Ramadan is always a major event. Not just in the Muslim world, but across life. While the Ramadhan season most prominently features in Muslim-majority countries, advertising and marketing connect it to countless others.
In this holy season of fasting and reflection, brands and agencies alike reach out to Muslim audiences everywhere to help them celebrate and honour this time. And that has led to some truly classic Ramadhan campaigns worth remembering. Here are some picks to inspire you to creatively bring more goodness and light in the season.
Messages Of Harmony
Let us begin with the undeniably important part of any ad campaign: the message. And for a sacred season full of meaning, getting that message of harmony, family, and devotion right is essential. Fortunately, these campaigns hit it right out of the park.
For starters, there’s that giant of brands: Coca Cola. And who can forget their unforgettable “Share A Coke” campaign, a masterstroke of personal, experiential marketing that helped people identify with the brand by looking for their names or the names of people they wanted to share with on the product? But “Share A Coke” went above and beyond that by going label-free for Ramadhan in their 2015 campaign.
With the message of “Labels are for cans not for people” and an accompanying video of a social experiment of diverse people bonding in darkness without knowing what the others look like, it went viral as the second most viewed Coca Cola online video of all time, earned over $30 million in advertising and PR value, and achieved a 35% engagement rate on Facebook and a 33% engagement rate on Twitter. And of course, a classic metric for a campaign’s success: it increased Coca Cola consumption by 51%.
On the other end, let’s look at Coca Cola’s eternal rival: Pepsi. Their “Let’s Complete Our Gathering” campaign in 2017. This was a continuation of their “Yalla Nekamel Lametna” campaign which they have been running since 2013 each Ramadhan, often playing on nostalgia with Egyptian cinema icons, part of a long-running message they have used through the years that is also known as “Yalla Nekamel Lametna”.
This time, Pepsi struck into a brilliant insight about the new generation and the modern era: how much time we spend on our smartphones. Inventively capitalising on the medium’s limitations, they created an ad split into three parts, and it only made sense when all of them were viewed side by side on smartphones. This encouraged people, especially the youth, to get closer together. And in doing so, Pepsi cleverly represented not just the message, but a fundamental element of Ramadan: reunions and togetherness with our loved ones.
Touching Social Initiatives
Besides touching and creative messages, charity and social initiatives are always classic campaign choices when one wants to pack an emotional punch. This is especially true for Ramadan, since such campaigns honour Muslim values of love and charity for our fellow humans.
Firstly, there’s the brand we’re all lovin’: McDonald’s. Launching across both Singapore and Malaysia when borders were closed down by COVID-19, the campaign helped delivery drivers and their families reconnect. Through the use of technology, specially set up tables (“My Happy Tables”) were made available at select outlets where people could reunite with loved ones across the border via video calls, as demonstrated by its moving video ad featuring delivery drivers working apart from their family.
Such creativity was a welcome respite for many feeling the pressures of travel restrictions keeping them from their families, heightened by the season’s heartfelt focus on family and reunion. With My Happy Table, they were able to recapture some of that Ramadhan magic. Feeling the pulse of the public in the face of the pandemic, the campaign hit a high note to the tune of 8,800 positive reactions, 480 comments, 6,200 shares, and well over 1 million views.
Another moving social programme was Amazon’s “Iftar On Wheels” initiative. Teaming up with the Saudi Food Bank, they made use of their scale, logistics, and technology to reach people in need. This put their vast and swift delivery network to good use, helping to get iftar meals to thousands of underprivileged families. In this instance, the company’s social initiatives to eliminate hunger and help those in need perfectly coincided with Ramadan values of generosity, and was a timely aid during the business of Ramadan.
And finally, we have Emirates Airline’s consistent accommodations of Ramadan-friendly flights. This has been a long-time service offered by the prominent airline during the holy season. Muslim passengers who take them up on their special offerings benefit from specially-prepared traditional halal meals, special boxes for breaking fast, and religious in-flight programmes for viewing that is appropriate for the season.
Ramadhan is a truly blessed season, and a tremendous opportunity for marketers to reach out and touch their audiences. After all, do you notice a common trend in all of these examples? They all touch on the emotions of family and togetherness Ramadan inspires, and address them with true Ramadhan values: togetherness, charity, and consideration.
With a creative mind, you can get into the festive spirit and find the best way to connect your audience not just with their families, but with your brand.
