Egypt-born rock band, Cairokee rose from the underground to the mainstream within almost two decades. We all know them from their name: a fusion of the words Cairo and karaoke, to elicit harmonious singing with the city’s people. Especially marketers, we know by heart what brand archetype they fit in -the everyman- and who they resonate with the most.
But do you know whether or not they should be your go-to band on your next campaign? Do you know which Cairokee adverts were the most viewed or engaging? What was their target audience? And which sectors featured them the most?
In this article, we’ll go through insights that’ll help you see what makes Cairokee special in the world of advertising with insights on some of their iconic campaigns, listed from the highest views to the lowest. But—spoiler alert—it revolves around two words: versatility and authenticity!
A Refresher on Cairokee and Their Rise to the Mainstream
The five-member band is spearheaded by their singer and songwriter, Amir Eid, along with guitarist Sherif El-Hawary, drummer Tamer Hashem, bassist Adam El-Alfy, and keyboard player Sherif Mostafa.
Despite being founded in 2003, they gained public attention with their hit single “Sowt El-Horreya” in 2011. It was a hyped-up, motivational anthem for Egypt’s 25 January revolution. And then another hit followed: “Ya El-Midan”, which romanticized Tahrir Square and its role in the same revolution while featuring Egyptian singer Aida El Ayoubi.
From then on, they’ve released 8 albums revolving around national issues, personal hardships, and topics of relevance to Egyptian citizens; particularly their youthful audience undergoing a fast-paced life in the bustling city of Cairo.
Cairokee’s Evolution In the Advertising Arena
Since 2013, the band and Eid -on his own- have collaborated with numerous brands on commercial projects that enabled them to set foot into the advertising world. It could even be said that they’ve paved the road for fellow musicians to do the same. Their first commercial project was their 2013 “Etganen” Coca-Cola song featuring Zap Tharwat and once again, El Ayoubi.
Let’s take a closer look at some of their highest-performing campaigns across Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, and how their multi-faceted music achieved commercial success.
Banque Du Caire: A Multi-Generational Tune Embracing All Ages & Differences
As previously noted, one of Cairokee’s fortes is their versatile ability in adapting their music to different causes and projects. And that stands true in their 2022 “100 Forsa” Bank of Cairo advert. The star-studded commercial featured several artists including Amir Eid, the legendary Mohamed Mounir, Cheb Khaled, and Marwan Moussa to reflect the bank’s generational diversity in their clientele.
Despite the campaign being launched a mere 6 months ago, it quickly gained national success with a total of 63,600,124 views, 62,308 likes, and 2,900 comments. Given its social diversity, the ad expanded Cairokee’s audience to include older generations as well as the young. This would include youthful people aged 25-40, and 45-60 year-olds who were either loyal customers, newly acquired customers, or even potential customers.
Vodafone Egypt: A Consolation Prize for the COVID-19 Lockdown
Among their advertising successes, is their work with a British telecommunications company, Vodafone, to promote their latest service, ‘Vodafone Plus’. The commercial was aired during Egypt’s 2020 pandemic lockdown where millions found solace in passing the time on media platforms such as Tiktok and YouTube.
To help their clients survive these unfortunate times, the company provided this new mobile data service for only EGP5 a month with different megabyte options only for Tiktok, YouTube, and PubG users. Naturally, the campaign’s viewership and engagement skyrocketed to a whopping 48,400,000 views and 24,099 likes.
It can easily be deduced that this campaign primarily focused on Cairokee’s existing audience; making it suitable for 16-35 year-olds.
Loacker: A Chocolatey Reminder to Take Life Easy and Have Fun
The band’s diverse commercial portfolio also included the food & beverage (F&B) industry with their 2018 “El Alb Ya Nas Eshtaka” song for Loacker. Similar to the famous “Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat” concept, this ad addressed the millennial generation in particular while urging them to embrace their inner child, and not let life harden them too much.
While effortlessly addressing such a common problem, the ad achieved a total of 22,168,664 million views and 207,039 likes. Given its lyrics and message, the millennial generation for this ad would be aged between 25-40 years of age.
Samsung: A World of Endless Possibilities -Both Vertical and Horizontal.
Cairokee also paid the electronics industry a visit with Amir Eid‘s 2019 “Momken Keda” Samsung ad for the release of their new A80 & A70 phones. The song’s name was chosen as such to emphasize the phones’ unique camera designs -one being horizontal and the other being vertical.
With a music video magnifying the phones’ features combined with Eid’s uplifting lyrics, the ad accumulated a total of 18,804,026 views, and 49,210 likes. Given the highly advanced features, this ad targeted tech-savvy 15 to 45 year-olds whose lives are driven by heavy consumption of digital media.
Beyti Tropicana: The Everyday Juice Brand That’s There for the Big Moments
Coming in second place in their F&B triumphs, was Amir Eid and Mahmoud El Esseily‘s 2018 commercial with Beyti Tropicana. Their “Tala3 El Helw w Bas” song mirrored the juice brand’s mission: to offer a safe and high-quality beverage. In addition to that, the song’s lyrics portrayed Beyti as the juice brand bringing happiness to both adults and young children.
This blissful commercial brought on many smiles with a total of 14,095,013 views, 176,000 likes, and 4,000 comments. Given the featured demographics, this commercial was intended for young adults and families aged between 25-45 years old.
Coca-Cola: A Drink You Not Only Enjoy but Can Make Memories With
A noteworthy portion of their F&B success was with the soft drink tycoon, Coca-Cola. And we’ll tell you about not just one, but two of these successes.
Starting with their 2017 Ramadan advert featuring Amir Eid, the band’s keyboard player, Sherif Mostafa, and famed Egyptian singer, Ruby. The world-famous beverage company is known for delivering highly memorable and emotional campaigns throughout the holy month of Ramadan, and this time was no different. Both artists were the lead singers of “Lessa Fiha Ketir”, a song depicting the beauty of Egypt and its rich history. It achieved a total of 11,503,805 views, 38,345 likes, and 406 comments.
Coca-Cola: A Drink That’s With You for the Good Times, and Bad
In their second Coca-Cola campaign, Cairokee collaborated with Zap Tharwat in their 2020 “Efta7 Albak” song. Intended as a reminder for all Egyptians to adopt new perspectives in the post-pandemic world they were immersed in, the song was a national success that achieved a total of 9,029,017 million views, 612 comments, and over 39,000 likes.
While Cairokee’s youthful audience remained unchanged in the first campaign, the latter broadened it to include older demographics aged 45-60, considering how the pandemic was a topic of evergreen relevance to all ages.
So, Is Cairokee a Band or a Brand to You?
Now that you’ve seen the numbers, the brands they’ve collaborated with -which only include some of them-, and their music, the question arises: should Cairokee be the face of your next campaign?
Here’s what we think: If you’re looking to create a campaign that is locally tailored to Egyptian audiences, and requires a song written with relevance in mind, not just hard-selling commercial jargon, then look no further.
With nearly two decades of regional and global presence, 8 albums, and numerous commercial projects, Cairokee has successfully transitioned from being a local band serenading us with heartfelt stories to a monetized brand with its own merchandise, and commercial voice. We can safely say that Cairokee has acquired sufficient market knowledge on how to maintain the balance of selling a brand and staying authentic.
N.B: These numbers were measured from the day of their release until Monday the 10th of October 2022.