Social Empowers Brands To Do Good This Ramadan
#RAMADAN22 With social media becoming more scattered, brands must carefully craft their social media strategies to stand out. All it takes is a quick scan of the currency note through Snapchat’s new AR filter to make a WHO donation. That’s an easy technological solution to keep your Ramadan spirit going. Ramadan is when the usage […]
Topics
#RAMADAN22 With social media becoming more scattered, brands must carefully craft their social media strategies to stand out.
All it takes is a quick scan of the currency note through Snapchat’s new AR filter to make a WHO donation. That’s an easy technological solution to keep your Ramadan spirit going.
Ramadan is when the usage and adoption of online technologies reach a crescendo in the Middle East. It is the time of the year when people are more inclined to buy new products and indulge in gifting.
Meta is also bringing back its annual Month of Good campaign. It has launched #MealsforReels in partnership with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Global Initiatives foundation, the UN World Food Program, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees agency. The initiative invites content creators worldwide to raise awareness and funds to distribute more than one billion meals in 50 countries.
Consumer behaviour has significantly changed, leading to increased social media content consumption. This month, social media platforms play a significant role, allowing brands to show their values and increase customer acquisition and loyalty.
An estimated 42 per cent of Twitter users in the UAE believe their overall spending during Ramadan is higher, and 62 per cent say that discounts and promotions impact their purchases during the holy month.
Twitter and Campaign Middle East hosted its four-part Spaces series on @TwitterMktgMENA. Saleh Bdeir, Senior Client Partner, Twitter MENA said, “The Twitter audience is extremely receptive and influential. People on Twitter want to see new launches from brands, and they are two times more likely to talk about a brand within their connections and their circle of friends and family.”
Tahaab Rais, MENAT Strategy Head, McCann WG, said, “When brands do it well, I’ve seen real marketing success during the Holy Month, rather than brands simply using Twitter as a tool to promote a video or offer. Unfortunately, many brands choose the latter approach in our part of the world. By using the power of the Twitter community, there is so much more that can be done to drive conversation surrounding Ramadan and to engage audiences. Twitter has immense potential as a platform given its tool suite, and I don’t think most brands in the region make the best use of it at this time of year.”
A Twitter and Kantar research revealed that there is an 88 per cent correlation between a brand’s spending and activity on the social media platform and its cultural relevance. Moreover, there is a 73 per cent correlation between a brand’s cultural relevance and audience purchase intent.
Brands that use Twitter have a 70 per cent brand recall, 11 per cent brand awareness, 15 per cent message association, 4 per cent favourability and 7 per cent brand preference. “Brands have a massive opportunity to build cultural relevance by connecting with Ramadan on Twitter because it’s one of the most important cultural moments of the year in the world and in the region,” said Elio Khoury of Twitter MENA.
During Ramadan, connecting with users is important for brand perception and favorability and for sales and revenue. Consumers in Saudi Arabia (50 per cent), the UAE (52 per cent), Egypt (61 per cent) and Kuwait (49 per cent) spend more during Ramadan than in the rest of the year, according to a Twitter survey.
Create cultural relevance
Cultural relevance is a critical driver in people’s purchasing decisions. Research on 100 US brands found that there is an 88 per cent correlation between spend on Twitter and perceptions of a brand’s cultural relevance. Therefore it’s crucial to align your strategy with the Ramadan spirit when creating a social media campaign.
For example, Saudi Arabia-based food brand Deemah made strong cultural connections in their Ramadan Twitter campaign. They raised awareness about their new tea biscuit. They set the video to an Arabised tune of the Italian song Bella Ciao from the 1950s and incorporated scenes reflecting the Saudi culture to make it more engaging. The campaign generated 17 million impressions, 133,000 clicks, and 8 million video views, and in less than two weeks, the product sold out in the Saudi Arabian market.
Inspire your audience
During Ramadan people primarily turn to TV and social media for video entertainment; and when it comes to the content consumed, in Saudi Arabia for example, pop culture (49 per cent) and comedy (42 per cent) are the most popular genres, followed by food (31 per cent).
Dominos KSA is a good example. The pizza chain called upon its fans to do good. The brand Tweeted their invitation to launch ‘Pizza For Good’, followed by a video ad showing people how to be part of the initiative.
The video told their audience, “They’ve taught us that giving brings happiness and what you sow today, you reap tomorrow. Even while you stay at home, you can make others happy. With Pizza for Good, you can feed the needy with just one riyal.”
The emotional video generated 25.7 million video views, with a view rate of 10.3 per cent. It also drove positive brand sentiment among Twitter’s influential audience.
If you liked reading this, you might like our other stories
Content Marketing – The Middle Eastern Story
Companies Face A Significant Cultural Pivot
