2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Background

In Egypt, four main transportation modes exist; personal car, taxi’s, public transportation, and in 2014 ride-hailing services; the latter dominating market share. Egyptians value three main things; comfort, always being available (since they have limited time management skills and are always hindered by traffic), and lowest possible prices. While public transportation delivered on only low prices, ride-hailing services deliver on always-available and comfort, but recently prices have peaked plummeting their market share. Egypt desperately needed a transportation solution that met consumer needs; Swvl was the only brand to promise and deliver on, fixed times, routes, and prices. Yet, penetration and usage were stagnant due to the deeply rooted negative connotation associated with public transportation. The brief was to launch a brand copy that gave the brand an appropriate positioning. The objectives; to increase brand affinity, become an approachable brand, and increase usage.

Describe the strategy

Egyptians are extremely absurd and irrational in the way the move from point A to B. With limited resources, they get creative. Our research entailed 20 people looking around Egypt's street with an eye to capture absurd set-ups. We also monitored social media online discussions, groups sharing “OnlyinEgypt” content, image navigation and held focus groups to further understand consumers take on absurdity in Egypt. During our research, we segmented users into; long distance commuters, daily commuters and non-frequent commuters. All segments showed their interest in systematic and logical solutions, yet feared the chaos and misery of Egyptian public transportation. We challenged the status quo by positioning the brand to speak to a specific mindset and challenged the category's norm. Our creative strategy was to create a contrast between Swvl’s logical approach and the absurd and illogical Egyptian streets, in a relatable and a realistic approach.

Describe the execution

We created a film that underlines the bizarre world that we have grown to overlook, cementing the service as the only practical method of transportation; due to its fixed and reliable, prices and schedule. It showcases the daily journey of a man leaving his house to reach Swvl, showing him unbothered by the absurdity to highlight the ridicule. In both background and foreground there is chaos, while the music ironically sets a peaceful mood for the man. Launching our film on digital platforms online that often discussed and ridiculed the matter using #Swvl منطقي , meaning Swvl is logical, helped us start a movement and instead of joining, lead on an already rich content generating topic. Now, anyone who sees anything illogical automatically associates Swvl subconsciously, and with so many absurd situations in Egypt, Swvl is becoming a top of mind brand.

List the results

In terms of business impact, 99% of consumers who try Swvl continued using it, versus our nearest competition with 50%. The number of inactive users who activated their account increased by 3% after launch; compared to prior launch with 0.1% inactive users. Business net revenue increased 3% and bookings increased 40%, without any promotions which the ride-hailing category usually heavily depends on. In terms of consumer awareness our communication challenge was resolved when the campaign gained total impression of 23,132,816 and total engagement of 765,558 in only the first 2 weeks. Our target audience understood the brands promise and was evidently reflected in the positive sentiment towards the brand due to the 91% increase directly after the copy launched; in comparison to 10 days prior to launch. We not only positioned the brand in the consumers mind as a logical solution using our promise but also properly.