2022 Winners & Shortlists

DID YOU GET 5G?

BrandSTC
Product/Service5G NETWORK
EntrantWUNDERMAN THOMPSON Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA
CategoryConsumer Services / Business to Business
Idea Creation WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA

Summary of the work

5G is the fifth generation of cellular networks, bringing new capabilities that could enhance multiple aspects of life such as livability education & entertainment, it’s much bigger than a network improvement.1 Considering The Saudi Telecom Company (stc) is the largest mobile operator in the kingdom, its role in driving the 5th generation network was fundamental. In June of 2019, stc officially launched 5G in Saudi Arabia, becoming the first mobile operator to provide this service across main cities. As the network was growing rapidly, so did the communication, and competition got aggressive in the country with telecoms launching massive awareness campaigns, it wasn’t only in 5G specific ones, but a 5G stamp was placed on almost every ad across services. But competitor communication did more harm than good, 5G was positioned as an advanced technology of the future, one for self-driving cars and AI kitchens. To everyday people, upgrading their network seemed unnecessary, a study showed that only about 50% of Saudis would be willing to upgrade to a 5G device over the next few months. So how could stc increase adoption and subscriptions of 5G. 5G seemed to come out of nowhere, overnight consumers were bombarded with ads pushing this new technology. While stc managed to position itself as the “home of 5G” that brand differentiation did not translate into 5G adoption – because all telcos focused on “big talk” failing to address the fact that people didn’t really understand how 5G could enhance their life and why they should get it. People were asking a lot of questions, and where do they go to when they needed answers? Google. So, we went straight to the source and collaborated with google to extract as much data as possible and find out exactly what Saudis were searching for regarding 5G. while all telecoms were pouring money into massive productions, stc had an opportunity to shine with more relatable content. We invited the kingdom’s funniest comedian Sohaib, for any question they were googling, Sohaib was there to answer in his humorous style, which transformed the series from boring educational videos into fun to watch. We focused our efforts in answering 5G what & how’s for example “how is 5G better for shopping or gaming?” or “what makes 5G better than 4G?” addressing questions of multiple demographics. Every single question was taken from actual queries using the google search bar. Every video was then published on YouTube, Saudis go-to social media. Stc’s partnership with Google went beyond just receiving the data, through custom intent audience targeting, each person that went on Google and asked a question about 5G was added to a list, and the next time this person logged in to YouTube, he was shown a video addressing exactly the query he searched for. We also pushed our capabilities by using affinity audience targeting which allowed us to reach users based on their interests & habits, if you’re a gamer, you’ll receive the 5G question most

Credits

Name Company Role
Chafic Haddad Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Chief Creative Officer
Rayyan Aoun Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Executive Creative Director
Firas Ghannam Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Creative Director
Rawan Bakri Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Junior Art Director
Alanoud AlAssaf Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Copywriter
Jad Haddad Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Business Director
Dana Alkutoubi Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Head of Strategy
Joe AbouDaher Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Head of TV Production
Wael Almadani Wunderman Thompson Riyadh TV Producer
Jamil Ghrawi Wunderman Thompson Riyadh TV Producer
Mohammed Algarawi C3 Flms Executive Producer
Sohayb Godus C3 Flms Producer
Mujahed Aljumaiaah C3 Flms Producer
Faris Godus C3 Flms Director & Director of Photography
Mohammed Almanaa UM Media Director
Faisal Othman Alsaad STC Client
Abdullah Alotaibi STC Client
Hashem Aldabas STC Client
Ali Cheikhali Google Creative Strategist
Andreas Mielenhausen Google Creative Lead
Daniel Andrade Google Creative Lead
Adon Ahwach Google Senior account manager
Hanna Hajjar Google Industry Manager