Ramadan is Middle East's Superbowl; the most cluttered media landscape, especially in Saudi Arabia.
This case describes how Almosafer, an online travel platform, shared a message no Arab brand has shared before, harnessing the power of social media channels. And broke the Ramadan media clutter in the Middle East.
Also, harnessing social media's power, Almosafer's message travelled globally and was targeted to an untapped audience - non-Muslims abroad - again, something no Arab brand had done before.
In challenging Ramadan norms, Almosafer, a challenger brand, in a challenging category, grew vs. market-leading global and local competitors (while they declined).
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 creative idea / insights (30% of vote)
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 strategy (20% of vote)
THE STRATEGY:
We wanted Almosafer, a locally grown travel brand from Saudi Arabia, to remind Saudi Arabia, the region and the world, Muslims AND non-Muslims, that Ramadan was for everyone.
In sharing a Ramadan message like never before, we wanted to make the generosity and inclusivity of Ramadan travel regionally and outside, representing what Ramadan is all about: living together, harmoniously, side-by-side as different nationalities, religions and races.
THE MEDIA APPROACH:
To bring the strategy to life, we needed to be where Saudis were (social media) and also, where non-Muslims where, in the region and abroad (social media too). So, our primary media planning was based on harnessing social platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
Also, given that we had lower budgets than most other brands in Ramadan, we needed to rely on a powerful social idea that’d earn media, conversations and buzz, and get the brand fame.
Describe the execution (20% of vote)
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 little 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 unique story travelled through earned media, online across social media and online platforms, so did the spirit of Ramadan.
PR with popular TV and media channels gave us free air time.
Through the app, people customized Ramadan greetings, that we promoted worldwide.
Children across Saudi schools, through activations, were invited to send gifts to those from other religions in foreign lands, and to world leaders, hoping they’d see them. Almosafer enabled collection as well as delivery through its airline deals.
List the results (30% of vote)
Being brave and challenging norms helped Almosafer challenge leading global and local brands 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 in 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 and 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%.
Please tell us about the challenger brand and how your campaign challenged / was different from your competitors
Almosafer is an online travel platform in Saudi Arabia. It is a market follower (a challenger), not a market leader. To win Ramadan, it had to do something no brand had done before during Ramadan.
CHALLENGING THE OCCASION:
There is an increasing melee of brands communicating clichés in terms of imagery and themes with emotionally-laden Ramadan solemnity, such as “getting together with family”, “enjoying the spirit of Ramadan”, “nostalgia”, “contributing to a charity” or “a product promotion”.
Almosafer challenged these norms by taking Ramadan abroad to people who never experienced Ramadan, starting with Santa Claus. And then, extended it to others. All of it done through children.
CHALLENGING COMPETING BRANDS:
In challenging Ramadan marketing norms, Almosafer, a follower, witnessed a positive and sustained growth in its brand awareness, brand reputation, flight bookings, hotel bookings and market share, while the market leaders, its global and local competitors (Booking.com and Flyin.com), declined.