2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Background

On September 23, of each year, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia celebrates its National Day, symbolizing the country’s resilient unity and reassuring the preservation of the Arabian pride and heritage. However, the 89th anniversary of the National Day, unlike any other year, the kingdom has experienced a perceptible change that has been developing since the launch of the country’s vision for 2030. Every industry experienced major development; new potentials have surfaced whereas brands started integrating women empowerment campaigns in their communication channels. But... Advertisements and marketing promotions overlooked a major pillar of the society’s prosperous reality; “Grandmothers”.

Describe the cultural / social / political climate in your region and the significance of your campaign within this context

It was unfamiliar to see women’s portraits, on brands’ commercials, so to witness old women, as main heroes, on any promoted publication was nearly impossible. Yet, the largest bookstore in the kingdom took a bold step, and translated the precious significance of Grandmothers, into a soulful and patriotic visual experience.

Describe the creative idea

Five senior women were selected from the five main states of the kingdom, each one adopting her hometown accent in supplicating to God, while reflecting their essence of wisdom and their spiritual impact. This TVC re-ignited the values of grandmothers in the Saudi Arabian society and reassured their genuine bond with God and country. For, as long as agencies strive to empower women, we started with the purest of them all.

Describe the strategy

We went through video ads after the recent women rights changes, we noticed that it mostly targeted and featured millennials and young females fro the first time without vale. And since Saudi is a conservative country a lot of people felt left out, especially seniors. Our strategy is to target conservative and not conservative people through grandmothers, because no matter if we agree with them or not, we love them. The approach was to use real grandmother doing what they do best, pray.

Describe the execution

The dramatic escalation of the film created an unprecedented impact and an immense patriotic feeling nationwide, adding the authenticity of the script that portrayed an honest yet proud prayer, for the safeguard and well-being of the kingdom.

Describe the results / impact

The engagement on social media platforms translated emotional reactions for individuals with their senior mothers and grandmothers, while ranking second, as the highest engaging ad among national day TVCs, with more than 8000 likes on twitter, 5000+ retweets and 600+ comments/quoted retweets. This TVC re-ignited the values of grandmothers in the Saudi Arabian society and reassured their genuine bond with God and country. For, as long as agencies strive to empower women, we started with the purest of them all.