2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Background

Philips launched its Heated Straightening Brush in Saudi Arabia, and wanted to run an Influencer Marketing campaign to amplify the launch of the product. The campaign objectives were to 1) create product awareness, by harnessing the reach and power of local influencers to grow a positive perception of Philips as a brand and specifically the Heated Straightening Brush as a new and innovative hair care product; 2) grow desirability and positive sentiment, by collaborating with inspiring, aspirational Saudi Arabian tastemakers; 3) increase conversion, by leading traffic to the e-commerce platform, ultimately resulting in online as well as offline conversion results. The challenge was to communicate the launch of a hair care product in a country known for its restrictions around showing women's hair in public spaces.

Describe the strategy

Approach: show & tell Saudi women who no longer live within the kingdom could show the impact of the product, whereas Saudi-based influencers who reviewed the product without unveiling themselves could tell their followers about the product. This strategy enabled the clear communication of the product. Target Audience: Different influencer personas Three different influencer personas participated in the campaign. Together, they played a fundamental role in reaching the relevant target audience of Philips. Data gathering: local market insights According to the team’s research, publishing content during the Ramadan period, a time of discovery for consumers, could enhance engagement by 50%, and increase the search for hair care by +18%. Hairstyles have also been at the top of searches in previous years (Google, 2017). The campaign proved these numbers right once Njoud’s post shared during Ramadan gained 44% impressions more than the other one shared on the 28th of June.

Describe the execution

Implementation The team ( Philips Amsterdam HQ) ensured to have a clear and transparent conversation at all times. Amsterdam HQ liaised heavily with the KSA market to ensure everything was streamlined accordingly. Timeline The campaign was organized to run for 3 months. However, it had to be put on hold because the product was sold out. Nonetheless, all parties worked closely together to ensure all content went authentically live, ensuring stock is available for potential new consumers. Placement Various platforms were used to publish content to ensure all types of social media were embedded in this campaign, to see which complemented with the Philips audience the best. All influencers had the creative freedom to create content that resonates well with their audiences. Scale Product launch campaign-basis. Target Market: Saudi Arabia Target Audience: Women, 25-29 years old.

List the results

All business targets were achieved. Product awareness: strong brand-matching influencers assisted in overperforming the KPIs, set at 1.3M combined reach. Three macro-influencers with a combined reach of 4.2M, (323% above target) participated in this campaign, leading to a total of 3.4M impressions, out of which 1.4M were from earned content (value beyond pay). Grow desirability and positive sentiment: the community was strongly engaged, with an overall 5.8% engagement rate. On Instagram, negative comments only accounted for 2%. The brand-related comments made up 4% of total comments, doubling the expected result. Increase conversion: the campaign had to be temporarily suspended since the product sold out in Saudi Arabia as a direct result of the campaign.