Food company Almarai synchronized its marketing with key Ramadan moments and, going further, tailored its messaging to suit programming on Shahid, a popular Middle Eastern OTT service.
During Ramadan, consumer behaviors shift towards increased product consumption and engagement with brands offering immersive experiences that connect audiences to wider communities.
Almarai Food and Dairy, a leading brand across several categories with over 700 products, had been witnessing declining sales compared to specialized competitors that prioritized marketing.
Almarai's objective in response to this development was to drive awareness, consideration, and sales, while cost-effectively advertising 25-plus Almarai products, in relation to key Ramadan moments, in an expensive and cluttered media space. Progress toward objectives was measured using the Almarai Brand Health Tracker.
By partnering with tech companies, Almarai gained insights into evolving consumer behaviors, notably the surge in digital media and entertainment consumption. To build relevance, the brand harnessed the power of digital platforms to engage its audiences throughout their Ramadan journeys.
Rather than promoting each product in isolation, Almarai developed an overarching communication platform that not only highlighted the reasons to believe (RTBs) for each product but also aligned with the various moments experienced by audiences during their daily Ramadan routines. This approach allowed Almarai to create a cohesive narrative that resonated with the different aspects of the Ramadan experience, enhancing brand association and relevance across all touchpoints.
Almarai's campaign was scaled and personalized across demographics in order to establish brand relevance with the various target segments that celebrated Ramadan. Everyone celebrating this month experiences the same key daily Ramadan moments: prayers, streaming entertainment, grocery shopping, meal preparation, and gatherings over Suhoor and Iftar.
With more than 23 million Ramadan viewers streaming content on OTT service Shahid, it was imperative to include Shahid as key platform in Almarai's media mix to connect the brand with consumers during heightened entertainment moments.
By activating reach-builders, including YouTube, TikTok, and X, coupled with dayparting and hashtag targeting, Almarai and its agency partner Spark Foundry were able to integrate their contextual communication at scale and integrate their content with Ramadan moments and trending topics while remaining cost-effective.
Significantly, 100 percent of the budget went behind digital targeting, mobile, and OTT.
As platforms like MBC, a Saudi media conglomerate, dominate the entertainment scene during Ramadan, with a 70 percent share of audience and the most popular programs, Almarai capitalized on viewers love of its shows with pre-defined content. The brand leveraged Shahid, MBC's leading OTT service, to feature 10-second contextual advertisements tailored to specific episodes and Ramadan moments. So, when viewers tuned into content like Tash-Ma-Tash: The Comeback, in which the characters were reuniting, they saw contextual ads for Almarai products with headlines like, "An inseparable match, just like ghee and honey."
Dayparting additionally ensured that Almarai's content was integrated across consumers' daily Ramadan moments. So, in the hours leading up to Suhoor or Iftar, the brand aired contextual messaging about using its products for meal preparation.
To further own the conversation, Almarai integrated its communication with trending Ramadan topics by monitoring hashtags and keywords across YouTube and X. Almarai ensured that this content was continuously updated throughout the month.
Despite a lack of sponsorship, Almarai's contextual campaign exceeded expectations with a reach of over 17 million, a total of 554 million impressions, and 174 million total views. The choice of content, combined with targeting and continuous optimization, enabled the brand to establish relevance with dynamic communication across all key Ramadan moments.
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