When we see Egyptians collaborating for random act of kindness, it ignites hope in our hearts again. In their latest initiative together, Vodafone and Amr Diab flicked the festive vibes on social media and many Egyptian brands joined the party.
But frankly speaking, its not pure spontaneous gesture of goodwill. It got a marketing flavor 😉
Once again digital engagement showcase how a brand can get massive results at almost no-cost because all the investment was put in the idea.
Vodafone and Amr Diab Campaign Story
With the upcoming release of Diab’s newest album, Kol Hayaty, long-time Diab partner Vodafone decided to engage users with a simple challenge.
Couples were asked to film a short video to a song from the album, to which the best video would win the chance for the service provider pay for their wedding.
لكل المخطوبين اللي في مصر
اعملوا ڤيديو لأغنية #يتعلموا على هاشتاج #فرحنا_بالهضبة و اعمل مينشين @vodafoneegypt و @amrdiab
و احلي ڤيديو ڤودافون هتعمله فرحه و #عمرو_دياب هيغني فيه. عشان تشارك في المسابقة دوس علي اللينك دا https://t.co/dpvRC5Yo6f pic.twitter.com/qF6agZTwSQ
— Vodafone Egypt (@VodafoneEgypt) September 16, 2018
فاضل ايام علي ألبوم عمرو دياب الجديد "كل حياتي"! شارك في مسابقة الالبوم بكره و ممكن تكون محظوظ و ڤودافون تعملك فرحك @amrdiab
— Vodafone Egypt (@VodafoneEgypt) September 14, 2018
This simple challenge gained some traction, but it wasn’t until the singer himself jumped in that the tweet grew to new levels. The singer retweeted stating that he’d love to sing for the winning couple at their wedding.
Amr Diab’s retweet would go on to inspire dozens of high-profile wedding professionals to join in and provide free services to the winning couple.
حلوة الفكرة وأنا معاكم! واللي هيكسب هغني في فرحه https://t.co/UqibjZkqiv
— Amr Diab (@amrdiab) September 14, 2018
How the digital engagement numbers skyrocketed?
Long-time Vodafone endorser Amr Diab’s tweet could have been authentic, but it could have also been a simple stunt from the service provider and the mega star.. To realize the digital impact of the campaign, just imagine a snowball rolling down the slope of a hill.
Facts and Figures:
FACEBOOK: the fan growth avg was 583/D but it’s increased to 1.8K/D after 24 hrs. from the 14,sep. Also the Engagement avg increased from 3,4K/D to 5,8K/D
YOUTUBE: We spotted that the channel makes the highest views on this month on the day of 16,Sep to 17,Sep with more than 3M Views and 4,7K subscribers.
TWITTER: Vodafone Egypt numbers of followers increased in the last 30 days with 12K and on the day of the first tweet 14,Sep to 15,Sep has increased with 5,4K. Also Vodafone Egypt account.
Hashtag Engagement:
The Campaign’s hashtag on Twitter: Impressions 227,089 and Account Reached 156,025
- The positive sentiments: were about the couples who accepted the challenge and made a videos. Also the brands who takes the trend and shared the content.
- Negative sentiments: comes from people who don’t likes the campiagn idea.
- Sarcastic sentiments: from the single people that asking what we can do know if we want to win or people who make a comic from movies on the competition.
N.B: All starts measured on 19 Sept. 6:00 PM CLT.
The Digital-Snowball Effect
The snowball effect is a simple yet effective marketing tactic, when done positively. The escalating effect allows brands to spread their message further without moving a finger, but can easily go both ways.
The snowball effect is a form of virality and we’ve seen how the snowball effect can put brands at a negative light through various of situations. We’ve also seen just how successful it can be, like with last year’s “this one tweet brings back hope for humanity in business” with Saudi Arabian Shawarma brand Shawarmer.
The number of tweets from wedding professionals, if they back up their social promises, could mean the lucky couple will have one of the season’s most interesting weddings.
Something we should note, however, is that most professionals responded on Facebook rather than the original post’s platform Twitter. This strengthens the fact that Facebook continues to be the most dominant social platform online locally, with Twitter being far behind platforms such as Instagram as well.
We also may never know if this event was an intended consequence or a happy accident.
If it was an authentic retweet, this snowball effect shows how a simple gesture or content can grow into a small movement. While if it wasn’t, it shows us how strategic planning, knowing your audience well and celebrity marketing still have a lot to offer brands.
With it becoming harder and harder to gain traction in an overly saturated online world, the snowball effect is one that breaks all the rules. Although it is one of the hardest marketing tactics to master, and relies a lot on luck and WOM, it is one of the most useful and visible ways to grab attention for your brand online.
Who Is Behind The Campaign Idea?
Worth mentioning that the campaign advertisement messages was developed by J.Walter Thompson Cairo NewsLab, the social and content arm of the agency.
