Delivering Happiness™ and CallisonRTKL applying the science of happiness and design in development. - Uncovering the market gap, and creating the demand for happier work spaces - Leveraging our own happy HQs to showcase the impact of happiness on productivity, turnover and business growth - Launch Heartwork as a regional pioneer in this arena by sharing knowledge and expertise through a relevant and unique brand persona

The Interpretation of the Challenge (30% of vote)

Happiness was not associated with work in Egyptian culture. As a new entrant to the office market with a unique proposition: Happier employees = more sales, we needed to get past the sarcasm and establish this link. Mountain View has happiness and innovation embedded in its mission statement. We were ready to enter new markets and claim a new marketspace through Heartwork, but we needed to explain the science behind happiness in office design. With Cairo’s urban sprawl and economic growth, corporations and startups were booming. Heartwork decided to additionally target smaller companies and startups, who would be attracted to happy, flexible, and expandable workspaces The desired outcome was a shift in perspective turning happiness to a market demand. The goal was for Heartwork to stand out from the competition over price and location and to be launched as an answer to the everyday woes of both employers and employees.

The Insight / Breakthrough Thinking (30% of vote)

The traditional marketing planning frameworks such as SWOT and competitive analysis would not show a competitive edge to Heartwork’s offering. Had it not been for our consumer-centric approach that looks at the end-user (in our case the employee) and several rounds of iterations with the innovation and product teams, we would not have uncovered a new market need for happier workplaces, designed in every aspect to cater for employee’s well-being creativity and productivity. Consumer insights team led the work with the marketing and innovation teams to understand the needs of the end user more than a year ahead of the product launch. Workshops with our global partners, Delivering Happiness ™ and CallisonRTKL took place as well as Silicon Valley Trip. The concept was tested with local partners and real estate brokers, which led to uncovering the skeptic and humorous reactions, and the broken link between happiness and work in Egypt.

The Creative Idea (20% of vote)

The idea was to hold the introduction of the Heartwork brand until we have established the need for it. In a phased approach, we went past the mockery, by creating it, triggering the conversation on native channels radio shows and memes. We established Mountain View’s leadership and shared our knowledge in the science of happiness through an integrated campaign. Through video and influencer marketing, we carried our own experience of a happy HQs to the public, and planning museum like tours for the public in an experiential marketing approach. Heartwork Launch would come at last and stand out from the common narrative. Almost half of the campaign was unbranded and native to create the social dialogue. We borrowed from blue ocean strategies and content marketing to claim the marketspace that we have created through carefully connecting the dots in a dense campaign through all the channels consumed by the target.

The Outcome / Results (20% of vote)

Despite aggressive competition in New Cairo, a wait-list of clients has built up after Phase 1 of Heartwork sold out. Our branded and then unbranded comic content viralled, and as planned carrying the experience of our offices to the audience made it all more tangible. Employers large and small expressed their gratitude for the refreshing prospect of a place that employees would happily associate with and bring their whole minds and souls to work at. The campaign was successful at introducing “Happiness” to the narrative of commercial real estate, evidenced by the campaign’s ripple out effect. Employers’ and media refocused their attention to a new way of seeing work and workspaces beyond our planned and paid channels.

Please tell us about the challenger brand and how your campaign challenged / was different from your competitors

Heartwork is a newcomer to the competitive world of office parks. We call it a happy hub, the first embodiment of the science of happiness as delivered by Delivering Happiness™ the consultants behind Starbucks’ cultural transformation, Dubai Happiness and several other high-profile projects. In a culture where the words happiness and work seemed disconnected, Heartwork launched with a colorful and upbeat identity and a premise that happiness at work leads to business growth. With its novel approach, it openly stands out from its peers who cater for a more restrained business look and reiterated commercial narrative.