2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Background

Almosafer is an online travel platform in Saudi Arabia. It competes with the international giants among online travel platforms like Booking.com. It also faces increasing competition from local platforms like Flyin.com. Amidst all travel platforms jostling for flight and hotel bookings (and market share), through persistent offers and price-offs, Almosafer was facing growth challenges. Saudis travel a lot during Ramadan. But, Almosafer hadn’t benefitted from that trend. For instance, its bookings in Ramadan, during 2018, were the lowest since inception. Now, Ramadan is the Superbowl equivalent in the Middle East. It is the most cluttered media landscape of the year, when big brands spend the big bucks. Standing out is challenging too. So, we wanted to create an iconic Ramadan campaign, focusing on emotional meaningfulness, in a rationally-driven category, with lower budgets than the big brands that dominated media. And in doing so, earn brand and business growth for Almosafer.

Describe the strategy

THE TENSION: The world today is more divided that ever before. Even during Ramadan, a month that encourages humility, understanding and compassion, the world, in itself, doesn’t seize to put down its divides. It often remains a world of “us” vs “them”. Muslims celebrate Ramadan. The world doesn’t. THE CONNECTION INSIGHT: Ramadan is for everyone: Muslims who enjoy Ramadan and Ramadan advertising in the Middle East AND non-Muslims who haven’t really been exposed to the true spirit of Ramadan nor Ramadan advertising. THE CREATIVE IDEA: Based on the truth that the true spirit of Ramadan could travel as far as people carried its truest essence, we created an iconic Almosafer Ramadan story; one that takes the spirit of Ramadan abroad to people and places who haven’t felt Ramadan, starting with a symbol relevant to one faith i.e. Christianity: Santa Claus. Something no Arab brand had dared to do before.

Describe the execution

We needed to be where Saudis were (social media) and also, where non-Muslims were, in the region and abroad (social media too). So, our media planning was based on harnessing social platforms i.e. YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. Also, given that we had lower budgets than most brands in Ramadan, we needed to rely on a social idea that’d earn media, conversations and generate fame. Ramadan, like the Superbowl, is a time when films from brands are looked forward to. So, we first launched a film: A story of a child in Ramadan, that wasn’t a typical Ramadan story, as we follow her on her journey to wish Ramadan Mubarak to Santa Claus and have Iftar (breaking of the fast) with him. The original song, composed in English and Arabic, became popular. As the story travelled through earned media, social media and online platforms, so did the spirit of Ramadan.

List the results

Being brave and challenging norms helped Almosafer challenge leading global and local brands (Booking.com and Flyin.com) in the category: 47.8 million+ organic cross-platform social views, 7 million+ paid views; nearly 7-times more organic views than paid. 52% watched the 97% of the film. #1 Ramadan Ad Worldwide (ARY News). Featured on pan-regional TV, organically, reaching 306-million active eye-balls (out of 411-million). Generated $3.7-million earned media value; highest-ever for Almosafer. +233% brand conversations (Ramadan vs. Pre-Ramadan). 94.6% cross-channel positive sentiments. 73% of non-Muslims exposed (to the film) said they saw Ramadan differently than before. +46% brand reputation as a socially-conscious, relevant Saudi brand. 36% top-of-mind awareness, increasing from 12% pre-Ramadan; leading competitors, booking.com and flyin.com, declined to 14% and 3%. +256% flight bookings vs. KPI of 100% (2019 vs. 2018). +41% hotel bookings vs. KPI of 20% (2019 vs. 2018). +64% market share vs. KPI of 20%; leading competitor declined -10%.