Pepsi campaign would be the most innovative & creative advert of Ramadan 2017

Ramadan is a crazy time for advertising in the MENA region, it is a time where companies step up and rev their creative engines. Although, many companies continue to stick to the same rhythm every year.

Again, Pepsi Ramadan-ish campaign is meant to re-ignite the true spirit of Ramadan by bringing people together under the continued theme of “Yalla Nekamel Lametna” (“Let’s Complete Our Gathering”).

Bringing friends and family together, Pepsi brings a new strategy to the table to help gather and spend time together. Their newest ad, released earlier today, shows us that Pepsi is not here to play this Ramadan, they’re serious.

Bringing us together

Pepsi brings out a never seen before tactic in Egypt, and it is an inspiring idea. This ad, put together by creative agency Impact BBDO and media agency OMD for Pepsi Arabia.

This Ramadan, Pepsi aims to gather the youth and asks them to put down their phones. After watching this 3-way video, of course.

Due to its nature, Think Marketing will be sharing an edited version, putting all 3 videos together. For the original post to watch together with friends and family, please click here.

The ads, released at around 1pm, has already received over 60K views accumulatively and over 1000 shares. Although the main viewership seems to be focused on the left side, the first video link on the Pepsi post, it would seem many people don’t understand the concept, or can’t find someone to watch with, but are definitely enjoying the idea.

Why Pepsi campaign would be the most creative advert of Ramadan 2017?

Despite the fact that these kind of ads that depends only on digital channels could alienate certain audience group such as the older generations but the idea created is such a unique yet effective campaign concept.

Bringing Creative Back:

This year, Pepsi comes out with a BANG! This ad is definitely a shining beacon in this year’s not-so amazing advertising season. Pepsi, along with Nestle Mega and Gloria Ceramic, have actually focused on bringing new and innovative ideas to the table this Ramadan.

Will this new trend continue? Let’s hope so, and hope companies and agencies continue to breathe new life into the advertising field.

New Approach but Same Concept:

Ramadan is a month of gatherings, reunions and get together. Pepsi has been hammering on “Yalla Nekamel Lametna” (“Let’s Complete Our Gathering”), tagline for three years in a row during Ramadan 2013,2014 and 2015 advertising seasons.

In the past Ramadan campaigns, Pepsi adverts was mainly nostalgically, features prominent celebrities from different eras of Egyptian cinema.

After Amo Fouad big hit for Ramadan 2013, Pepsi launched an Ad in Ramadan 2014 that remind the Egyptians of the glories from the near past, bringing together some of the Egypt’s best entertainment icons such as 4Ms (musical band), Samir Ghanim, Sheeren, George Sedehom, Nagwa Ibrahim, Hisham Abbas, Hamid al Sha’ir, Boogie & Tamtam (TV muppet show) and others. The ad shows all these stars recalling or browsing old photos from their shows and the old times.

During Ramadan 2017, Pepsi took a different and more futuristic approach that seems to be focusing on millennials using purely digital marketing channels for campaign activation.

The campaign is clearly narrowing the gap between brand’s slogan “Let’s Complete Our Gathering” for Ramadan vs. its reality. The advert really urges people to get together and harmonize the experience as well as the brand tonality.

Insight-led Marketing Approach:

Consumer Insights are little secrets hidden beneath the surface, that explain the underlying behaviors, motivations, pain points and emotions of how consumers perceive your brand.

Based on Insights, Millennials engage with their smartphones more than they do actual humans and according to Nielsen insights, when looking at smartphone owners by age, penetration is highest among Millennials aged 18-24, 98% of whom own smartphones. Millennials aged 25-34 are right on their heels, with a 97% ownership rate, followed by Gen Xers aged 35-44 at 96%, making smartphones nearly ubiquitous among these generational segments.

Pepsi created a fun and interactive video, easily to use and watch for a group of 3. So, instead of asking the users to put off their phones aside to watch the Ad, Pepsi asked people to put their phones together and enjoy the new unique experience that wouldn’t be complete without your friends.

New Experience for Customers:

Marketing is all about the kind of experience you deliver to your customers with each and every interaction and the more memorable the experience, the faster you will build brand loyalty.

To watch and understand the video, viewers must grab 2 partners, or two unused mobile devices, and play the 3 videos simultaneously. The video is a fun short, with funny man Samir Ghanem, full of cute and fun cuts and scenes. The ad does come with one down fall, the voice over is a few seconds ahead of the video, taking away from the otherwise very enjoyable experience.

After watching Pepsi campaign, you think its insightful? or just interesting idea? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.