Ramadan 2018 - Post 1 - The good, the bad and the really ugly..
Hello
hello old friends,
After
a small poll I’ve done, decided to ditch video and go back to written blogs,
it’s “my thing” apparently.
Kol
sana wento tayyebeen,
So
we live to see another Ramadan, with apparently a new set of ads (or are they
the same?)
SPOILER ALERT:
This is not a very happy blog post, if you are a client, creative or executive
in agency waiting for “mabrook, el e3lan kassar el dnia ya m3allem” or to forward
the article to your peers at work.. you wont find that here, not this time at
least..
If
you are in for some constructive criticism, please read on.
Sitting
in 4th day of Ramadan, we haven’t seen a massive flow of ads yet..
just the big telco’s, a teaser from Pepsi and some random copies here and
there.
Overall
honestly, I feel the creative output of the Egyptian ad industry is becoming
more frail year after year... We have generally been known to be the strongest creative
hub in the region, but with such outputs, I unfortunately feel we’ll be taking
a back seat very soon and lose leadership in one of the very few industries
we’re still ahead at.
If
everyone wants to play it safe and keep doing what has already worked on the
premise that “if its not broken, why fix it” aw "إللي تغلب به, إلعب به" y2ba 3aleih el
3awad.
I’ll
be mainly talking about Telecom ads in this post, cz its too long to include
anything else.. Honestly speaking, they all feel the same to me.. take out one
logo and put the other and u won’t feel a hint of a difference, they’re all
saying the same thing without a fraction of brand character infused in the copy..
Overall
the star-studded song concept feels too bland after EIGHT YEARS of
running the same idea, since Etisalat started this wave with their “2alo Magnoon” copy in
2010.. To put it in perspective, 8 years ago we were still kings of African
Football (Captain Hassan Shehata’s crew), Hosny Mubarak was still president and
Instagram was still an idea in Kevin Systrom’s sketchbook (the pre-influencer
era, fakreeno? haa7!!)
That’s
nearly a decade ago, a decade where we see the same ad with a different cast
and lyrics.. come on!
Every year since then we have seen the same concept replicated one way or the
other, get the hottest celebrities on the scene that year, put them all in a
2-3 minute song and ur set for the season.. Setting aside any regard for endorsement
value, ROI, brand role, message association or even distinction from competition..
Just something to win over the crowds w khalas..
But
seriously, 8 years later, I think it’s a shame for our creatives not to be able
to come up with something different, OR to put their foot down and tell their clients
“Sorry, we will not do another celebrity song”.
Why
Etisalat was so successful in 2010 was because the novelty factor was there,
concept was fresh, you were eager to see what they have to say and the
happiness that came with it..
bas
el kofta di is becoming too repetitive and tasteless.
A
very harsh introduction to a more lenient deep-dive, I hope. Don’t get me
wrong, the ads are not bad (not all of them, at least), and I actually enjoy
them, but I’m just addressing the fact that life has to go on beyond Oprette el
7elm el 3arabi that we see every year.
If
people see it coming already, you have less chances of scoring with them.
1.
Orange – جاري
يا جاري
The
closest to my heart, the one with the strongest insight; that while your
neighbors are literally the closest people to you, yet you feel very distant to
them.. So take Ramadan as a good chance to reconnect and get close to them..
Mixing the most prominent neighbor types (the noisy, the nosy, the grumpy, the
silo-ed and the trouble maker) along with a personal favorite of mine; Hani Shenouda’s score forShams El Zanaty’s OST makes the ad an instant fan favorite (gotta give
credit to my good friend Hisham Kharma for seeing the gem in this track and
remixing it twice; a techno remix in 1998 and a tribal chillout version in 2017).
Maybe
this feels a bit off Mobinil/Orange’s Ramadan look and feel of the past couple
of years, we’ve seen them do their version of songs with an Egyptian taste,
real people, real cast; real stories be it with Dayman Ma3 ba3d in 2012,
Fa3el Khier in 2015, Mel madfa3 lel madfa3 in2016 and so on.. but with changes in communication management heads between
telco’s, its normal to see a different flavor to what was originally a
consistent brand tone.
2.
Vodafone – نجوم
رمضان السنة دي
The
buildup there was quite nice, when they released pre-Ramadan copies for Saad Samir, Ahmed Hegazy and Ahmed Fathy, then
followed up with the full song showing us how the story builds up.
The
link is nice, and the connection between teaser and revealer copies is quite
neat honestly. But I’m not sure how are football players Ramadan’s stars if the
World Cup starts on the first day of Eid, so why would I see them as Ramadan
stars? They should be training in Ramadan.. lol
A
bit of a distant link for me, but I won’t be too anal about it.
But
as far as I’m concerned, it’s the same ad of the last 3 years, with just new
faces, refresh your memory with below
ڤودافون، قوتك فى عيلتك رمضان 2015 –
ڤودافون – العيلة الكبيرة رمضان 2016 -
3. Etisalat
– احنا مش بنهزر
Wallahi
shakloko bet-hazzaro bel e3lan da..
The
only thing that I see consistent in it is el mobalgha.. overdone in every way..
Random Ramadan stars overdoing everything in an overdone copy.. although Sherine
Reda of course soft-spot gamed.. still doesn’t justify, I don’t like the ad
nevertheless..
Also
I am really,
REALLY bothered by the fact that Mohamed Ramadan is being over
glorified in every appearance, be it a movie, series or ad.. The guy is
talented, gotta give him that, but he’s not God, because apparently that’s the
direction we’re heading; being last in line-up of the ad, King Tut’s casket,
the music crescendo, the lyrics.. la2 mesh Michael Jackson tale3 fel e3lan
ya3ni..
In
case you haven’t noticed, he referred to himself as possessing “شعبية إلهية” in the last copy
Also,
what the f*** is wrong with Samira Said’s voice.. I was listening to it in the
car and I thought it was a Minion sound effect.. howa fi eh?
4. WE
– Mobile Internet
Remember
when I said not all ads are bad, this is the bad one.
I
honestly have expected much more of them on their launch year, but looking at
what they’ve done with their logo design for starters, then the Montakhab
Airplane design (let alone the Salah fiasco), this is not too surprising to me
now..
Anyway,
let’s not grill them much, with the competition they’re up against, the ad will
probably die out very soon.. And that is when competition is really bad this
year, let’s hope they learn the lesson by the time competition get back in
shape.
Brand
specifics aside, and along from the repetitive song concept which I’m sure I made
very clear, there are some other factors that I see are
Copy duration
Kheir
ya gama3a.. shwaya shwaya you’ll stop competing in Lynx and Effies and go head
to head in short movie festivals..
Copy
durations are becoming TOO long.. 2 and 3 and 5 minutes are NOT OK..
What
kind of story are you trying to tell anyway.
I don’t
believe this is the biggest bang for your buck, in a country where there’s
a. No TV rating system (in case you didnt know, TV ratings in
Egypt have been suspended since May 2017).. Agencies have been sadly relying on
Twitter to know the good programs; Twitter, a platform of around 2 million
users in a country of 100+ million.. So you really don’t know if your ad if
being viewed or not, just qualitative assurances.. and dont fool yourselves with trending reports and view counts on Youtube, you know its all paid, so its a show of who has more digital budgets, nothing else.
b. An economic crash after floatation
c. A generation of viewers who are not on TV in the first place,
paying money for programs, platforms and bypasses to watch content without the interruption
of your commercial messages, and if they sadly sit through it, either they skip
it, watch the first 3-5 seconds of it or they watch it with sound off.
Copies
should be crisp, to the point yet entertaining to the audience you’re
addressing..
Over
the past year, I’ve been in sessions with Google, Facebook and the likes
talking about 6 second ads... and we’re serving 120 second++??
Literally
money down the drain.. I’m sure there’s a lot more you can do with these
production, celebrity royalties and airing budgets… a LOT more.
Choice of celebrities
When
we were studying celebrity endorsement in marketing and advertising books, by
definition the celebrity should
a. Be unique in some aspect of his persona (look, character,
attitude…something).. Johnny Depp with Dior Sauvage masalan.. perfect fit.
b. Have something in common with the brand
c. Add to the brand
d. Most importantly he should not have done any advertising
work with competition.. preferably no advertising at all kaman, then people
would remember him for your brand only.
Look
at the George Clooney-Nespresso partnership.. George Clooney has been doing Nespresso
ads since 2006, so for 12 years he’s been consistently hammering on the
Nespresso offering, taking it from a brand no one knew to a household name with
a machine in most of their target audience’s homes.
He
even took it a step further, George Clooney also serves as a member of the
Nespresso Sustainability Advisory Board, collaborating on ideas and solutions
towards improving the lives and futures of coffee farmers (check full story here).
So he literally became part of the company, because their agendas are so in
line that he can confidently represent the company as part of his belief system
and encourage people to buy its products because he trusts it so much.
Taking
it closer to home, when Adel Imam introduced Vodafone’s “Power To you” concept in
a 1 month stint that ended with the Jan 25 revolution (which I think was their
strongest corporate copy to date), that was f***ing powerful, the biggest
Middle Eastern star with the biggest Telco in the region, the marriage made
sense…
Neboss
b2a 3al konafa bel renga that we have here.. just topline examples, I’m sure
there will be more if we dig deeper.
- Donia Samir Ghanem and Hend Sabry both being featured on Etisalat’s “2alo Magnoon” copy, then again in this year’s Orange copy..
- Hossam Ghali did a couple for Vodafone himself as part of Al Ahly (since VF is lead sponsor), then appeared solo in Orange.
- Zafer Abdin in Orange this year.. already was in OrangeEagle just a couple of months ago and previously playing the exact same character in Vodafone Him/Her a couple of years ago (the suit, the watch, the boat, the girl.. the whole shebang really, just with a different brand)…
- El King b2a qessa
tania.. Mohamed Mounir, didn’t feature in one, but TWO competitor ads, he did “2alo Magnoon” also (which
was massive because he never did ads before that, novelty factor again).. Bas
el zaher el le3ba 3agabeto, cz Vodafone did a yearlong campaign with him
before he featured on Orange’s ad this Ramadan… eh ya gama3a.. el brand maloosh
ahl yes2alo 3aleih?
And I honestly don’t think its any of the celebrity’s faults.. at the end of the day its business for them.. if brand X comes and offers me money for representing their brand while knowing that I’ve already worked for brands Y and Z, then why would I care about your brand, if you apparently don’t.
So I think we should trying thinking harder about who would be a good fit to your brand and message rather than recycling celebrities who have been overused time and time again.
Also
one last thing… not everyone can sing guys, Nelly Karim was a pain to listen to..
Lack of brand role
None of the
songs (I wouldn’t say ads, because they aren’t) have a clear brand role defined
in the copies.. With the exception of Vodafone that maybe linked it adequately
by saying that “Elli gay aqwa” reference to the World Cup, which takes me back
to the point that it isn’t Ramadan relevant.. lol
But
generally speaking the copies should serve as a strong linkage between brand
role, celebrity and ad format.. So if the ad format is already مهري to its core, celebrity usage is as illustrated
above.. a natural result would be a lost brand in the middle.
At the end, really sorry about the long article, sorry about the harsh critique,
but even more sorry for the state we’ve reached... I’ve been a proud member for
this industry for the past 10+ years (with no interest in scrutinizing these
ads, I have no competing brands on the scene) and I would hate see it heading
to a position where we are just recycling ads.. we are better than that, YOU
are better than that.
Hope it’s a wake-up call to all my friends and colleagues in this
realm..
Not to belittle all the hard work put into these copies, I know how many sleepless nights between briefing, ideation, approvals, production and post it took.. but i feel it would be much better utilized over an original idea/concept.
Let’s reclaim our glory in this industry, we really do kick ass work.. let’s show it!
Not to belittle all the hard work put into these copies, I know how many sleepless nights between briefing, ideation, approvals, production and post it took.. but i feel it would be much better utilized over an original idea/concept.
Let’s reclaim our glory in this industry, we really do kick ass work.. let’s show it!
Till we meet next time, promise it won’t be that long.
Hope you found it useful,
Cheerio
3omdaz
VodaCoke..Red vanguards inspire
Hello friends,
It's been a while since I've written here.. in a blog format at least..
Due to a lot of reasons:
It's been a while since I've written here.. in a blog format at least..
Due to a lot of reasons:
- Mashaghel el dnia, work and the usual rat-race
- The current happenings around us weren't too suitable for an ad-critique.. falls to the bottom of the priority list in such circumstances.
- While there were numerous pieces of work in 2016, good pieces of work that sell a product or a brand.. There were little that inspired people.
That was until yesterday.. when (by coincidence) two of the biggest advertisers in the country released 2 beautiful pieces of work to charm us, intrigue us and most importantly inspire us to be a better version of ourselves.
Vodafone:
Evolution is a trait of life, we all evolve everyday..
Our minds, bodies and talents evolve.. till we reach a peak, the pinnacle of our accomplishments.. before we pass on the torch to a new generation, to pass the learnings and have them build on the foundations we've laid.. this is how humanity works, each one continues on what their predecessors have started.
Vodafone touched upon it beautifully with a spot that touches the hearts of many, playing on sports, art and dance, in an attempt to gather as much interested audiences as possible.
While the idea is not totally fresh, the craftmanship of the copy is beautiful.. and the space that online viewing provides (vs TV), gives more space for longer ads to tell more beautiful stories.
The choice of cast is very smart too, celebrities that people aspire to, consider to be their pride and joy in a time when there are little idols to look up to.
I think the only flaw of the ad is the release date, a time where people are already not too happy with the quality of their 4G connections, even at test phase..
I personally was very cynical about it when I shared the ad after seeing it.
Maybe they should have waited till the service is 100% up and running, for people to experience the strength of a 4G connection to feel the evolution highlighted in the ad... and to dodge a couple of sour comments...
*NB: Vodafone being Vodafone, can afford pretty much anything and anyone, no-brainer.. We've seen that time and time again.. they even signed THE ONLY non commercial celebrity in their beautiful 2011 spot with Adel Emam.
Makes me question the stopping power of any VF ad... is it always about who VF paid to come feature in their ad? or will we see a VF ad that is more reliant on the idea than the mouthpiece?
Not to belittle the impact a celebrity has on pushing a commercial message, but I believe an idea should live at the core of creative message, not the celebrity.
Food for thought :)
Coca-Cola:
Coke has always been a driving force in this market, as well as globally.. Time and time again they have proven their innovative approach to marketing in general and their campaigns in specific.
Over the past years, they have cemented themselves as راعي المشجع المصري.. a non-existent space they've carved for themselves and pushed away any other brand that would dare assume the same (including their big blue rival).. No one owns Egyptian football like Coke.. no one.
This time wasn't any different, similar to VF they have used a star-studded spot but solely focused on football.. Mido, Medhat Shalaby, Hazem Emam, Zizo, Karim Shehata...etc.. Difference here is, the IDEA is the hero of this ad, not the celebrity.
We all love Egypt, whether you want to admit it or not.. with all the shit we're going through, we still love it and believe in its people and potential.. else we wouldnt be still here, or all stand in solidarity whenever we're hit by crisis, or shed a tear when moved by a patriotic song... Deep down inside, this country lives in us.
And that's what Coke played on, let me hypothetically jump in their brainstorming meeting room there and reenact the discussion:
"if we cant talk politics, why don't we use football to remind people of how much they love their country"
If we can't use a flag as a country mnemonic, use the football jersey..
But not everyone has a football jersey, right? Well why dont we just give it to them..
Will cost us a lot? who cares, for the coming years anyone who will see Egypt's football jersey will remember Coke... Its cheaper than a TV campaign for sure.
While looking fairly simple, I'm sure there's a logistical nightmare behind it.. when to exchange, how to exchange, what will happen to the old jersey.. a lot of questions that make the execution hell-like for the marketing team and their agencies.. but i'm sure it will be well worth it.
The conclusion of both campaigns is that in times like these, recession, devaluation, social depression and terrorist attacks.. The mass morale levels have hit the floor, people are looking for inspiration anywhere around them.. anyone that says anything positive will get superhero support.
"Never waste a crisis" is a very wise saying that can apply to pretty much any field of business, in times of crisis there will always be opportunity.
As you see below, there a general slowdown in adspend in all of MENA, not just Egypt, each market for its own reason, falling oil prices, conflict in Yemen, political instability...etc. That said, 2017 won't be any better as there will be more pressure on brands to cut on costs, the obvious bucket.. guess what... advertising :)
With that in mind, there are less players on the advertising scene.. Therefore with less noise competition, those who play with smart strategies and placements will win BIG in the hearts, minds and pockets of consumers
While it would be absurdly naive to assume that brands create heartwarming ads from the goodness of their hearts, there has to be a commercial win obviously. But a marketer that achieves that commercial win while inspiring people and winning over their their hearts, would've achieved the holy grail of marketing.
Bottomline: Bravo CocaCola, Bravo Vodafone... keep them coming!
Ramadan 2015 - Post 8 - Honorable Mentions
http://scoopempire.com/ramascoops-2015-honorable-mentions/
Ramadan 2015 - Post 7 - The Concrete Jungle
http://scoopempire.com/ramascoops-2015-the-concrete-jungle
Ramadan 2015 - Post 6 - CocaCola Changes The Ramadan Advertising Game
http://scoopempire.com/ramascoops-cocacola-changes-the-ramadan-advertising-game
Ramadan 2015 - Post 4 - Big Blue Strikes Again… Is This Last Year’s Ad?
http://scoopempire.com/ramascoops-2015-big-blue-strikes-again-is-this-last-years-ad-pepsi
Ramadan 2015 - Post 2 - The Telecom Fight
http://scoopempire.com/ramascoops-ramadan-2015-battle-of-the-telecoms/#.VYqhWhuqqko
Ramadan 2015 - Post 1 - Disappointing start
Link to Post release 1 :)
http://scoopempire.com/ramascoops-disappointing-start-for-2015-ramadan-ads
http://scoopempire.com/ramascoops-disappointing-start-for-2015-ramadan-ads
ArabNet Beirut - March 2015 - Panel Discussion: Social Influencers and Brand Sentiment
Hi folks
I was honored to be part of the panel discussion entitled: Social Influencers and Brand Sentiment.. this was part of the prestigious ArabNet Beirut Conference
The session was moderated by Amer Tabesh, Producer and Presenter in Future TV
Fellow panelists were:
- Peggy Khoury - Social Media Manager - Phoenicia and Vendome Hotels
- Nadia Mneimneh - Fashionsta and Instagrammer
- Gino Rady - Lebanese Blogger and Social Media Icon
Check it out..
Hope you find it useful :)
Cheers
3omdaz
I was honored to be part of the panel discussion entitled: Social Influencers and Brand Sentiment.. this was part of the prestigious ArabNet Beirut Conference
The session was moderated by Amer Tabesh, Producer and Presenter in Future TV
Fellow panelists were:
- Peggy Khoury - Social Media Manager - Phoenicia and Vendome Hotels
- Nadia Mneimneh - Fashionsta and Instagrammer
- Gino Rady - Lebanese Blogger and Social Media Icon
Check it out..
Hope you find it useful :)
Cheers
3omdaz
The campaign that saved Ramadan 2014..
Every year, comes out 1 campaign that becomes an icon for
years to come.. From “Bibo far2a3 Gigi” in the early 2000s, to Melody Tunes (ol Ingelesh, ol za tayem) in
2007, Maxibon “Abooya” & Mobinil Dayman Ma3 Ba3d Song in 2012.. this year,
it is beyond no doubt that Tecno Mobile is this campaign.
The situations are real, everyday hiccups that you find yourself in and only a smart phone can help..
Speaking of real situations, we actually beat you to a donkey selfie a couple of months ago on a business trip to upper Egypt :)
From another stand, the campaign seems to be getting a lot of heat for 2 reasons:
- A lot of people look at the campaign as an elitist one, looking down at doormen, mechanics, makwageyya...etc.. Well the fact of the matter is, if you're already one of that class, you'll probably just find it funny because these are situations that you come across in your day to day..
Haters will always be haters... But that wave seems to be gaining popularity - The phones sells itself as the "Smartphone for everyone"... I dont think "everyone" can particularly afford a phone that is 2300-2800 LE... Coming to think about it, the caliber we saw in the ad would be barely making this amount of money a month, let alone spare it on a smart phone for their leisure.. so I'm not sure if the disconnect here came from the client brief (which didnt highlight the price), or the agency that took their humor way too far to actually omit the fact they're actually going off brief..
Either way, being so humorous about a certain chunk of society, while giving them a phone they can't afford will definitely loop back to point #1, that you're actually making fun of them...
Also one piece of advice to Tecno Mobile social media handlers, make your dialogue on Facebook in Arabic, immediately... Some people are already not too happy with the ad but are asking for the phone anyway, at least reply back in the language they prefer; don't talk from your ivory tower up in the sky.. they wont like it and they'll lash you for it... soon
Concluding remark... great ad, loved the scripts and the humor... I just hope it sells well with such a hefty price-tag.
Thank you BBDO and Ali Ali
Thank you BBDO and Ali Ali
Thats all this time..
Till we meet again,
3omdaz
Ramadan 2014 - The Sh*t Ads post
Hello Friends,
Hope Ramadan is treating you well so far..
As we approach the end of Ramadan with less than 10 days ahead of us, I took all the time possible to wait for these to counter the damage they've done to us over the past 20 days.. But since there wasn't much into their campaigns than what we actually saw... so i'll have to crown them the worst of Ramadan 2014
Cotonil:
Being the local underwear brand in the country, it was no surprise the Cotonil will go with a local activity.. But this, this is just taking local and throwing it out of the window...
With a series of very frail teasers that leave you not longing to keep track of what comes next; they come to us with this copy.. A TVC that says nothing about the brand, humiliates Hany Ramzy by dancing in his undies (a sight probably no one would want to see) and destroying a classic piece of Egyptian culture.. Fouad El Mohandes' and Soad Hosny's musical from Ganab El Safir (1966).. Even worse, they haven't even paid the rights to the music, thus why it's been taken off air.... El Hamdulellah!
A silly copy that was wisely replaced with this copy.. Which i think is a much better alternative, but the damage has been done anyways... The sight of Hany Ramzy's thighs will probably stick in my memory for a while..
Bank Misr:
Mega Cookies:
Hope Ramadan is treating you well so far..
As we approach the end of Ramadan with less than 10 days ahead of us, I took all the time possible to wait for these to counter the damage they've done to us over the past 20 days.. But since there wasn't much into their campaigns than what we actually saw... so i'll have to crown them the worst of Ramadan 2014
Cotonil:
With a series of very frail teasers that leave you not longing to keep track of what comes next; they come to us with this copy.. A TVC that says nothing about the brand, humiliates Hany Ramzy by dancing in his undies (a sight probably no one would want to see) and destroying a classic piece of Egyptian culture.. Fouad El Mohandes' and Soad Hosny's musical from Ganab El Safir (1966).. Even worse, they haven't even paid the rights to the music, thus why it's been taken off air.... El Hamdulellah!
A silly copy that was wisely replaced with this copy.. Which i think is a much better alternative, but the damage has been done anyways... The sight of Hany Ramzy's thighs will probably stick in my memory for a while..
Bank Misr:
OK so weak creative with
bad humor is one thing, but an entirely stolen concept that has absolutely no
cultural relevance is just absurd.
Riverdance has risen to
stardom in the mid 90s when introduced to stageon EuroVision by an Irish couple…
So its not only pertaining to a certain culture, its actually very specific to
a certain family that seem to have made this a profession.. The relevance of
this copy to anything Egyptian has raised a lot of eyebrows and created a major
wave of questioning and ridicule on social media, such as the below.
Recipe of a failed copy, a bad song with inaudible lyrics and incoherent choreography that is not even in sync.
What really bothers me actually is the fact that for the past couple of years, the Bank Masr people have always come to us with pretty decent copies (Corporate Copy and and Masra7eyyat in 2012).. Too bad they approved this concept this year..
Mega Cookies:
OK.. so I took my sweet
time with this, watched all the copies, over and over again… Asked friends
inside and outside the industry; thinking that something is wrong with me and I
cannot get it..
Turns out that everyone
share the sentiments to the Mega Cookies ad… a horrible set of ads that have
nothing to do with….. anything, really!
From standing at the
edge of someone deathbed to getting robbed to a Korean ping-pong…. What are
they trying to say here… seriously?
I’ll do my best to
decipher the message here… amongst all life’s pressures, Mega Cookies will take
you out of it all on a 5 minute journey of indulgence that you won’t feel
anything else around you?
I think the team at
Nestle thought that it would be a good idea to take things over the edge and
take the risk of an eccentric copy, as they did with the first Maxbon copy of 2012.. but this one was taking it a bit too far..
The result? A major
backfire in Nestle’s face that dropped brand love to subzero levels in a jiffy…
khosara!
Concluding remark
I'm not writing all of this just to shoot someone in the foot, hope the makers of these ads take this critique with an open heart, use the learnings and run with them for a better stronger come back next season
Till we meet again,
Cheerio
3omdaz
The Telecom Post - Ramadan Galak :)
Hello friends,
Welcome back
Welcome back
As we all know; Ramadan is the biggest season of advertising
in Egypt; with the highest TV viewership, the most expensive ads and of course;
the year’s best creative output.
Last week, we’ve discussed the work of both poles of the CDS
rivalry.. Comes next is a rivalry that is not any less fierce, the competition
on Telecom Operators.
In this post we’ll discuss the works of all 3 operators.. so
without further ado.. let’s dig in J
Vodafone
Just to shed some perspective on the matter, the cost of airing
a 30 second TV spot in Ramadan is obviously higher than normal months; roughly
around 40-50 thousand EGP (yes, every single time you air it).. so by the time
you went to get yourself a bottle of water or ran to the bathroom for a quick
pee; you probably missed around half a million pounds of advertising.. That
makes the Ramadan budget for any advertiser a significant chunk of their full
year spend.
Vodafone this year decided to play things differently,
instead of dumping millions and millions of pounds on a TV copy that will get
aired along with 10 other ads in the same ad-break; they tackled things differently
here; Take a 30 minute segment on MBC Masr, brand it completely; get 3 rising
comedians (ex Bassem Youssef entourage; Khalid Mansour, Ayman Wattar &
Shady Alfonse) to present it for you…. Cherry on top, you give out a 100,000
EGP A DAY to a lucky winner!
Coming to think about it, the cost of all these together
could be end up generating efficiencies for the Telco giant. (3 million pounds
for the prizes, say 5-8 million pounds for the 30 minute airtime, plus the
production cost and the Trio fees).. So assuming the whole project cost them 15
million pounds, it is still cheaper than what they would have spent on airing a
normal copy.
For those who haven’t seen it, the idea of the program is
really simple; we’ll pick 5 numbers at random and if you’ a Vodafone customer have
these numbers in your phone number (in any order), and sent Vodafone an SMS; you
get in the draw for a chance to win 100,000 EGP… simple J
Being the brilliant script writers they are; along with the
creative agency’s creative team; Khalid, Ayman and Shady always find innovative
ways to make the selection of the 5 numbers quite intriguing, witty and fun… I
have only seen bits and pieces of the program but I honestly liked what I saw..
I urge you to watch some and judge for yourself.. they’re available here on VF’s Youtube channel.
While the choice of the anchors of the show is quite smart; I’m
not sure if they would appeal to the full audience of Vodafone..
While Khalid, Ayman and Shady are pretty good scriptwriters, actors and
comedians, I feel that their use jargon and sarcasm of certain situations;
would only appeal to the A/B class segment… I’m not sure if you ask a taxi
driver about the opening sequence of the program; he’ll recognize that the trio
is actually reenacting Daft Punk’s Get Lucky.. he’ll see a silly clip of 3 guys
in shiny suits, wigs and a motorbike helmet (nice helmet btw, Shady).
One other flaw that this project has, is that the whole
investment has been made only on one channel, so all the efforts there are
focused on the MBC Masr audience only.. so while all the other advertisers are
relying on a push approach, where they push their copies onto the ad
breaks of popular Ramadan TV serials and programs. Vodafone here applies a
pull approach, where they are relying that the word of mouth the competition
will generate will pull the audience to the MBC Masr screen at 10 pm..
I see this very risky because nowadays, and especially in
Ramadan, people are becoming more content driven rather than channel driven..
So gone are the days where you would sit infront of one TV channel and waiting
for whatever content it will throw at you.. You now hold your remote control
and zap along until you find a piece of content that is interesting to you..
This makes the advertisers’ job to try and widen their reach as much as they
can to capture as much as possible of their target audience with their
messaging.. In Ramadan specifically, people know exactly what serial they want
to watch, when they want to watch it and on which channels (plus the re-runs if
they missed the first airing)… So assuming that you might capture their
attention by being on air for 30 minutes on one channel could be a bit naïve..
As far as a non-MBC Masr viewer is concerned, Vodafone is not doing anything this Ramadan.
As far as a non-MBC Masr viewer is concerned, Vodafone is not doing anything this Ramadan.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the program, a lot actually.. I just hope this doesn’t kill its flow.. They have a good platform, good ideas, an amazing crew that can get them places… If people get to see them properly!
A quick counterargument to myself though, if they’re giving out a 100 thousand pounds a day, you might as well want to tune in and see if you got lucky.
Great job to all colleagues on this project.. Kudos J
Mobinil
This is the kind of campaign that grows on you after a
while, initially I hated it, bit by bit I started getting dragged into it… and
now I LOVE it every time I see it.
Playing on the insight that people actually become pretty
slow in Ramadan (especially this year with the long fasting hours, the scorching
heat and just dealing with other fasting people), the discussion does really
become that at some points of time… “was that me or you, did I ask for this or you
just… uhmm…. Huh….?”... Who wouldn’t relate to that.
What I love about this one is the attention to detail in all
aspects of the copy, the redundancy in the discussion, the confusion, the cast
and the punchlines just make it a pleasure to watch every time..
My favorite part of the 3 copies are the discussions that
happen..
·
Heya di… bas mesh heya di..
ana mesh faker ay 7aga.. 3ata, enta faker 7aga?
·
Ya ostaz law sama7t
mateddakhalsh beini w bein el madam… hahahaha.. classic
·
Ya ostaz keda mesh 7aneftar
fel beit
Hatooli el copywriter abooso… Brilliant campaign, want to see it over and over again.
End note: One thing about it though, it has been a signature for Mobinil to produce a brilliant idea that will get people to talk about, with zero recollection of the message... so people will always remember the guy fighting the cheese stand at the supermarket, or being confused in the shop... but no one will remember what was the offer Mobinil was advertising in the first place... food for thought :)
Honorable mention – 7arreefet el net campaign:
Although this campaign has actually been airing for the past
month or two, but I want to take the chance to salute the team behind this one
as well.. Easily my favorite campaign of the year.
Again, the choice of cast, the situations and the reactions are just hilarious… I personally reenact the Hashtag copy with my son 2-3 times a day.. just hilarious.
Again, the choice of cast, the situations and the reactions are just hilarious… I personally reenact the Hashtag copy with my son 2-3 times a day.. just hilarious.
Aside from the comedy on Hashtag, Selfie and Tag situations;
they also got situations that really ONLY 7arreefet el net would understand,
like the Ahmed Sheeba copy (which I personally didn’t know what it really meant
till a friend showed me the original situation being imitated)
Beautiful campaign… just beautiful\
Etisalat
This one comes to us from my friends at King Tut Playground (ex
Leo Burnett’s Mohammed Hamdalla’s new venture).. I really like this one as
well.
The insights there are quite vivid to everyone, yet the KTP team did a great job putting them all together, to bring us to the conclusion that we really need to change how we operate as things are indeed moving very fast around us..
Who now doesn’t see a 2 year old using a tablet better than adults, weird kids in weird clothes and haircuts that change every 2 months.. The hash sign has always been there on telephone dialpads, nothing fancy there.. until the launch of Twitter, skinny jeans (and its 90s version of bantalo esteretch) have always been a part of a girl’s wardrobe, till a couple of years ago where they crawled into men’s fashion as well..
The insights there are quite vivid to everyone, yet the KTP team did a great job putting them all together, to bring us to the conclusion that we really need to change how we operate as things are indeed moving very fast around us..
Who now doesn’t see a 2 year old using a tablet better than adults, weird kids in weird clothes and haircuts that change every 2 months.. The hash sign has always been there on telephone dialpads, nothing fancy there.. until the launch of Twitter, skinny jeans (and its 90s version of bantalo esteretch) have always been a part of a girl’s wardrobe, till a couple of years ago where they crawled into men’s fashion as well..
The world now is REALLY moving too fast now; as rightfully
said in the copy (إللي
ماجددش, إختفي - Those who don’t renovate… disappear)
Great insights, great art direction.. great copy.
Bravo KTP
Telecom Egypt
Telecom Egypt come back this year after last year’s disaster
copy (Dawwar Gowa Zatak) with a pretty emotional
copy..
Reminding us that Telecom Egypt has been a key participant
in the important events throughout Egypt’s history; using real insights and real
situations.. They have always been there indeed, from the Suez Canal
nationalization, through the grey phone with the round keypad that every home
in Egypt had, the internet dial up modem, to the day where mobiles were launched in Egypt (with Nokia
Banana and Ericsson 788); when it actually cost you like 3 pounds per minute (w
ne2fel el telephone b mofta7 el zero w keda)….lots of good memories with
landline J
These aside, I really love how they played on the revolution
situation; the telecom blackout between Jan 28th-30th when
we all went back to basics and started dialing landlines all over again, great
manifestation of it in the ad, where the protestor literally throws his mobile
phone away and picks up the landline phone..
One fallout here, the overkill of Amir Eid and his Cairokee crew
is becoming a bit too much.. I said it once in the Masr El Kheir ad and I’m
saying it again.. The point about celebrity endorsement is novelty and
enjoyment.. I don’t think getting them to sing in your ad is new, nor does it
add any joy to it, as I’ve already heard them a million times before..
If I were them, I would stop taking ad contracts for a while, if this drags longer I think it will actually hurt their career where people will be bored of hearing them already, they’re all over the place.
Again, don’t get me wrong, I love the Cairokee crew and really admire their talent, but hearing them in one ad is great, hearing them in 50 ads is exhausting your talent.
If I were them, I would stop taking ad contracts for a while, if this drags longer I think it will actually hurt their career where people will be bored of hearing them already, they’re all over the place.
Again, don’t get me wrong, I love the Cairokee crew and really admire their talent, but hearing them in one ad is great, hearing them in 50 ads is exhausting your talent.
One last thing worth mentioning, while Telecom Egypt has
indeed been part of the Egyptian culture, they’re fading away.. with mobile
phones reaching 100%+ on penetration, the decline on landline subscriptions and
the high reliance on wireless connectivity in everything.. Telecom Egypt should
definitely find a way to get back in the game (be it by introducing the 4th
Telecom Operator or other solutions)… I would steal a quote from their friends
in Etisalat.. (إللي ماجددش,
إختفي - Those who don’t renovate… disappear)..
Hope they learn the lesson and action it… before it’s too late.
That’s all I got for you this time around
See you when I see you J
Till next time, stay safe..
Till next time, stay safe..
3omdaz
Big Blue strikes back - Pepsi Ramadan 2014
Hello friends,
It is without doubt that Pepsi has always been a moving
force in the Egyptian advertising scene.. Creating ads that leave a mark in our
memory for ages now.. For the past couple of years they've been quite idle,
leaving Coke to dominate the ad scene and rise to the spotlight... Until last
year..
Ramadan 2013 was a game changer for the CSD market, when
Pepsi brought us this wonderful copy that took us back to our childhood days
and brought tears to everyone’s eyes..
Worked out beautifully for them, Pepsi ad was the talk of town
and our FB newsfeeds turned Blue overnight..
What we’re about to witness this year won’t be any different,
I am writing this only 1 hour after the release of the Pepsi Ramadan 2014 ad on
Youtube; it hasn’t gone on TV yet; and my newsfeed is already FLODDED with
shares of the Pepsi film..
Now this is a very emotional copy, well written; well casted
and well shot.. Including the biggest and brightest stars of the past.. be it
Mama Nagwa & Bo2loz, Four M, The Egyptian Squad of 1990, Hesham Abbas &
7ameed or the star of this year’s copy; George Sidhom.. For those who don’t
know, George Sidhom has been terribly ill for the past 10+ years and was nearly in
vegetative state, bringing him back was a truly pleasant surprise.
While this is a great piece of work indeed; there are 2
things that I don’t quite get about the copy.
- The ad does not give a Ramadan feel … So while gathering prominent figures of the Egyptian showbiz scene; none of them have anything to do with Ramadan (with the exception of the Boogi w Tamtam).. Last year they got all Ramadan characters, so maybe this year they run out of cast? Or is the point here is to “nekammel lammetna” regardless?
- There’s a big disconnect in
the demographic targeting of this ad vs what Pepsi is doing globally.. So in
their global World Cup TVC, they have Janelle Monae singing in the background; a singer only known to the youngsters (and
Nikki Minaj in the one before); clearly targeting teens and tweens.. Now they come in this copy and get a band formed in 1979, crew of a legendary masra7eyya that broke stage in 1981 and a song duo that was a smash-hit alright; but in 1992.. During my marketing studies, kan fi Professor tayyeb ebn 7alal that told us that
Pepsi talks to 16-24s.. if that is still the case, then let me assure you that this target probably has
no idea who are the people in the ad in the first place…
So for a 20 year old, Four M had stopped singing by the time he/she was 2 and he/she weren't even conceived when Egypt made it to the World Cup with this squad. Personally speaking, at the age of 29 I had trouble recognizing Gamal Abdel Hamid or Hesham Yakan..
I had the same comment on last year’s copy honestly, that spoke to the 80s generation.. This year they even took it a step further by talking to the 70s generation… Let’s see, maybe in a couple of years’ time we’ll see a Pepsi ad starring Naguib El Ri7ani and Sharafanta7.The direction of the company for the past year or so has been #Yalla_Now... now mnein bas... momken tb2a #Walla_Zaman... azbat!
Nevertheless, it is indeed a great copy that I’m sure will
touch the hearts of millions of Egyptians this year..
That said, it doesn’t just stop at the copy.. The whole
objective (which will probably be revealed in days to come) and was apparent in
the last 30 seconds of the ad; is for you to take a picture of an old “lamma”
you had and renact with the same people and send it to their website.. once you
do, they’ll collate all the pictures and light up the Fanoos in AbdelMon3em
Riad square… very smart
So what do you think…. will we see more people sharing old pictures of themselves or their names written on a Coke can?
This is the first year that I cannot foresee a winner... as there is real competition..
We’ll have to wait and see
Stay tuned
Cheers
Cheers
3omdaz
Ramadan 2014 - Post 1 - CocaCola a7la ma3....?
Hello friends,
Ramadan Karim
Ramadan Karim
Welcome back, I long to connect virtually with all of you
kol sana, your feedback is what keeps me coming back every year with more
passion and drive to give you some useful timekillers for your reading
pleasures…
If this is your first time reading this, enjoy the ride
(this is an advertising critique blog btw)! J
It’s no secret that Ramadan is becoming of less intensity
since 2011.. With the current country conditions, economy slowdown, high inflation
of advertising prices as well as a horrible business year in 2013 that affected
nearly all marketing budgets of 2014.. making advertisers more cautious about
where they’ll deploy their monies, thus making Ramadan a bit of a question mark
rather than a non-missable advertising festival.. fa yeegi el marketer men dol
y2ollak tab mana afokk Ramadan b 3 normal months and still generate the same
viewership.. so its a trade off really..
So instead of advertisers fighting over who gets the first
spot after Iftar, willing to pay up to double price for a premium position ad;
we now see merely 3-4 ads in a 6 hour post-Iftar viewership period in the first
day of Ramadan.
See, Ramadan is a game of muscle, so it doesn’t just stop on
who can make a good ad... It’s also about who has the weight to keep airing
that ad for a full month.. So they literally put their money where their mouth
is… Add to that some mandate of advance payments from media suppliers so you
find yourself paying millions of pounds in advance vs paying in 60-75 days post
airing..
All these reasons combined make us see less ads than we did in years before, and
that is why a lot of advertisers are now moving into other high impact
alternatives that are relatively cheaper than TV; such as Digital Media, Youtube, On Ground Activations…etc
So I’ll quickly recap on the ads that actually did make it to TV screens in
the first day of Ramadan
Mountain View:
Since last year and these guys have been doing impressive
ads.. This time taking a bit over the edge with the Hulk Ads.. An exaggerated manifestation
of how frustrating it could be to live in our wonderful Cairo..
I mean, who wouldn’t relate to such situations, being stuck
in traffic for longer than you’d want, trying to sleep but the ruckus of good
old Cairo just wouldn’t let you.
On a serious note though, I’m getting a bit tired of the
extremism in all real estate ads lately (including those of Moussa Coast TVC 1 TVC 2 ) in showing how unbearable
the country is; when you want to break free from the bourgeoisie status and
live the American dream of a garden, dog and nice little white mailbox with a
red flag..
Keep doing this a couple of years more and these compounds will get raided by the underprivileged who think it’s heaven on the other side of the fence… just saying
Keep doing this a couple of years more and these compounds will get raided by the underprivileged who think it’s heaven on the other side of the fence… just saying
You can show how great your real estate project is without blaspheming
the everyday life of an average Cairene.
Grade: B
Nestle - Mega Cookies:
Ever since Maxibon launch in 2012, Nestle IceCream have
taken the route of retro Instagrammish colors, fused in with some black
comedy..
A strategy that worked nicely in 2012, less in 2013 (KhodFeshar) and now this..
I’m not too sure what to make out of it, but my initial
feeling was “eww”..
Although it literally list out the product attributes and
what it does to you (functionally and emotionally), but I still feel a big
disconnect between the context of the situation and the consumption moment.
There isn’t a lot of science behind why I don’t like it.. so
I’ll have to go with gut feeling..
Not my cup of tea honestly..
Not my cup of tea honestly..
Grade: C
Misr El Kheir:
A very cool visual transformation from laborer to school
student, or from student to astronaut.. A mellow ad of how little things can
make a big difference.. my only issue with it; The Cairokee overkill.. exhausted
is an understatement.
While the song is actually not bad, but I’m not much in favor of اللي تغلب به, إلعب به theory.
While the song is actually not bad, but I’m not much in favor of اللي تغلب به, إلعب به theory.
The point about using
celebrities in the ad is relevance, association and novelty.. It was a poor
choice to recruit a talent that people have heard a million times in a million
ads before, and who were much strongly associated with another brand.. Maybe if
they would have went for more of an underground band and brought to stardom, it
maybe would have played well in their favor.
Grade: B
Coca Cola – a7la ma3:
Saving best for last… obviously
It’s no secret that CocaCola Egypt has raised the bar of
their ideation and advertising to a whole new level. So instead of advertising
functionally saying how great the product is; they’re giving you reasons to
fall in love with it more with every copy they produce… Thus working to be - as
per Saatchi & Saatchi’s jargon - a Lovemark.
In this campaign, Coke have used a mix of being both a
global and a local brand.. while getting the best of both worlds.
So while the name-on-Coke initiative is not a new idea (it
was actually applied in a nationwide campaign in Australia 2012 ,
and awarded a Gold Lion in Cannes for the Best use of Outdoor); the way they executed the campaign locally
however was very smart.
Instead of paying a gazillion dollars for sponsorship of one
mega star.. they got a gazillion local stars/ mini-celebrities; each in his own
field.. To make sure that no matter who is watching the copy; they would still relate
by seeing a fellow friend/workmate on the TVC..
Below are only the ones I was able to identify... Feel free
to add on to those if I missed out on any..
Abla Fahita, Mohamed M7asseb (DJ), Tameem Youness (Creative
Director and known for Rasseeni video blog), Aly Mazhar (Personal trainer - Be
Fit), Bibo w Beshir, Sayed Abu 7afiza, Hadrass & Fazza3 (Al Kabeer), 2ar2ar
Sandood (Internet sensation of 2009 Valentine’s Day),
Hossam Hosni, Mostafa Talaat aka Moos (Like Jelly Band), Cairokee Band, Omar Taher (Writer), Amina
Khalil (Actress)
While being a global adaptation, the idea itself is a
marvellous platform of sharing and multiplying sales… Imagine going into a
3ozooma and finding each and every person’s name on his custom-made bottle/can.. I have my
reasons to love it of course J
While this was a nice campaign reveal, it would be very
interesting to see how they use the learnings they got from their friends in
Australia to translate a nice-to-see TV copy into a solid business case, so its not just about the TVC, its about how they stretch it further…
Australia grew sales by 7% in 3 months.. will witness another record from Egypt this year?
We’ll have to wait and see
Nevertheless, Coke gave us a highly loved and shareable copy
that we’d definitely love to see over and over again..
One dare though… can you make me this can? ;)
Grade: A
See u when I see you..
3omdaz
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