The 3omdaz digest: Pepsi

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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

3omdaz

Ramadan 2013 - Post 2 - The Rise of the Blue Giant

Good day friends,

NOW WHAT THE F*** WAS THAT?????

haha... I guess that was everyone's reaction upon seeing the Pepsi ad.. wasn't it?

As mentioned on the previous post, Chipsy and Pepsi were cooking something, something BIG.. something that none of them could carry on their own or sustain with their individuals budgets.. and guess what, it is not only Pepsi & Chipsy Egypt.. They actually had to tie in with Pepsi and Lays Arabia to put all their coins and creative assets in one pot... and the below was the result... and it was BIG alright!

So apparently Pepsi as we know it back... EXTREMELY Emotional ad... Very moving and touches the heart in a jiffy.. Personally I got goosebumps upon seeing the late Fouad El Mohandes (my personal favorite actor of all time).. Very high production value (explaining the merger of Chipsy, Pepsi, 7-Up and Quaker to come up with this. Took more than just money apparently, when Pepsi asked for a beef-up in the creative talent on the BBDO (Pepsi's ad agency) roster, which saw a move of 3 of Leo Burnett's creative talents to the BBDO Team.. Yes, e7na el kar bta3na da 3amel zay la3eebet el kora, but we don't have a transfer season, its all year long :)

There was also quite a collaboration between BBDO Cairo, BBDO Dubai and the post production team, brought specially to the Middle East to resurrect 3ammo Fouad.. so chapeau bas for the team work there, especially on such a big project.

The wave of emotion that followed this was just outstanding, woke up on the morning of the 14th and found my Facebook newsfeed flooded with shares (as with everyone else I guess).. Obviously no need to reiterate how big the social wave was as it is something we all noticed and even took part of.

But enough speaking of how amazing the ad is... This is a critique at the end of the day, so I'll do my best trying to dissect that for points that not necessarily provoked me, but at least intrigued me to think:

With all the greatness of the ad, the high production and the great memories it brings, I'm not seeing where Pepsi/Chipsy/7Up/Quaker fit there. There is no brand role in the ad.. If I take out the Pepsi Truck and put a Vodafone store, it will still work.. Or take out the Vodafone store and put in a huge Juhayna yoguhrt tub, it'll still work (at least its even more relevant for Ramadan)
The ad depicts the most popular Ramadan icons of all time; all who ended their Ramadan careers by the mid 1990s (if not before kaman)
Fattoota (last season aired 1986)
Bougy w Tamtam (ceased around the early 90s)
Nelly & 3ammo Fouad (last Fawazeer aired around 1995)

Last time I checked, Pepsi's core target audience is 16-24 (aw da elli khadnah fel madares at least).. with the bull's eye at 18 y/o... so this means eno by the time 3ammo Fouad stopped airing, that given person from the Pepsi core audience was still in his mom's womb... aw mama w baba makanoosh lessa 2ablo ba3d.
And its not just me, below is just a snapshot of what people of that target audience think of the ad... they dont even have a clue!

So this makes me wonder, is Pepsi trying to win back the hearts of mawaleed el 70s and 80s (who are probably twice as old as the core target audience), where the scene was much less cluttered and Pepsi dominated the communication game? Or is it just a one off and we're back to the Nikki Minaj copy (elli ana personally lessa ma3rafsh heya meen aw beteshtaghal eh).. Fahhemoona bas w e7na m3ako
So after all the journey, w el fanoos, w el truck, w el sellem... Khado mel wad Tarek el makana el Amici om 15 alf gneh w eddolo taba2 konafa b 50 gneh w rawwa7 gary... just cz he met 3ammo Fouad?
If you ask me, its a cheap price to pay to stand toe-to-toe with the greatest comedian of all time.

To sum this up, i'll put my critical/over-analytical hat aside and still go with my gut feeling and initial reaction upon seeing this.. Its a great copy that brings back lots of memories, an ad that drew more than just a smile on my face (probably a dropped jaw with some tears too) and I'd definitely love to see it over and over again..

It didnt score well with everyone though.. Some people think its a hollow idea with massive funds of production, but that will always be the case... Some ppl love u, some poeple dont.. below are samples of both poles..

Love the ad or hate it; Pepsi has always been an advertising giant, so please stay this way... don't fade away as you did the past couple of years.. This raises the bar high, very high so make sure you're up to it in ads to come!

Grade: Can't give anything with Fouad El Mohandes in it anything less than an A... Thank you Pepsi

Uff... that was hectic.. I think I should stop the post here.. But there are still some ads to look into.. So I'll take on 7agat khafeefa hena then keep the rest for a future post.

Mountain View:

An OK set of ads, that will get you to talk about it once with your friends, maybe, then gone and forgotten.. Overly exaggerated but gets the message across..
I just LOVE the barbecue copy... Stereotypical as hell.. but still very funny.. gets to me everytime.. Batt eh ya 3am, ba2ollak tarb.. haha

Grade: B

I already gave my feedback about the below campaigns in the previous post (check it our here), the below copies are just an extension of the same campaign; for your reference if you haven't seen them yet.

Labanita:

Birell:

Aquarius:

Libra:

Sagittarius:

Anyhow, Pepsi's ad was the main theme of today... So I don't want to steal from its thunder much, nor make the post too long.. So i'll leave you in peace now and I'll see you next time..

One thing before I close this one off.. I write because I enjoy it, but I could have kept it to myself.. I post my writings however because apparently you guys enjoy reading them. I got around 1000 hits on the first article this year, in 48 hours (a number I got in the whole month of Ramadan in 2010), so I'd like to thank each and every one of you for coming over and reading my scribbles here.. Truly humbled and flattered!
For any questions or further debates, hashtag #3omdazblog or just mention @3omdaz.. I'll be happy to answer :)

One important thank you goes out to my good friend, Medhat Amin.. The whole blog thing was his idea in the first place :)

Stay tuned..
Cheerio
3omdaz

Ramadan 2013 - Post 1 - Where are my dam ads??

Hello friends,

It's Ramadan again, been a while since we've seen eachother.. hope everyone's keeping well amidst all the action we're living these days..

I don't see a need for a Ramadan drama series while we're living in one everyday... anyhow, I won't dwell into politics now, I'll just stick to what I know and what you're here to read.. ads critiques..

When talking about Ramadan ads this year, one can't help but ask, where are the dam ads?? With the 4th day of Ramadan kicking in now, we've only seen 5 brands on TV.. these are the ones we'll be tackling this time..
Back in the day, the first few days of Ramadan comprised a parade of the best creative work of the year, ppl wait for and evaluate the ads as much as they wait for the Ramadan content itself (Serials, Programs...etc)

This year is different though, only few brands are on air for now.. Just to give you some perspective on whats going on behind closed doors of ad and media agencies, and advertising clients conference rooms these days.. below are the reasons why:

1. Too much to choose from:

With the media fragmentation in the market now, 30+ serials, 20+ entertainment programs and a plethora of religious programs on around 15-20 channels.. the advertisers themselves are confused, which channels to air on, will the Nour El Sherif serial be hit or fail? Are people still watching Yossra or is Amir Karara and co stealing the spotlight from the older generation.. so advertisers are actually quite reluctant where to spend their (believe it or not) limited money.. so what they do is take a step back for the first couple of days, do a screening and filtration process, a bit of quantitative and qualitative research of who's watching what.. then decide on which baskets they'll place their eggs this year.

2. Market inflation:

There has been a horrific inflation in advertising rates of Ramadan, as in HORRIFIC.. ya3ni elli kan b 100 el sana eli fatet, el sana di b2a b 250.. so if u had budgeted ur advertising plans at 5 Million EGP.. now you need around 12 Million.. which is a drastic jump.. so what people have done is either succumb and just pay whatever the price tag says (and probably run out of budget by Ramadan 10th).. or wait and further negotiate with the media owners that el rates di "mesh 7atakol" bel baladi keda.. This puts decent pressure on the media suppliers who will not be able to sustain empty air time for a long time, thus drop their rates and we see more of advertising.

3. Cautious Silence:

A friend asked a very good question yesterday, where the hell are the telecom operator ads? Its a first that we dont see a Vodafone or Mobinil ad on the first day of Ramadan. I'm not sure why either but probably everyone is cautiously anticipating the rise of TE (Telecom Egypt), the 4th Mobile Carrier due to launch now.. maybe a restriction from the NTRA (National Telecom Regulatory Authority)?? we'll see..

This can still apply to other categories as well.. Where head-to-head competitors who cautiously await when their competition will strike so they can retaliate.

Enough literature w raghy 3al fady.. lets look at the ads..
Disclaimer bas saree3.. friends and colleagues.. This is a personal opinion, no hard feelings.. You know how much I respect you and your work.

One last thing before I start:

In our journey in life, we meet, love and lose people along the way.. I would like to dedicate this post to Ihab Hazem; aka Bob (Creative Director at FP7), who passed around a month ago.. Although I don't know you personally, but your contribution to the business and how inspirational you were to those around you is definitely remarkable.. Rest In Peace..

OK... here we go:

1. CocaCola.. Leih la2

So Coke is the first to advertise this year.. as usual punctual and leading the game.. with a redundant message unfortunately.

The ad in its essence is not bad, unity and togetherness are all noble values that we as Egyptians seemed to have forgotten and should be reminded of.. But the fact that it comes after a series of ads that more or less look and sound the same make people feel "Yeah, there goes another Coke ad".. The tie up with CairoKee and Aida El Ayoubi was quite nice the first couple of times.. now it got a bit boring honestly.. although the girl in this one is not Aida, a young lady called Nesma I believe (who more or less sounds like Aida).
Plus given the relatively uncluttered ad break (so far), we see the ad a LOT.. let alone it being a redundant ad.. I'm sure people will get sick of it by first week of Ramadan.. except if they're smart enough to kick in tactical copies stemming out from the principle ad.. we'll have to wait and see..

Grade: B- (so far at least)

2. Birell:

Taurus:

Cancer:

Aries:

Gemini:

As usual, the one-campaign-a-year brand comes back with a memorable campaign as they always do.. this time with major production budgets that enabled them to shoot 12 different copies to air throughout the month..

Cornering your brand in one communication platform can be quite challenging because Birell has been saying "Manhood" for the past 5-6 years minimum and there hasn't been much left to say.. But our friends at KTP (King Tut Playground) always find a way back and they come back BIG... 12 copies showcasing 12 different characters of different horoscopes... We have seen just 4 of which so far, but i'm sure the rest will follow..

A smart story line tackling the same party from 12 different POVs and I love how they always add their contribution to the daily slang... They've been saying Estargel for so long it became boring, now they changed it to Estazkar... A word that I'm sure people will start using on the street very soon..

Love what I've seen so far.

Grade: A-

Pepsi:

I'm not sure exactly what to make out of this one, its not even an ad.. But what it seems is that someone's cooking something.. something BIG..

Pepsi and Chipsy joining forces means it is something that none of them could carry on their own, which is even scarier because we're talking about the biggest 2 advertisers in the country..

Just connecting some dots, Chipsy and Pepsi, together, on the biggest TV channels in the Arab World, Nekammel lammetna... Nostalgia.... hmmm..... I heard some word about Fouad El Mohandes, Nelly & Sherihan... Did anyone say Fawazeer?

Stay tuned... It reveals tomorrow :)

Grade: lessa shwaya

Labanita:

Talk about a revamp... haha..

KTP comes back again with a brilliant copy.. A milk producer that has been there for the past God-knows-how-long, a boring pack and a more or less similar offering to anything else on the market..

What better than to blow it up completely and defame its heros..

For years, Soad and Sawsan have been the face of the brand.. Now it seems they've turned bad it was time to let them go... in style

Also love the closing line there: Kefaya Ba2ar Ba2a... Political insinuation... anyone? :) Makes me even like it more now..

Grade: A

Maxibon:

Never liked the old one, this one doesn't change my opinion much honestly..

I'm not sure how to justify my judgement there... I just dont like it..

I believe they raised the bar so high after last year's copy, they got trapped in how to take it further.. and this copy was the outcome..

Bad.. just bad

Grade: C

That's pretty much if for this time.. Grades might change as more copies of the same campaign unfold..

Hopefully next time we meet we can have some more ads and content to discuss.

Adios,

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

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

Pre-Ramadan warm-up act - Coke VS Pepsi

Hello friends,

Its been just a bit under a year since we've last met, there’s been quite a lot happening over these past couple of months, I believe advertising critiques wouldn’t be too relevant to what the country was going through since Jan 25… And since the ad season is coming up soon (Summer and Ramadan) w kol sana wento tayyebeen…. 2olt astafta7 b ta2too2a kda 3al khafeef.. haha!

Moving on; since the Revolution and the stepdown; we’ve seen all kinds of reform initiatives and positive patriotic messages from numerous brands (as if they suddenly remembered they were Egyptians). These ranged from pathetic attempts of commercializing the revolution with mobile ringtones, lame jingles and a commercial disaster such as لحاف الثورة (The Revolution Quilt) to respectable initiatives that relate to the brand and the current situation eg: Henkel’s El Balad Baladna campaign.

Here I’m just showcasing the 2 advertising giants in the country of the same category so we’d be comparing apples to apples, Pepsi VS CocaCola.

Before I begin, I just want to point out that a lot of people see both ads extremely similar, actually some think they’re both one-n-the-same, so I’ll attempt to scrutinize both to pin point the differentiators in each then give my judgment at the end of the post.

Pepsi:

The tone here is quite modern/upbeat.. The people in the ad are mostly tech-savvy youth dressed up in their fedoras and postmen bags, armed with I-Phones and FB posts.. Unfortunately, not all Pepsi users are of such profile.

Agreed that the revolution was a “digital revolution”, and the whole digital scene is becoming more “in” since Jan 25.. But the digital bit of the revolution was restricted to a certain group of people who were always connected with their instant FB/twitter updates and speak-to-tweet on-the-ground updates, the rest of the rebels just followed offline. So I believe it’s a bit too risky to generalize as there’s a major portion of the target audience left out here

Also the ad’s catchphrase is pretty genuine بكرة بدأ بفكرة – Tomorrow started with an idea.. But the execution was a bit over-complicated that it lost the essence of the idea… By a show of hands, how many of you related the brown bubble popping out the heads of people in the ad as the “Pepsi idea” that will make tomorrow better?? Did u even notice that people are walking around with brown bubbles over their heads? Seriously, how many of you, 30-50%? So this is us, the “sophisticated” chunk of society, when coming to show this to the rest of the Pepsi target group who are not so “sophisticated”, it’d be a bit naïve to think it’ll sink or register with a lot of them.

So generally I think there are 2 directions of why this ad came out the way it did:

1. Pepsi is moving into being a niche brand, thus they’re talking only to a certain target group that dress, behave and think the same way – Which means they’re shooting themselves in the foot as this group of people does not exceed 3% of the population, thus their revenues and marketshare would eventually take a dip.

2. They’re still targeting the same people, but unfortunately the way the ad is manifested missed out on the majority of their consumers.

So either way, I don’t think Pepsi did a great job here..

What I really like about their campaign though is how they’ve used the jingle to promote the whole campaign.. Generally I’m a fan of using music in promoting brands (specifically that one of Pepsi’s main communication platforms is music).

Pepsi used the “voice of the revolution”; Amir Eid to sing their jingle for the new ad, in order to capitalize on Sot El Horeyya’s popularity.. Then they capitalized further on the jingle by airing it as a normal full song on radio stations so it’d sink in more with the people..

One thing to note though; Amir Eid and his band Cairokee did the jingle for CocaCola’s thematic campaign in Summer 2009…. Bummer!

Coca-Cola:

This one is pretty straightforward, strictly focusing on its slogan: tomorrow will definitely be better!

The cinematography is extremely expressive and is a true reflection of what the country is going through at this time.. From a gloomy cloudy phase that evolves into a sunny and brighter tomorrow.

The magic word in this copy is simplicity.. It shows real Egyptians, real people; the average Jo you see on the street (well, the average 7anafi for that matter). It shows real places from Cairo; the more I watch the Coke ad, the more I think the Pepsi ad was shot abroad (although its not, if you take a closer look)

Plus it directly touches upon the “Egypt is now open for business” attitude.. So Coke says: Get up, dust urself off, work ur brains out to make this country better for you and your children.

We’re all in the same boat here, we’re all throwing hooked ropes in the sky, each and every one of us. That’s why this copy would score higher on affinity than others.

Verdict:

Coke definitely won this round (by knockout kaman).. Maybe because they had a longer copy duration to showcase their ideas (1 minute vs Pepsi’s 30 seconds), but even with a longer Pepsi copy I’d pick Coke as the idea is much clearer.

Anyways, it doesn’t matter if you think that tomorrow started with an idea or if you want to make tomorrow better.. Either way, keep on smiling, work harder, be better and make this country a better place.

That’s all this time folks,

Take care,

3omda

Ramadan 2010 - Day 6 Commercials Critique

Hola Amigos,

Hope you're holding up well with the fasting in this heat.. Rabbena yataqabbal! :)

This one will be a bit short, as I'm starting to run out of Ramadan ads on Youtube, but thats no problem, they'll surface sooner or later.. or I'll have to source and upload them... so don't worry, reviews will keep coming in..

1. Coca-Cola Corporate - Ramadan Terrace:

A clear global/regional copy for Islamic countries (looks like a Pakistani production), doesn't follow the trend/colors/thinking stream of their creative team at FP7 (which I honestly think are one of the best in town currently).

The problem that some MNCs dont understand that each market has its own set of values, traditions and habits that differ from one market to another, specially in Ramadan.. But for cost-effeciency and global positioning purposes, global/regional copies are a mandate sometime. Just adapt it, add some Arabic supers and voice-overs and.. voila, ur on air!

The idea is cool, Coke bottles as flying Fawanees, sounds good... but mix that with Non-Egyptian music, a cast that doesnt even look close to Egyptian and not even a single item of Egypt's own Ramadan props..... uhmmmm.... I dont think this will click with the people..

Grade: B

2. Pepsi - Sales Promotion - 2.25Ltr for the price of 2Ltr

After a 1 week wait (missing a quarter of Ramadan already), they come out with a 2.25Ltr bottle for the price of a 2Ltr bottle.. a weak 10" graphics caopy that was done overnight... desperate? of course... saves face? of course not!
I would've rather have them not release anything than release this..

Obviously there's a problem... a big problem!
There's word on the market that they continued their contract with Ahmed Mekky like last year. Too bad for them though, there's also word that Mekky broke his leg and won't even be able to continue shooting his Ramadan Series "El Kabeer Awi", thus the TVC shooting is out of the window too (but again, thats still speculation and rumors, nothing confirmed so don't say you heard it here)

Force majeur situations in such crucial time are not never a good thing, that where your "HR Crisis Management Employee Training Programs" come into play..

I'm starting to feel for them after connecting these dots... but that still doesnt change the grade..
They better come back with a kickass copy (that they're probably working on right now)

Grade: Still an F

Thats it for now.. I'll be uploading some ads soon for your viewing and my reviewing (I like that, it rhymes nicely) :)

Adios,

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