2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for PR?

Ramadan is Middle East's Superbowl; the most cluttered content landscape. This case describes how Almosafer, an online travel platform from Saudi Arabia, shared a message no Arab brand had shared, harnessing the power of social media channels, and broke the region's content clutter during Ramadan, earning word-of-mouth. Almosafer's message also travelled globally and was targeted to an untapped audience - non-Muslims abroad - again, something no Arab brand had done. In challenging Ramadan norms, Almosafer, a challenger brand, in a challenging category, considerably improved awareness, reputation, earned media, bookings and market share vs. market-leading global and local competitors (who 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 Superbowl's equivalent occasion in the Middle East. It is the most cluttered media landscape of the year, when big brands spend the big bucks. Standing out is significantly challenging. So, we decided to create an iconic Ramadan campaign, focusing on emotional meaningfulness, in a rationally-driven category, with lower budgets than what the big brands that dominated media had. And help Almosafer earn brand and business growth.

Describe the creative idea (20% 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 PR strategy (30% 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 ENGAGEMENT APPROACH: To bring the strategy to life, 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 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 PR execution (20% of vote)

TRIGGER: 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. SCALE: As the unique story travelled through earned media, social media and online platforms, so did the spirit of Ramadan. Engagement 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)

AS THE SPIRIT OF RAMADAN TRAVELLED, SO DID ALMOSAFER’S NAME: 47.8 million+ organic cross-platform views plus 7 million+ paid views; nearly 7-times more organic views than paid views. 52% of those who watched the film watched it 97% of the way in, proving its appeal and stickiness. #1 Ramadan Ad Worldwide (ARY News). #1 Ad Globally (Drum, AdForum). Featured on pan-regional TV channels, organically, reaching 306 million active eye-balls (out of 411 million), on news channels and talk shows. Generated $3.7 million in earned media value; the highest ever for Almosafer through a campaign. +233% brand conversations (Ramadan vs. Pre-Ramadan 2019). WE ALSO INFLUENCED PEOPLE’S SENTIMENTS TO EANR POSITIVE REACTIONS: 94.6% cross-channel positive sentiments; only those preferring religious intolerance had anything negative to say. 73% of non-Muslims exposed (to the film) said they saw Ramadan differently than before AND WITH LOW BUDGETS, IN A CHALLENGING CATEGORY VS. MARKET LEADING GLOBAL AND LOCAL BRANDS, ALMOSAFER EARNED UNPRECEDENTED BUSINESS GROWTH, BY CHALLENGING NORMS AND BEING BRAVE: +46% brand reputation as a socially-conscious and relevant Saudi brand. 36% top-of-mind awareness, increasing from 12% pre-Ramadan, while leading competitors, booking.com and flyin.com, declined to 14% and 3% respectively. +256% flight bookings vs. KPI of 100% (2019 vs. 2018). +41% hotel bookings vs. KPI of 20% (2019 vs. 2018). +64% market share increase vs. KPI of 20%, while leading competitor declined -10%. Post holidays, market share stayed even, while the competitors declined further, proving a positive longer-term impact of the campaign on the brand.