2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Summary

It’s not easy to talk publically about sex in the Middle East. It’s even harder if you’re a condom brand that cannot communicate on TV or other platforms, nor show or mention sex. And it’s harder still during the time every four years when all the world wants to talk about is football. This was the challenge we faced for the Durex 2018 World Cup campaign. A challenge we overcame with a campaign that combined a fundamental human truth (celebrating is an aphrodisiac) with the world’s biggest sports event to create reasons to buy condoms. Lots and lots of condoms. We found out that in every major sports event - beyond the agony and ecstasy, the thrill of the game - the winning nation would see a spike in the number of children being born. Winners celebrated with sex. Lots of sex. But why should only winners have the fun? In the greatest football competition on the planet, everything can be a reason to celebrate. A victory, a loss, a penalty, a red card, a great free-kick, ... - all the natural moments of the World Cup could be ways to spark conversations and build relevance around the brand while driving conversion to the Durex online sales page at souq.com So when Pavard scored an incredible long-distance strike, we launched ‘The Screamer’. When Mexico beat Germany, we had ‘The Bombshell’. When Neymar was rolling in the pitch doing his theatrics, we shared ‘The Dramatist’. When a goal happened before 5 minutes into the game, we had ‘The Quickie’. ‘The Early Shower’ for a red card. ‘The Hot Stuff’ for the big Arab derby, Egypt vs Saudi. ‘The Video Assist’ for the VAR that dominated this year’s competition. Every important moment of the World Cup was designed and approved in real-time by a multidisciplinary team with the client and the creative and media agencies. In the Personal Care effectiveness category, the following illustrates that the Durex campaign made fans care about more than football. And despite market restrictions on condom communication, with little budget and only one channel, sold lots and lots of condoms. From the wins, the draws and the losses to the red cards, dives, classifications, disqualifications, and more, our live posted condoms gave both a commentary on the action and a reason to celebrate with Durex throughout the World Cup for fans across the region. With the same media investment of Valentine's Day 2018, the campaign boosted the number of eCommerce sales in comparison to the previous campaigns (+250% vs SPLY and +108% vs Valentine's Day, a sales peak for the brand every year); without any other investment Durex saw a positive impact on offline sales (+28% vs SPLY, and +23% vs Valentine's Day); increased the number of leads to the eCommerce platform (+80% vs Valentine's Day). Source: (1) Souq Online Sales, (2) Client Key Accounts Sell-Out Data, (3) Twitter.