2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

When a new technology emerges, naturally, consumers will have a lot of questions, and this was certainly the case with 5G. So, instead of guessing what they’re thinking we went to Google to find out exactly what questions they have and answered them in short entertaining YouTube videos, which led to achieving a higher impact than any overly produced 5G film competitors put out this year. Moreover, this was the first partnership its kind in the region, becoming a success story within itself on how data driven creativity can achieve great results using by directly addressing the questions consumers have.

Background

Every once in a while, a new technology comes along that promises to change everything, and that’s exactly what’s happening with 5G. Saudi Arabia is aiming to achieve digital transformation across sectors as part of its aspirational 2030 vision, 5G has become a strategic pillar for the advancement of the country. Since then, these efforts have been accelerated with the support of the government, and this year Saudi Arabia ranked 7th globally in terms of 5G technology and internet speed. (Arab News) Considering ‘The Saudi Telecom Company’ (STC) is the largest mobile operator in the kingdom its role in driving the 5th generation network was fundamental. But as the network was growing rapidly, so did the communication, and competition got aggressive in the country with telecoms launching massive awareness campaigns. And with such aggressive competition, we needed to increase our subscriptions by 50%.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

stc will answer real questions, not sell the technology. One quick look at the latest 5G adverts and you’ll feel as if you’re watching a sci-fi film, in 2020 mobile operators spent millions stretching their 5G muscles. The technology seemed unattainable and confusing, so we wanted to completely take a different route and simplify, answering our consumers top 5G questions. To make this even better, we invited the kingdom’s funniest comedian Sohaib, for any question they were googling, Sohaib was there to answer in his humorous style, which transformed the series from boring educational videos into a fun, engaging watch. We focused our efforts in answering 5G what & how’s for example “how is 5G better for shopping or gaming?” or “what makes 5G better than 4G?” Every single question was driven from the local data Google provided, ensuring every video we produced was not just relatable, but relevant.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

stc’s partnership with Google went beyond just receiving the data, through custom intent audience targeting, each and every person that went on Google and asked a question about 5G was added to a list, and the next time this person logged in to YouTube, he was shown a video addressing exactly the query he searched for. We also pushed our capabilities by using affinity audience targeting which allowed us to reach users based on their interests & habits, if you’re a gamer, you’ll receive the 5G question most relevant to you and so on. Maximizing the use of a single social media platform, YouTube, which ran for 4-6 weeks allowing us to answer the top 10 questions that Saudis were asking the most

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

stc 5G subscription increased by 180% since the launch of the campaign, and online we exceeded expectations across all key metrics: • We reached over 3 million unique users. • More than 6 million views across all videos. • Achieved massive engagement with view-through rate of 22%. • Exceeded industry benchmarks of other similar campaigns with a viewability of 94%. Most importantly, we saw a jump of 150% in branded search queries related to stc’s 5G network, and the feedback on each video is incredibly positive, taking us one step further into winning the 5G battle in the country.

List the results (30% of vote)

Recently, pushing 5G technology has been at the core of every telecom’s agenda, and Saudi consumers have been bombarded with ads. But the more we communicated, the more questions were being asked, not to the brands, but the trusty source for all information, Google. The confusion was reflected in the numbers as 5G subscriptions remained relativity low, in order to make a drastic change it was important to take a step back and do what the competitors weren’t doing with their overly produced films, and just answer real questions. By partnering with Google, we were able to extract the most accurate insights on exactly what consumers are searching for, while targeting different audiences with their specific 5G concerns such as gamers & streamers. Instead of campaigning, we got to educating, and by doing so with real-time data we far exceeded our objectives.