YOUTH STEREOTYPE VS REALITY - #SGBL hits right with #iLive account

OK, so we have a product targeting the young generation, let's shoot a commercial showing a bunch of youngsters enjoying themselves carefree. let's show them exploring different locations, going out dancing, playing sports, and going wild. If not all, most of the brands these days take this direction when communicating with the young generation, but those brands are missing out on a very important point. This is the INTERNET GENERATION. The Internet means free open knowledge and information, just the opposite of the Television that dictated what the viewers receive and somehow programmed them to buy the products advertised. This is a smart generation; at least smarter than the one before in my opinion. 

SGBL bank launched a new campaign targeting the young generation with a bank account tailored to their needs. What's new about this campaign is not the offering, almost every bank offers the same account and benefits, but their approach. They spoke with the youngsters' voice and they described them perfectly. It is true that the youngsters are the ones full of energy, always exploring, and enjoying life, but it's also true that those youngsters are responsible hard workers and as much as they would love to go out and enjoy life, the economy and their financial situation wouldn't allow them to do so. This is the truth. The happy outgoing people we see on TV are only the 1% of the Lebanese population who mostly come from wealthy families, but the 99% who struggle on a daily basis working double shifts to pay off rent or school tuition are the real deal, those are the people who will be interested in a bank account that offers them some privileges and some discounts. 

I hope other banks will take the route SGBL took, and I hope SGBL and the other banks would really do their best to make the life of those kids a bit easier and not only do good ads. 

Great job SGBL! 

 

No fool April's fool

Well, April's fool is a great opportunity for brands to create engaging content for their fans on social media. A lot of brands came up with some great jokes that most of us believed at first, like the new Emirates APR001 with a swimming pool and a tennis court on board. But this content is short-lived and it only creates a buzz on social media. No conversions happen, no leads generated, only creating awareness and brand exposure. but it is smart to use this day to actually promote your product and generate sales like some brands did.
Instead of fooling their customers with some kind of electronic tiles, or touch screen floor, Maison et Parquet Beirut decided to offer a free kitchen on April's fool day for those who actually believed them and didn't just ignore the message knowing its April 1st. The company did actually get over 22 customers coming in and asking about the offer and a lucky winner got herself a new kitchen. the other customers who didn't get the free kitchen got a 50% discount on any kitchen they choose.
Maison et Parquet went the unconventional way and used April's fool day to create real engagement with their fans online and in-store, and actually generated sales out of it. It's true only one lady got the free kitchen, but the other 21 got a 50% discount which means 21 new sales to be completed later on.
Their message builds trust between their brand and their customers especially that it says "At Maison et Parquet we never fool you, you're always a winner" which is nice.  
Check out what they did here.

Best Gel Ever - Persil featuring Mona Abou Hamze

Now is the Gel era, as the powder detergent time has ended according to Persil's new campaign "Best Gel Ever".
I know a little bit about detergents, especially when I had to do my own laundry when I was living alone. I learned a lot through trial and error, and sought advice from my mom when it got really hard for me. I have ruined some white t-shirts and shrunk some sweaters in the process, until I learned my lesson: white laundry goes on 60 degrees and colored goes on 30 degrees. I also had some struggles with the powder detergents, especially when washing black pieces. I got frustrated the most when I found powder residue on black dress shirts just before leaving for an important meeting. Mom said that I needed to give the laundry load a rinse wash after the main wash was done, but I didn't find it neither practical nor eco-friendly, wasting so much time, water and electricity. I discovered Pesil Gel at the supermarket as everyone else did. At first, I thought it was a fabric softener from Persil, but reading the label I learned more about it and decided to give it a try. It worked perfectly :) No white residue on my black dress shirts, a very fresh smell, and the best part was saving time and energy. I told my mom about the Gel and how effective it was, but she was hesitant to change. Well, how would her son know about laundry and she has been doing laundry for years? I figured I would leave it to time - she will change her mind eventually. This was almost a year ago.
So I went to see her and my dad over the weekend and we were watching TV at night. Persil's new TVC pops up and she was like "Yekhreb Bayta  Mona shou 7elyene, Shaklo mni7 hal gel, ra7 jarrbo". So I looked at her and couldn't hold it in: I TOLD YOU!!
Check out the TVC here.

The TVC is accompanied by a short bumper where we see the powder falling inside an hourglass resembling the end and introducing the new Gel formula. check it here

TVC credits:
Agency: LCG DDB
Client: Henkel Lebanon
Celebrity: Mona abou Hamze
Production house: Caustik studios

Better late than never - CONNECT and TBWA/Raad hit on the right cord

The Internet is so essential these days it can build nations and keep some behind. Lebanon is one of those nations suffering from the slow internet, and this purely because of corruption. we have our fiber optics infrastructure ready and all it needs is just a simple decision, but our reputable politicians would rather keep us in the dark. we have heard some news recently that the internet will get better soon, but we learned the hard way to only believe when we see. 

One of Lebanon's internet service providers "Connect" just launched a new campaign communicating their fast internet connection. I can't really judge their internet speed because I'm not a customer, but what I can say is that their advertising campaign in collaboration with TBWA/Raad is Fiber Optic good.

News spread really fast with the help of social media, especially when something goes viral such as the ALS Ice bucket challenge and the Harlem shake, two viral concepts that invaded the world. but what happens when you get the news after 2 years because of your slow internet? 

The exaggeration used in both TVCs launched is very expressive and delivers the message humorously.

The first TVC shows a couple of villagers who just got their nomination for the Ice bucket challenge doing it outdoors in the snowy cold weather. Spontaneous acting and authentic dialect made this TVC a total win. You can really sense the realness of this TVC because we all have seen our parents and grandparents learn and interact with social media for the first time. check the first TVC here.

The second TVC was just adorable with old fishermen on the shore doing the Harlem shake with their fishnets and tools. check it here. 

Both TVCs end with "Don't be the last to get it, Connect faster wherever you are".

I really loved the TVCs as they both had the Lebanese flavor and spirit to them. I can tell who's behind those ads from a 100 mile away as I had the pleasure to work with him on some projects @Walidykanaan, and you can immediatly identify his great touch. 

Great job CONNET and TBWA/Raad. 

Sandwish w Noss & Chi Tayib my favorite brands on Social media

It is a different story with those two @sandwichwnoss and @chitayib. It doesn't feel like a brand communicating with you, but more like someone you know from a long time ago. Whats great is that they are blunt and honest right from the beginning. No hidden tricks, no vague messages, no formality, just honesty and wittiness, and this is what i like about them.
I consider myself a foodie, and my 96 kgs can back me up on this, but when it comes to the food, i can't say its exceptional, but rather good. I've had the 6 wheel burger at S&1/2 and it was good.
But when it comes to the social media content, i can confidently say that it is of the best content online. you can't but get excited when you see their posts.
I'm going to let their work talk for them. check some of their work below and read the captions :)
you can also go directly to their Facebook pages to check it all. @sandwichwnoss @chitayib

Match Box and Raja's Journey, stories from the Lebanese core #Blombank #expressionsofpeaceofmind

It has been a few weeks now since Blom Bank started announcing their collaboration with 4 Lebanese directors for their new Peace of Mind (راحة البال) campaign. Each of the directors created a different short story related to peace of mind. The first revealed short film signed by Philip Aractanji was Raja's journey (رحلة رجا), an inspirational story about a Lebanese immigrant who rediscovered his love to his country through the eyes of foreigners. A very honest portrayal of the Lebanese mentality that has been blinded by the country's status quo and the daily life struggles, the director showed us how we can re-love our country when we look at it through the eyes of foreigners.

The second revealed film was Match Box (علبة كبريت) by Chadi Youness. OH MAN this film. such a touching story that I believe no less than 90% of the Lebanese people have lived during the different wars we had. It is a regular story of a family trying to escape the war for the sake of their children's safety and leaving their old parents back home, but what is special about this story is the emotions it holds, and the director's treatment combined with the great and honest performance of the Grandma (Samara Nohra). I won't deny shedding a few tears especially when the grandma fast-forwards the tape skipping her daughter's voice just to hear her grandson's message. As we say in Lebanon, ما اغلا من الولد إلا ولد الولد.

Great job so far. I can't wait to see the remaining 2 films by Jad Aouad and Layal Kanaan.

#BlomBank #peaceofmind #expressionsofpeaceofmind #matchbox #rajasjourny #philiparactanji #chadiyounes #impactbbdo   

The Beautiful war between #Almaza and #BeirutBeer

There is no war as beautiful as the one happening between #Almaza and #Beirutbeer.
This creative and entertaining push and pull between the brands shows us how much it is critical to stay on top of events and use every opportunity to communicate your message.

#Almaza posted an ad for Valentine's day showing a red teddy bear with the message "Tonight is the red teddy bear night" meaning that tonight is the night almost everyone offers their loved one the traditional and outdated gift.

Not long until #Beirutbeer posted an ad showing a Beirut beer bottle crushing the red teddy bear, with the message "No bear, Just beer".

#Almaza based their ad on a very real and obvious insight, and it would've been a great ad if #Beirutbeer's brutal replay didn't happen. Beirut beer had no mercy (and I'm not saying they should have) with their reply.
This is what real advertising is. This is how brands win.

I don't think there will ever be a war as entertaining as this.

Keep it up guys

Cheers 

Brands and Online content creators, a combination that works

Clearly, more and more brands are going online for the obvious and logical reasons we all know. But going online the way we know it is not enough to build a winning brand. A brand needs to have a winning digital strategy in order to strive and survive the cluttered scene. Brands need to keep their eyes widely open because even the social media we know is dead, and a new form of social media has emerged. Today, the number of fans a brand has does not necessarily reflect the brand's online strength. In fact, the engagement that a brand gets on its platforms is more indicative of its reach and power. That's why brands need to focus more on creating good and engaging content that could reach and touch their target audience, and get them to interact with the brand on social platforms.

But if you come to think of it, it's not easy to create engaging content, especially for brands that are considered functional. I mean, what can be interesting or engaging about a floor cleaner? well, a lot; it all depends on good, real, and honest insights that a brand uncovers by studying the target audience. This content doesn't necessarily need to be created by the brand itself, it can be user generated, or in collaboration with influential content creators. 

Content creators are playing a major role in promoting brands online because people who follow them do so because they enjoy their content and find it either entertaining or educational. Those online consumers hate it when their experience gets interrupted with ads, and this harms the brand. Brands need to be subtle with delivering their ads, and one way of doing it is collaborating with good online content creators. 

One of the Lebanese content creators that I personally follow and love is @WissamTheDocComedy. He recently collaborated with Datsun Lebanon to launch their new car with a funny and original ad that is based on a real Lebanese insight, and that featured his own father.

watch here

Not to forget his really creative and funny video series Doppelganger and Ekht el Logic.

Keep an eye on Lebanonads  for future posts on creative content creation.

Thank you for reading. 

 

A live super bowl ad that was meant to fail #snickers

After all the hype built around the Snickers live super bowl ad, we all waited to see this new experiment either work and win big or fail miserably. but the live ad wasn't meant to work at all, instead, it was a continuation to their communication platform "you're not you when you're hungry".
The live ad failed to win, and it worked! even the mini teasers and live streaming that took place on snickerslive.com were just perfect.
watch it here.