The 3omdaz digest: Mobinil

Showing posts with label Mobinil. Show all posts

Ramadan 2013 - Post 3 - The Telecom Post... really?

Hello friends,

As far as I can remember, Telecom operators have always been the hottest advertisers in the country, the ones with the biggest budgets to produce and air top notch ads that keep us entertained all month long.. Memorable examples of these would be: Mobinil's Ana batkallem w a2ool ba7ebbak in 1997, Vodafone's Bibo far2a3 Gigi and Etisalat's all Star roster in 2010,, to name a few of course..

Below is a compilation of all the Telecom ads that have been released so far, lets see if they were up to that reputation..

Vodafone:

The general trend in advertising is to take one to a world away from reality, a magical land of fantasy.. That would probably make you look up to the ad and aspire to what this brand will make you achieve.
This year, Vodafone took this rulebook and flushed it down the toilet, an extremely down to earth ad.. As in literally down to earth.. They took a step back away from koll el hags bta3 el e3lanat da and gave us the essence of what being a true Egyptian is about, el gad3ana, helping out in time of need and simply sharing..

They took real situations, real people with real sentiments and actions that you see Egyptians practicing everyday.. A group of people pushing a broke car down the road, hanging on to a bus to get one's bicycle going or just splitting a loaf of bread with a fellow coworker or friend..
The essence of the ad is quite noble actually, reiterating that Egyptians have always had sharing in their DNA way before social networks and mobile phones made it even easier.

They passed on the message alright, a bit too much I would say.. to the extent it harmed the overall ad quality in the eyes of many. The production of the ad is so poor (not sure if intentional), as if it was shot with a mobile camera (a cheap mobile kaman).. Pixelated/shaky shots as well as minimal recoloring in post production.. Making the overall ad look as if its an amateur compilation uploaded onto Youtube by MizoTiger17.

Question though, is this a way to get closer to the mass market? which comprises most of the operator's revenue.. As you can imagine the cashcow of the company are prepaid cards, la b2a roaming wala mobile internet w fatooret telefone b 2,000 LE wel kalam da... Its all about the mass and the guy who tops up his phone with 25 LE a week.. w el 3adad fel lamoon b2a.. Thus the mass revenue.

The weird thing is that the ad does not advertise a specific offering (a reduction in minute rates, or double benefits on prepaid cards).. It is a generic brand message directed to all Vodafone consumers.. Making a lot of people feel left out. Which I think is not very clever of the VF Team.
I'm not an elitist, at all actually.. But I just find it difficult hard to relate to such an ad; as it doesn't address me nor does it reflect my lifestyle.. Maybe it would score better with other SEC targets.

Having Mounir on the ad definitely adds to the copy, the lyrics however didn't help much.. Actually the overall copywriting of the ad didn't sink well with me.. Ma7shi w Fteer, w kattar sheriak together.. in one ad... no thanks!

I understand the intuition of getting down to grassroot level but a brand as big as Vodafone shouldn't have taken such a risk.. Would be very interested to look at the copy test results for this across different classes though, yemken ana elli ghaltan

Grade: C

Mobinil:

Funny ad, perhaps... to some people.. not to me though..
As always, Mobinil comes with a high production ad, with lots of fireworks and florescent colors.. Big "creative" idea, if you wanna call it creative.. that does not get the message across..
That was always Mobinil's way of communication, an extremely sticky ad that wouldn't tell you anything.. So we all remember the Yasmine AbdelAziz "7amra" Monkey ad or the "Ya Wad ya t2eel" copy a couple of years back.. but what was the ad about, what was the message they wanted to get across? Matla2eesh, zero, none.

One more thing, I'm not too much in favor of swearing in the ads, Etnayyeli, Allah ye7ra2ek.. I'm not sure how this helps with the humor or the message delivery of the ads.. The Mobinil target is quite broad and lots of kids watch this... not too responsible from such a respectable brand to teach kids such jargon.. mesh enni 3am el mo2addab el 7assas, but just saying

Although this comes as a disappointment for lots after Mobinil raised the bar tremendously with their Dayman Ma3 Ba3d song last year.. Bas overall fine, ok ad.. may2olsh la2... not the best i've seen come their way but not too bad either.. The Youssef Eid element probably serves them humorously well.. and that sexy black Shelby too (the car, ma7addesh yefham ghalat)..

Grade: B-

Etisalat:

Took me some time to find the Etisalat Ramadan copy, as they are still airing with not-so-fresh copies, The Austronaut shisa copy and the other one with the morphing play dough.
After some search, I found this.. A tactical copy for a specific offering on mobile data.. nothing too special.. They can air this at any given non-Ramadan day and I still wouldn't remember it.

Khosara..

Grade: D not for the copy, but for the overall effort,, or should I say for the lack of it

Telecom Egypt:

Since the NTRA announced issuing the license of the 4th telecom operator and the industry has been cautiously awaiting this dormant giant that has offices in every inch of the country and how their business will be affected upon their launch.
So the Telecom Egypt team have been beefing up a lot on their internal and external teams to prepare for the launch and they came up with......this!
A very long copy that doesnt say much.. Not does it have any insinuation of the new mobile service being kicked in, with the exception of one guy talking in his mobile phone in sec "35..

I'm quite disappointed to be honest, if this is the launch of the mobile division of Telecom Egypt..
If the intention here is a rebranding and change of face of the 100 year old brand, then maybe I can start being a bit more lenient.

Nevertheless I still don't like the ad, very tes3eenati.. the ad industry has come a very long way since then..
I won't grade them now as "hopefully" we didn't see everything of this campaign yet.

Grade: N/A

So overall, I can confidently say that this year none of the Telecom operators gave us anything appealing enough for entertainment or starting a discussion, let alone get a message across.. Aho e3lan wel salam.. which is not what we expect from such a giant category with big players..

w 3la ra2y 7adret El Nazer Abdel Mo3ty f Madraset El Moshaghebeen... lam yanga7 a7ad!

Hope I reflect some of your sentiments there.. I'm quite sad at the level of telecom ads this year..
As always, if you have any questions or want to discuss something further, hashtag #3omdazblog or mention @3omdaz and we can have a chat :)

Till I see you next time,
Adios Amigos,
3omdaz

Ramadan Week 3 Review - Part 1

Hello people,

First of all, sorry if I was a bit of a disappointment this year... its been a crazy, CRAZY Ramadan... with no time to do anything!!
Anyway, since I don't have much of active brain cells left in me; lets dig into the critique.. no intros..

Mobinil:

Youssef Dawood:

Hassan El Asmar:

A typical Leo Burnett ad with its striking colors... I really like the Youssef Dawood copy, great of choice of character; his laugh is extremely remarkable, specially that he's bantering at the poor guy...

Hassan El Asmar's copy is also quite good, and would definitely sink well with the target audience (pre paid customers, SEC C wenta nazel)... Tough luck for Mobinil, the copy will not see light anymore out of respect for the deceased singer whom this ad was his last piece of art... RIP

Grade: B+

Pepsi:

Sporty:

Welfare:

Smarty:

As expected in review dated August 1st, it was a charity campaign indeed with voting involved...
There are some mixed emotions I'm sensing from this campaign... some people like it, some dont... Personally I like the Education copy a lot..
Nevertheless, no one can deny that Donia Samir Ghanem's star is shining as she proves year on year that she is one of the biggest talents to scout for out there..

Pepsi is at fault at one point there; regardless of whether you liked the ad or not... You'll end up hating it anyway because it airs A LOTTTT pretty much everywhere.. Pepsi is adapting the local proverb of "الزن علي الودان أمر من السحر"
One of the reasons why brands produce more than one copy per campaign is because people get bored after a certain level of exposure to the copy... Afterwhich their perception of the copy becomes negative.. Its called "Copy Wearout" theory..

You may have also noticed a series of unorthodox outdoor street signage for this campaign, as if it is a real elections campaign with candidates running against one another..
Too bad Coke jumped the gun last year with the same idea for Fantaloup's campaign last year below.. But I have to say that Pepsi have been more visible this year..

Grade: B+

Vodafone:

Shokran:

A non entertaining ad + a redundant jingle blended with a long copy duration that airs about 5000 times a day is a definite recipe of failure, for me at least..
The campaign's idea is smart indeed, thanking whoever you want, someone you're grateful for... great idea.. execution sucks though...
Dull copy, horrible jingle and a low production daily TV show doesn't really cut it..

Vodafone may have won the share of voice battle this Ramadan as they're the one's who are most visibile and probably the ones with the biggest pockets this year...
But I'm not sure how they scored in terms of ad likeablity and positive perception...
So I don't think we should consider this a victory for VF as much as its a failure to deliver by the other 2 telco operators... So its like you won a race, but you've been the only one running against crippled competitors!

Grade: C

Vodafone Network Coverage Campaign:

1. زيارة مفاجأة

2. معلومات مهمة

3. معلومات مهمة بردو

4. هس السلعوة

I believe this ad marks a transformation in VF's communication history.. VF has always been very serious, functional and to the point.. typically British.. Even when they were "fun", they were never playful..
Now we see a fun ad that is completely different from what we're used to from VF..
See how similar how this ad is to Mobinil's ad around 4-5 years back (The Mercedes, The Monkey, Yasmine Abdel Aziz....etc)

I believe this paradigm shift is because the new creative team on the Vodafone account have been brought up in the Leo Burnett Cairo school.. It is evident in the color tone, telescene, black comedy and opening sequence (note how similar the first couple of frames in the copies below are similar)

Anyway, this one helped maintained the balance after Shokran's flop (for me at least).. Shokran Vodafone ennoko l7e2to nafsoko!

Grade: A

Dayem:

We now come to the most controversial ad this year...
Some people absolutely LOVE it and actually wait for it to come along on TV, and others utterly despise it and zap away whenever it comes along..

This ad embodies everything that is evil in the advertising world... a stolen jingle, a fake French accent, irrelevant political connotations (Gaddafi quotes, WTF??), people dancing for utterly no reason.. how relevant is any of this to ANYTHING that has to do with the brand...
Major flop by creative agency... from a professional angle..
However, for some weird reason, the ad is funny and shareable.. so its something people like to see again and are actually sharing with eacother (so I really don't know whether this is a plus point for the ad or a minus point from the viewers)..

Ya3ni men kotr ma howa we7esh, yes3ab 3aleik, fa t7ebbo.. its like these little bulldogs.... they're so ugly, drooly and disgusting you actually pity them, then eventually like them!

Grade: A or F....Confused, but more prone to be an F!

That pretty much wraps up things for today, stay tuned tomorrow for Part 2 with more ads and more scrutiny.. Buahahahaha (evil laugh)..
Ciao
3omdaz

Campaign gone bad - Vodafone Shokran

Its so frustrating when someone works on something so hard and thinks its the best fruit of all their efforts, they think its the best thing that ever happened or will happen to the world.. Unfortunately not everyone would agree.. exactly what happened to the Vodafone Shokran campaign..

Apart from the actual copy that personally didn't register much with me, and the smaller cutdown of just Nelly and Samir Ghanem playing funny with eachother, which was also a disaster.. VF extended their Shokran campaign onto a radio program and a TV program for everyone to thank everyone else.. and we all live happily everafter..

But what VF didn't think of is that the internet population behaves completely differently than consumers of any other media; if someone doesn't like your ad on the internet they will say it right in ur face.. w elli y7assalni ykassarni... and this is what exactly happened when they decided to roll out that campaign on Twitter.. Last night, VF started a hashtag to encourage people to thank whoever they think is worth thanking; #vodafoneshokran.. It started off peacefully with people thanking their friends and family for being so supportive...etc.. Looks perfectly normal and on track of what they thought would deliver best on their campaign..
Then the tables turned COMPLETELY, with people using the hashtag to remind Vodafone and all the other telcom operators that cut off communication on Jan 28th; and "thanking" them for that... Here's a sample of some of the Tweets..

#vodafoneshokran #mobinilshokran #etisalatshokran اقتلونا شكرا اتجسسوا علينا شكرا خربوتوا بيوتنا شكرا

متشكرين .. انكوا اعلنتوا ان ولائكوا لمن يحكم .. خلوا الحكام ينفعوكوا #VodafoneShokran

Shokran for putting my life on the line on Jan28. Shokran for the panic you've created in every single house @VodafoneEgypt #VodafoneShokran

#vodafoneshokran شكرا، من كل شهيد، ماعرفناش نجيبلة إسعاف أو دكاترة يوم28 يناير، عشان مافيش تيليفونات

Adding more fuel to the fire, renown cartoonist and activist Carlos Lattuf actually drew about it...

Other reactions included

Its very dangerous to think you can communicate normally at times of turbulence and major heat about your brand... We can bluntly say that Vodafone hasn't been a fan favorite this year.. So they should've thought a million times before telling people "HEEEEEEEEEEH E7na Geenaaaaaaaaa" :)))))
They should've been more careful about their communication message and how they'll approach it.. I'll quote a friend's status this morning that explains this beautfully: ‎#vodafoneshokran a typical example of " el may3rfsh yesref el gen may7daroosh"

Expected backlash quite honestly... Good luck to the PR team covering up for that!
fa ne2dar kda n2ool en this Ramadan.. Vodafone 2alet shokran!!!

Cheers
3omdaz

Ramadan 2011 - Day 1 Commercials Critique

أصدقائي صديقاتي..

رمضان كريم..

Its been some time since we've met; its been quite........ an eventful year to say the least..

Over the past 8 months we've seen a lot of peaks and troughs; a mix of emotions; ups and downs, hopes and disappointments..

But with festive seasons such as this one, wel "ayyam el moftaraga" di; comes hope of a better day and wishes that things would become better.. If they're not getting better; at least we'll wish they'd stay as they once were..

So I decided to let time stop here; put all the politics aside and keep the below as pure joy of watching a good piece of advertising.

Disclaimer:

Since last year; I've been gathering some opinions and "critiques of the critique" regarding this blog; and some people told me that they thought I was being too lenient sometimes because I knew the advertiser or the creative team who worked the ad...

With that being said, I'll be more critical this year and will take whatever comes along with a pinch of salt.. Just for the sake of making this industry better (well; doing my part at least)..

So fellow advertisers, clients and friends... its just business, nothing personal here :)

Lets take a look on who kicked off so far and how they've done..

Coca Cola:

Although this ad scored well with a lot of people thusfar; however the purpose of this blog is to evaluate and critique genuine art of Egyptian creative minds... With that being said, I will not evaluate nor grade this one as it is a copy-paste job from a global copy that aired earlier this year with Coke celebrating 125 years of launch..

I really pity both the Coke marketing team as well as the creative agency for not having the chance to shine nor the space to rocket-launch; especially after such an impressive track-record over the past 3-4 years.

Personally speaking; I'm an original ideas junkie, copycats are a complete turn-off to me; so I looked away after the first 5 seconds; once I saw it was adapted.. but I'll leave the judgement up to you..

The Global copy launched earlier this year

The localized copy launched this Ramadan in Egypt

Grade: N/A (but very VERY disappointed)

Since Coke does have a very impressive track-record and have proven time and time again that they're one of the most original advertisers out there in the market; I'll give them a bit of a break and showcase the below viral; a very inspirational video of the "Like" button... Although its been released about 2 months back; but it still shows that the above wasn't really the best fruit of their work and that they can do much much better!

Pepsi:

Obviously there's still a lot left for this one.. We'll be seeing more of this, meet the 3 different characters of Donia Samir Ghanem and get to know them better.. Probably there will be a voting bit involved too.

Maybe SMS voting proceedings will go to charity; note "w ya reitha kanet leya, di l 7aga ensaneyya".

We'll see...

So far.. an average copy.. nothing impressive there either..

Grade: B-

Vodafone:

My initial thoughts...... "hmmm, really? Thats all you got??"

A couple of quick thoughts on the same though..

1. Its smart to use Samir Ghanem and Nelly (as they're the ones who always used to bring us joy during Ramadan back in the day) and asking them to thank whoever they thought would deserve a thank you; their mentors/partners...etc... Aseela ya Vodafone, feeki el kheir..

2. Although the ad itself didn't make me feel as festive and happy as it should've; it would be very smart to roll it out on the ground by actual "Thank you" activities; real people doing real good; this would make people feel special, feel loved.. I believe this is what will be done in their CBC Program; "Shokran with Sherif Mounir" that will start broadcasting today at 10 pm.

We'll see how this one will unfold... but taking the copy separately; apart from any complements that might come later; I don't think too highly of it..

My feeling is that Vodafone wants to shove it up Etisalat's face for their copy last year.... lel asaf... lam tanga7!

One more thing... am I the only one getting extremely bothered with the jingle... shokran shokran shokran shokran shokran shokran shokran shokran.... ssshhhhhhhh BASSSSS!!!!

Grade: B-

Etisalat:

CSR copy... what can I say.... eshta!

Don't feel too intrigued to watch it again honestly.

I don't think this one will stop here... Probably a side-kick copy to THE corporate ad they'll probably release later on..

Grade: B-

Mobinil:

CSR:

Again another CSR copy by Mobinil, but I'd have to say.. Its very well thought, doesnt come short of what to expect from Leo Burnett..

The hands that cook, the hands that build....etc.. I like that!

One thing worth pondering though; they promised jobs for 200,000 hands? tab mat2oolo jobs for 100,000 people w khalas? lol

Grade: B+

Mobinil Business:

Although this one launched about 1 week before Ramadan, it can still be considered part of the same season.

This one is just great; colorful; choreography very nicely done by the Alissar Caracalla dance group (Choreography instructor at Star Academy).. Makes you feel real happy watching it

Grade: A-

Again I don't expect Mobinil to stop here... As the above were copies for CSR and Enterprise/Business, we did not see anything for Mobinil Corporate (ie: The BIG Mobinil ad of the year)..

The Leo Burnett team have quite a challenge on their hands since:

1. They need to make up for last year's disaster (Alf Leila w Leila copy with Edward and Aimee Samir Ghanem)

2. They need to cover up all the heat that is surrounding Sawiris and Mobinil for the past 3 months since the whole Twitter cartoons issue.

Anyways, thats just a quick round up of what's been released so far.. I'm sure after Iftar today there will be a lot of ad releases giving us plenty material we can start looking into... yummy :)

Have a great Ramadan everyone..

See u next time..

3omdaz

Ramadan 2010 - Day 11 Commercials Critique

Morning peeps, hope you had a chilled weekend!

Its funny I was apoligising a couple of days ago for a short post and complaining that there aren't enough ads on Youtube... Well, I got my wish granted, so this one is going to be quite a rich one..

So.... Lets dig right into it...

1. Chevrolet Aveo:
The FP7 team make it again with one fantastic ad... beautiful, just beautiful!
Its funny, witty, insightful and pointing out the major benefits of the car.. apart from a couple of clichés that are usually present within any other car ad (throwing away ur living room because the car is more comfortable, And taking ur kid's entire scouts squad in the car because its so spacious).. but thats fine, I still like it...

The target of this ad has been identified beautifully, young people who are still kicking off a career, open to life and are very ambitious (hell, the guy in the ad is called Mr.Tamoo7, the literal translation of "ambitious").

Also, I absolutely adore the attention to detail this team has put into the copy, the amount of details in this ad is unbelievable.. the kids wearing easter bunnies and his wife coloring an egg while the VO says (Shamm el Nessim), the Hamsa hands on the wall and the colleagues actually smoking "beysheeto" while they're saying that people will get jealous.... and a lot more

Its a combination of little things that make this copy stand out and shout "This team have done their homework"

Two thumbs up..
Grade: A

2. Mirinda Tamr Hindi:

I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said that this is the worst ad I've seen in a LONG time... A guy drinks a Tamr "Hindi" Mirinda, and suddenly becomes all Indian with chicks in saris and Punjabi MCs jumping all around him..... what the hell??

How does this tie up with....... ANYTHING????

So the next time I drink an American coffee, I'll find myself in a cowboy hat fast-drawing Billy The Kid of The Wild West??? Oh, Come on.. Enough with the sterotypicality!!

Seriously, this is extremely disappointing!!

The weird thing is that the team who worked this ad is the same team that worked the Mirinda Green Apple ads earlier this year, which I think were beautiful (see them here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmEZszhIt9k, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIsgSRShvnM)

PS: Its also worth saying that the Tamr Hindi (Tamarind) tree originally grew in tropical Africa (Cameroon, Sudan, Tanzania and Nigeria).. India just happens to be the world's biggest producer... So it didnt even turn out to be an Indian drink afterall!

Nothing more to say here...

Grade: F

3. Mobinil - Part 2:

Another version of the ad but still remains a part of the same fiasco.. The ad is noisy, pointless, fast-moving and utterly incomprehensible... It keeps me wondering, "What do you guys want to say??"

This is a problem with Mobinil ads since forever; They focus TOO much on the creativity of the ad, leaving too little space for the message they want to convey... Think of any Mobinil ad you've ever seen, I bet you'll never remember what the ad wanted to say.

To be very precise, you'll remember the talking monkey, Yasmine Abdel Aziz saying "7amra", you'll remember last year's Kareoke ads and you'll probably sing it word-for-word... but you'll never remember what the ad wanted to convey.

Grade: C

Birelle - Male rehab center:

These copies have been airing for a while, but they released a new copy in Ramadan that is part of the same campaign so I included it there too..

The ads are cool, funny and one you'd want to see again and talk to your friends about...
But the question here is when did the whole positioning of Birelle become associated with "Manhood"?

This question has been in my mind for a while (nearly a year now), but I remember when Birelle first launched, it was about the elite, the top notch executives who finished the hottest business deal on a glass of Birelle and a Havana Cigar, people who appreciate such a taste.. it was even double the price of any other soft drink on the market...

So now they're basically out there to cater for any MALE in the country??

I'd say the "elite" sales figures were not reflecting too well on business revenue, were they?

Grade: B+

Sprite:

The Coke team strikes again, and they're back to kick-ass... This is one fine, fine ad!

Although I wasn't a very big fan of these 2 "lemon" characters, but this ad will score very high on affinity with people, in Ramadan specially.

People would relate big time to this ad because of the fact that they're portraying the lemon characters as guests on a "scandalicious gossip" program.. and Oh, how many do we have of those in Ramadan..!

The Lemons are out there giving fiery statements about digestion and how important they are on the dining table.. hell yeah they are!!

I also love the fact that the TVC concludes with a replica super of the ETV CH1 & CH2, giving you an impression that its a real program..

Hats-off!

PS: Its worth mentioning however, that its the kind of ad that would either be LOVED or completely HATED by people... its THAT extreme!
I've already been getting some mixed-emotional feedback about this particular copy!

But I personally like it! :)

Grade: A

A couple of quick endnotes here:

1. Our audience is not stupid:
The Egyptian consumer in particular has seen this industry evolve over the past 30 years, and knows how to analyse, believe or not to believe these ads.. So Egyptians are ad critics themselves, each and every one of them.. So although we still see some sub-par TVC (Ex: 0900XXXX competitions), but generally the ad scene in Egypt is picking up big time.

2. Where are all the Food commercials in Ramadan?
This was an observation from someone who does not work in the field, but indeed its a point well taken.. We are not seeing a lot of Ghee, Oil, Sugar and grade-2 & 3 products on TV.
I believe this is attributed to the high competition of TV stations over the past 2-3 years with the launch of the likes of Al Hayat Group, Panorama Group, Modern Group....etc.
This created a lot of fragmentation of viewership, thus you cannot reach most of your target audience using only one channel like you used to do before (ETV CH1 and CH2 and that was it)..
Now ad placement is becoming more complicated and costly, something that only Multinationals or strong local clients can accommodate.

Till we meet next time,
Cheers
3omda

Ramadan 2010 - Day 4 Commercials Critique

Welcome back friends..

I can see there's been quite a decent amount of hits on this page since its launch, glad you guys like it... But with "likes", comes heat as well, over the past couple of days I've been getting some feedback from people in the field who don't agree to the grading I've put, asking me to take out the grade or the review all together...

So I just want to point out something to make things very clear to everyone, this blog is a personal blog reflecting personal opinions.. So I'm not a part of any Int'l Ad Critique body nor am I with the board of the IAA... If you like my reviews, then great.. If you don't, let me know how can I make it better...

I believe we're all professional enough to accept professional constructive criticism... Nothing personal here! :)
Enough blabbering, lets jump into some commercials that have been aired over the past couple of days..

1. Etisalat Ahlan - Pay Per Second:

Getting Maged El Kedwani is a smart move.. popular guy, down to earth, talking sane talk to people who actually think this way.. Why the hell should I pay for something I'm not using?? Makes sense! Thumbs up...

But beware, the beauty of Ramadan ads is the fact that we LOVE to see the ads and actually wait for them to air so that we can call our siblings and friends from the kitchen/the other room to see it.. With the ABUNDANT frequency this TVC is being aired, I would give it till end of this week maximum before people are bored of even passing by the TV while its playing.. So the Etisalat peeps should either tone down the frequency or have a backup of alternative copies (which I think they do).. Or else this ad will be dead very soon (copy wear-out factor for the adv ppl).

Just one quick note about Etisalat in general.. Do they take Ramadan as a kick-off season for a change in their corporate slogan? Last year in Ramadan they changed it to "Dlwa2ti wa2taha", and exactly 1 year later its "El Donia lessa fiha aktar"...
Nothing to criticize here but just something I've pondered at since they've launched their Ramadan campaign.

Grade: A

2. Vodafone Ramadan Recharge Offer:

Maybe I dont like these ads because we're not the target audience here... Actually no, Mobinil's Adaweya ad is great and its still not targeting us!
But this ad doesn't make me feel like I'd want to see it again... nothing catchy there!

Grade: C

3. Kitkat Icecream:

The ads are cool.... Not super, but OK... The Sayed M3awwad one is great though, his "atama" facial expression is priceless!!
I like the fact that they've identified their upclass target to talk to them and only them by putting characters from their daily life. So throughout all the ads you see people whom you knew from the club, university or even agency staff...
Add to that the fact that you're advertising an ice cream of a chocolate brand that nearly never officially launched on the media in Egypt.. So obviously you're giving this ad to the people who understand and appreciate what a Kitkat is.

One flaw there (for me at least)... The gym ad, I feel its too much of a "Hiiiiiii Hamzawi copycat"... I don't like that!

Grade: B+

4. Egypt - Where It All Begins - بداية الحكايه:

Well well well.... this ad is the least depiction of my beloved Egypt..
I REALLY like this ad.. definitely makes you want to see it again, share it, scream it out to the world out there, that you're proud to be a citizen of a country with all these wonders!
Music is great, composer Amr Mostafa did an excellent job there, a tune that would keep running in the back of your mind over and over again (I bet you're already playing it in your head right now).. Choreography is great as well... Plus all the changes in scenery, cities and activities... and guess what, ITS ALL TRUE, Egypt has all that indeed!!

I also love the fact that the ad has been used as a video clip on Musical Channels... smart tactic there!!

Grade: Straight A

5. SCIB - Story of the wall (Sherif & Amina)

I like this ad too... Its just pleasant..
Loving the effect that each movement of the characters has on the wall.. which is indeed true, houses hold lots of memories from different people..
The happy ending draws a smile on one's face.

Grade: A-

6. Fayrouz Free

Thats a very James-Bond-ish TVC... the music, the bubbles, underwater somersaults and clear sexual innuendos.
I'm just not getting the levers, pressure levels that EXPLODE by the 3rd Fayrouz... So its uhmmmm.... an arouso-meter?

The Ramadan copy is a bit toned down, sexually at least.. But the ad remains one that you'd want to see again.. thanks to smokin' hot Eastern European models.

One more thing... "Edeeni Aktar"??... Adeeko eh bezzabt, w FEIN??????
I would've rather gone for the "Howa Da El Tatawor El Tabee3i"... Makes perfect sense, a sugar-free drink is definitely the natural evolution of a malt drink that has always been pleaded guilty of a beer belly.

Grade: B

A couple of end note before concluding:
- Pepsi (still an F... a BIG f'n F too)...

- 7UP: I wonder what happened to the 7UP-Ramadan affiliation... I remember that year where Fido-Dido was back and he was EVERYWHERE... Pushing the hand-cart in Sequoia, holding the Fanoos in other tents all over town.. It was fantastic.... Why, Fido, why?

- Mobinil: Finally someone heard our prayers and is currently phasing out the Shaharazade copy, phasing in last year's kareoke musicals (Ya Wad Ya T2eel, Do22o el shamasi...etc).
An act of desperation? maybe.. but its still better than airing a copy that doesnt really say anything.. Besides, people LOVED this ad... give it back to them!

Thats about it for this one folks,
Till next time, take care
Cheers
3omda

Ramadan 2010 - Day 1 Commercials Critique

So, Ramadan's back already.. as hot as HELL ay na3am, bas kollo b sawabo.. Ramadan is the high-season for TV serials (92 series exactly this year) and programs... since TV viewership goes completely off the hook... consequently, with so many people watching TV, its the high season for TV advertising as well..

In this post, I'll take you through the biggest ads of this Ramadan (so far at least)... Although its only been only one day, but some brands have already kicked off with a bang...

1. Etisalat Brand Copy
Although am not a very big fan of the brand nor their commercials, but this one.. seriously... WOW!!
I love the mix of insights (it reducing minutes rate, reminding people of their credit, being the first to put roaming at 1 LE...etc), with the celebrities, colors and music.... its a very pleasant ad... I cant help smiling everytime I see it! :)
Getting Mohammed Mounir was the grandest surprise of all... love him or hate him, the guy's a walking legend with a massive fan base in this country.
Grade: A

2. Mobinil:
For years now, Leo Burnett has always set the standard for bringing the best ads in the country; especially for Ramadan (Remember the Mercedes ad 5 years ago and also last year's musicals...etc).. I believe the Mobinil team in LB has raised the bar so much, but unfortunately they haven't done a great job on this one..
I like Edward, he's funny.. ok ya3ni... But I wouldnt trust his appearance with a brand as big as Mobinil.
And the Alf Leila w Leila theme.... its like the Gazillionth time its being used... khalas b2a, enough!
I watched this for the 4th time just to notice that the proposition is ALL CALLS ARE FREE IN RAMADAN MORNINGS... This is HUGE stuff and could've been built up tremendously... this makes this ad even worse!
Grade: C+

3. Vodafone:
I think its enough with the Marionettes already, maybe its an attempt to copy-cat Vodafone India's Zuzu characters, which were so successful they spread to other VFs around the world.
The Leile Kebeera marionettes are an attempt to add a local flavor to the characters.. Although they may have scored pretty well in the "Shokran Services" campaign, but this is because the target that will use these services is C wenta nazel, but when talking about the corporate image of Voda-freakin-fone, it should be been much "heavier in impact" than that.
Grade: B

4. Coca-Cola:
Its smart to get real people in a "candid camera" sort of situation.. Nice idea, playing well on the smile and their global "Open Happiness" positioning..
Problem is, Although I know its true and that this really happened, I dont think everyone will believe this, it more or less feels like the Ariel commercials zaman (collect 5 empty packs and win... Arieeeeeel Arieeeeeel Oooh Oooh).
Grade: B

5. Fanta Cantaloup - Fantaloup:
A lot of mixed emotions on this one ranging from people who LOVE it, people who HATE it... and people who just don't get it...
Obviously, this will be a series of events/commercials where people need to buy more Fantaloups to save this Mesil7y character from getting fired... Could be brilliant if its tied up with an activation in a Kheima or so, where Mr. Mesil7y would propagate himself and his invention to avoid getting fired.
I personally think this was inspired by the "Save Dave" campaign of Australia last year... Remember the guy who was watching nude pictures on his work PC while his colleague was recording an interview for the news... and his PC monitor with the nude pictures went on live TV.
However, am not sure i can fully judge on this one until the rest of the sequels unfold.
Grade: B- (so far)

6. Pepsi:
Well, I would have loved to write something about the TVC of one of my favorite brands... but guess what.. I cant, because THERE ISN'T ANY!!!
I was really disappointed honestly, not to see a Pepsi ad in the first day of Ramadan, the big 5 (VF, Mobinil, Etisalat, Coke and Pepsi) are a must in Ramadan commercials...
I hope the hiatus doesnt last for long, nor did the Jazeera sponsorship of the World Cup consume all their budget..
Grade: F (just for being late)

Hope u found this useful,
Lets see what the rest of the Ramadan has for us..
Cheers
3omda