ALMOSAFER NEEDED TO GROW VS. INTERNATIONAL GIANTS AND LOCAL PLAYERS, IN A TRAVEL LANDSCAPE FULL OF OFFERS AND PRICES.

Almosafer is an online travel platform in Saudi Arabia. Think a Saudi version of Booking.com. And that’s Almosafer. It competes with the international giants among online travel platforms like Booking.com. It also faces increasing competition from local platforms like Flyin.com.

All travel platforms jostle for flight and hotel bookings (and market share), through persistent offers and price-offs. And because of deals and price-offs, Almosafer had shrunk to a smaller market share, among local brands, vs. Flyin.com and vs. Booking.com

With rational persuasion not working, we saw an opportunity in emotional persuasion; an opportunity to grow in getting people to buy into what Almosafer believes in, so they could buy into what it was offering.

Almosafer’s brand purpose is, ‘Travel opens new doors for you’. So, we wanted to activate this purpose and in doing so, open new doors for growth for Almosafer too. And we wanted to do so starting with the month of Ramadan, a month when Muslims celebrate values of togetherness, hence, travel to meet their family and friends. A successful Ramadan sets the trajectory for good revenues over the year. Ramadan is also a special time of year, full of emotion, that matters to Arab consumers, that we hoped to tap into.

We didn’t want Almosafer to overtly ‘sell’ Almosafer but to invest in emotional brand building, making it a brand Saudis loved. We needed one emotive Almosafer Ramadan story, that was as Saudi as Almosafer was, creating an emotional connect and reversing the trend of declining sales in a potentially profitable Ramadan; starting in Ramadan but travelling throughout the year until the next Ramadan.

LEARNING FROM THE PAST.

Most Almosafer consumers didn’t remember the first Almosafer Ramadan campaign. And most didn’t remember the second campaign either.

Ultimately, Almosafer knew that it didn't emotionally connect enough to become part of the public's consciousness.

Our hypothesis was that the previous series of vignettes of typically Ramadan films featuring generic travel offers or destinations or happy families hadn't resonated, and a more iconic narrative was needed.

CHALLENGE:

Create an iconic Ramadan campaign, starting with Ramadan but with its spirit and impact lasting through the year until next Ramadan; focusing on emotional meaningfulness, in a category full of rational benefits, with lower budgets than big brands that dominated media.

A FAMILIAR AUDIENCE AS WELL AS AN UNFAMILIAR ONE.

To create an iconic Ramadan story for and from Almosafer, we needed to be compelling for two target audiences:

(1) ALMOSAFER’S POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SPIRIT OF RAMADAN.

Primarily Saudis, aged 40 and under.

Digitally-savvy, they are very comfortable booking flights and hotels online using sites like Booking.com or Flyin.com vs. going through travel agents. So, converting them to online channels wasn’t the goal; getting them to use Almosafer was.

Through ethnographic research including sharing in Ramadan rituals with Saudis in Saudi Arabia and across the GCC, we saw them practice and cherish the spirit of Ramadan, but over time, owing to commercialism and consumerism during Ramadan, it has lost is magic in communities, on roads, in malls. And it doesn’t spread nor travel enough.

The task: Rejuvenate the magic of Ramadan and encourage Saudis to share its spirit.

(2) PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED THE SPIRIT OF RAMADAN, WHO WOULD NEVER USE ALMOSAFER.

Primarily non-Muslims, around the world, who would never use Almosafer.

Most of what they know of Ramadan is what’s on the news or on social media: mixed reports.

The task: Not to make them use Almosafer. But, in a divided world, we wanted to share the spirit of Ramadan, that seldom reaches them, with them.

OUR STARTING POINT: THE CULTURAL TENSION AND SUBTEXT.

Category discovery showed us how the category of travel was full of rational reasons and lacked any meaning.

Company discovery proved that Almosafer encouraged Arabs to travel to places they haven’t been to before.

Connections discovery brought to light how every brand competed for Ramadan share of voice by showing stories from/within the region. No one had gone outside the region. Therein lay an opportunity.

Consumer discovery showed us that people weren’t as excited about Ramadan, as people tend to be about Christmas. What could Ramadan learn from Christmas?

Now, all of those helped fuel the strategy. And it was in the culture discovery that we found our creative inspiration for the platform itself…

The world today is more divided that it has ever been. Even in Ramadan, a time of year that preaches humility, understanding and compassion, the world, in itself, doesn’t seize to put down its divides. It often remains a world of “us” vs “them”. Muslims celebrate Ramadan. The world doesn’t.

THE ROLE OF ALMOSAFER.

Almosafer, a travel brand, could make the generosity and inclusivity of Ramadan travel, representing what Ramadan is all about: living together, harmoniously, side-by-side as different nationalities, religions and races.

THE INSIGHTFUL TRUTH.

Unlike adults, children don’t see divides. To them, Ramadan, like other occasions, is for everyone.

THE STRATEGY.

THE SPIRIT OF RAMADAN TRAVELS AS FAR AS WE GO, SO LET’S TAKE IT TO PLACES WHERE IT HASN’T BEEN.

What if we reminded Saudi Arabia, the region and the world, Muslims AND non-Muslims, that Ramadan was for everyone? And in doing so, shared a Ramadan message like never before, from Saudi Arabia and the Middle East to the world? A message through children from the region, who would share the joy of Ramadan with places that have potentially never celebrated Ramadan.

THE AMBITION.

An iconic Almosafer Ramadan story that takes the spirit of Ramadan abroad to people and places who haven’t / don’t celebrate Ramadan, continuing beyond Ramadan throughout the year until the next Ramadan.

We phased our communication to activate Almosafer’s brand purpose during Ramadan by targeting traveller segments across the Arab world, starting with the hero film, then promoting the Ramadan messages to the world, and finally enabling acts.

1 - WISHING RAMADAN MUBARAK TO THE WORLD.

Action: Encouraging taking the spirit of Ramadan to places where it had never travelled to.

Ramadan, like the Superbowl, is a time when films from brands are looked forward to.

We created an iconic Almosafer Ramadan story that takes the spirit of Ramadan abroad to people and places who haven’t / don’t celebrate Ramadan, starting with a symbol relevant to one faith i.e. Christianity: Santa Claus.

· It’s a story of a little child in Ramadan, but it’s not a typical Ramadan story. Because she’s not simply celebrating Ramadan. She’s on a mission to share it with someone far away.

· It starts at Suhour (the start of the daily fast) and culminates pre-Iftar (the breaking of the fast) and around Iftar. It’s a real-world magical journey.

· Throughout, we feel it’s a grandfather or someone from her family, but the film reveals, when she reaches snowy landscapes and approaches a wooden home, that she’s wishing Ramadan Mubarak to Santa Claus.

· Someone who hasn’t yet celebrated the spirit of Ramadan. Someone who no one has shared the spirit of Ramadan with; representing many around the world whom the spirit of Ramadan hadn’t truly touched or shared with.

· The story's end leaves viewers with a meaningful reminder, “How far does the spirit of Ramadan travel? As far as we go.”

The song, in English and Arabic, was composed, and then sung by a devout Christian and a devout Muslim, staying true to the essence of the idea. It was composed before filming, with lyrics written for each film’s scenes.

· It’s a tribute to Ramadan’s spirit, shared through the words of a child, describing what a child wishes for Ramadan. It’s an embodiment of the creative idea: The true spirit of Ramadan travels as far as we go.

· It feels like the song is about a person; perhaps the ‘grandfatherly’ figure she’s looking for on her journey or someone she loved. But at the end, the song reveals a twist of its own in cohesion with the visuals that reveal Santa Claus; that it was a love-song for Ramadan and its spirit.

· To lend more charm to the film (and the song), the lyrics needed to feel written by and very naturally suited to a little child. We couldn’t find a track that met our expectations. So, the song was written and composed.

Promoted online, on YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, as the unexpected and moving story was shared, as was the spirit of Ramadan.

· Ramadan is Middle East's Superbowl. It's the most cluttered media landscape (especially in Saudi Arabia). Big brands spend big bucks.

· With low budgets, Almosafer, an online travel platform, shared a message no Arab brand has shared before, harnessing social media's power.

2 - PROMOTING THE MESSAGE TO THE WORLD.

Action: Carrying the story and its message to media platforms worldwide.

Also, harnessing social media's power, Almosafer's message travelled globally and was targeted to an untapped audience - non-Muslims abroad - again, something no Arab brand had done.

· TV and online news channels like MBC, MTV, RT, TRT World and leading news and media platforms shared it for free, because of its message. MBC, for instance, aired it during prime time across the highest rated time segment on MBC1.

· Through the app, people customized Ramadan greetings, that were broadcasted in different languages to non-Muslim majority countries.

· We distributed the story to media platforms worldwide.

· The song was uploaded onto audio streaming sites.

· Almosafer reduced ticket prices for foreigners to visit Saudi.

3 - MAKING THE SPIRIT OF RAMADAN TRAVEL.

Action: Enabling Saudis to take and share the spirit of Ramadan where there was no Ramadan, beyond Ramadan.

· We helped Saudi children send gifts, in special Almosafer gift-wrapping paper, to non-Muslim children around the world in areas of Levant as well as in Eastern Europe, including in places of religious worships such as Churches, to continue the inclusive message from the film and the brand.

· A gift box, from Saudi children, was posted and flown to certain world leaders, hoping they'd see it.

· At airport arrivals over the year, children welcomed passengers arriving specifically from non-Muslims countries.

MEANINGFUL IMPACT OF THE IDEA:

Over 2019-2020, as the spirit of Ramadan travelled, so did Almosafer’s name.

· 84 million+ organic cross-platform views plus 14 million+ paid views; nearly 7-times more organic views than paid views.

· #1 Ramadan Ad Worldwide (ARY News).

· #1 Ad Globally (Drum, AdForum).

· Featured on pan-regional TV, organically, reaching 306 million active eye-balls (out of 411 million), on news channels and talk shows, earning $3.3 million in earned media value.

· +233% brand conversations.

· 94.6% cross-channel positive sentiments; only those preferring religious intolerance had anything negative to say.

MEANINGFUL IMPACT ON THE BUSINESS:

With low budgets, in a challenging category, Almosafer saw unprecedented business growth.

Objective 1: Top-of-mind awareness over 2019-2020.

KPI: Grow to 15% to get close to Booking.com (expected to be at 17%).

Effectiveness: A total of 36% overall brand awareness, and 19% top-of-mind awareness, increasing from 12%, while leading competitors, booking.com and flyin.com, declined to 14% and 3% respectively.

Objective 2: Flight and hotel bookings over 2019-2020.

KPI: +100% flight bookings and +20% hotel bookings, to grow market share.

Effectiveness: +189% flight bookings vs. KPI of 100% and +41% hotel bookings vs. KPI of 20%.

Objective 3: Local Market Share over 2019-2020.

KPI: +20% increase to surpass leading local competitor (flying.com) at 36.1%.

Effectiveness: +64% market share vs. KPI of 20%, while leading local competitor, flyin.com declined -11%.

CLIENT VIEW:

“Over 2019 and 2020, this was a very daring campaign in Saudi Arabia during Ramadan. Bringing Santa Claus into a Ramadan film was something most people would scoff at and not even consider doing. But we believed in the meaningfulness of the idea and how it would elevate our purpose and our brand, in what was the most relevant time for such an idea.

When the film launched, we received negative feedback from conservatives. A Saudi cleric stated that a Saudi brand cannot be allowed to bring Ramadan and Christmas together. We also heard worry-filled feedback from leading brands’ marketers!

Coca-Cola Middle East told us that while this idea was great and featured Santa, they’d never have done it in Saudi Arabia, because many on their team felt the idea of bringing Santa Claus into the Muslim occasion of Ramadan was blasphemous and a risk that would backfire.

McDonald’s Middle East told us that such an idea could divide Muslims and Christians in the Middle East and that it culturally risky, and that they’d never have approved it.

But we backed this at launch, and it was successful.

We backed it because it and scaled it out (beyond film) as a regional and global initiative enabled us to do something no brand had done before. It was in tune with a modern, evolving Saudi Arabia. It was also a message from a region that wasn’t known to be the most welcoming or the friendliest in western media, to the world; one that wished the world Ramadan Mubarak.

It made our brand talked about everywhere in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. It drove consideration and bookings and success vs. our competitors, both global (Booking.com) and local flyin.com).”

Almosafer - As Far As We Go

CREDITS

Gold partners