2022 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for PR?

This campaign talks about how a brand used a popular cultural occasion - the Super Bowl of advertising in Saudi Arabia - to create a compelling brand initiative and a calling for businesses across the country. It also used a variety of channels and PR tactics to convey its brand's strategic storytelling as well as scale and amplify the message.

Background

Saudi National Day is THE Super Bowl of communications in Saudi Arabia. It has become the biggest and the busiest cultural moment in the past 5 years in Saudi Arabia, with a 100+ top brands actively communicating. All brands, local and global, take over PR buzz and media platforms, promoting their tributes to the country, to earn goodwill and share of voice. Competition is fierce. How could Saudi Exports Development Authority stand out and earn its own share of voice and goodwill, on this crucial culture occasion in Saudi Arabia?

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

To break through the clutter of sameness and tributes that existed, we chose to not create an ad, but to create an act - a nationwide act that mattered. Introducing: Saudi Made. An initiative that helped local businesses grow by encouraging businesses to register to be ‘Saudi Made’, by encouraging local consumers to buy more locally made products too, and that influenced the government to support those businesses to go global by helping them increase their exports to priority and high-potential markets.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

We got Saudi Exports Development Authority to do something more purposeful using Saudi National Day. It did NOT directly promote its brand like others. Instead, it promoted an unsung but crucial part of Saudi Arabia… its local businesses. Local businesses are the lifeblood of the Saudi economy. And strategically, focusing on these businesses and being purposeful, was going to help Saudi Exports Development Authority stand out on Saudi National Day. In doing so, the initiative would, strategically, also become part of the nation's 2030 vision, by supporting and enabling local businesses to thrive.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

A film on social media launched this strategic initiative, sharing success stories of Saudi Made businesses, and how they’ve travelled all over the world from the United States to Europe to Asia and the Pacific. Encouraging local businesses in Saudi Arabia to dream big. To believe that they can go global. And to carry the stamp of ‘Saudi Made’. Instantly, the initiative, being THE ONLY National Day campaign that included and supported multiple Saudi brands, caught the nation’s attention, and generated conversations across social media. Social content promoted the different Saudi Made businesses, that were going global. From steel - to coffee roasting. From power transformers - to perfumes. From dates - to bakeries. And food and beverages. The local brands featured shared the initiative with pride. And leading influential governmental figures and organizations lent their support, giving Saudi Made credibility and scalability in media.

List the results (30% of vote)

At a prestigious event organized by the Government to recognize Saudi businesses – Balaconah Awards - Saudi Made was awarded as the best National Day initiative. It won the Best Program award at NADLIB. It gained support from Turki Al Sheikh, a Saudi Minister, with 5.1 million followers, and Presidents and CEOs of leading government institutions and private firms such as Tbadul, Mwani, Labayhapp and more. It was also among the top hashtags and trending keywords in Saudi Arabia. And through ALL the buzz generated, hundreds of local brands across Saudi Arabia showed support for the initiative too and many joined in, making it the most successful initiative to promote and support local businesses in the country – ever. B2B Audience Impressions: 3.8 Million. B2B Audience Engagements: 112,600. Share of Voice: +162.58% vs Business-As-Usual. Businesses Registered: +33% vs. benchmark (1200 vs. 900). Products Registered: +125% vs. benchmark (4500 vs. 2000).

Please tell us how the work was designed / adapted for a single country / region / market.

Saudi National Day is THE Superbowl of advertising in Saudi Arabia. All brands, local and global, take over media platforms, promoting their tributes to the country, to earn goodwill and share of voice. But Saudi Exports Development Authority did something more purposeful using Saudi National Day. It did NOT directly promote its brand like others. Instead, it promoted an unsung but crucial part of Saudi Arabia… its local businesses A film on social media launched this strategic initiative, sharing success stories of Saudi Made businesses, and how they’ve travelled all over the world from the United States to Europe to Asia and the Pacific. Encouraging local businesses in Saudi Arabia to dream big. To believe that they can go global. And to carry the stamp of ‘Saudi Made’. It was also, THE ONLY National Day campaign that included and supported multiple Saudi brands, thus making it unique in Saudi Arabia.