Effective Content Strategy Report

Lessons from the 2018

WARC Awards
Contents
Four themes 3
Executive summary 4
Winners’ take-outs 6
Judging panel 7
Chapter one: Analysis of campaign trends 9
Case study countries 10
Online video plays a leading role in content strategy 11
Low budgets are the norm for content campaigns 12
Emotion, storytelling and humour prove popular 13
Content focuses on a brand-building role 14
Content campaigns tend to be more long term 15
Soft and hard metrics 16
Chapter two: Humour as an effective content strategy 17
Make ‘em laugh 18
Coca-Cola: Hijacking the African Cup 20
Content empowers brands 21
EGBank: The Chronicles of Oufa 23
Whiskas: Kitten Kollege 24
Antarctica: Web Series 25
Chapter three: Content must scale up to reach
its full potential 26
Put your money where your content is 27
The Live Love Laugh Foundation: Ask Again 29
Maxis: 4G Films 30
Nippon Pylox: If you can dream it, you can Pylox it 31
Chapter four: Content that creates a point of difference 32
Show, don’t tell 33
Connect: Slow Trends 35
Saudi Telecom Company: Unveil Saudi 36
Orange: The Hammam Fighter 37
Chapter five: Content that engages new audiences 38
People-first content engages new audiences 39
Hinge: Escape the Dating Apocalypse 41
i-can: Fair Sex Fair Say 42
Emirates NBD: Dear Younger Me… 43
Four themes
1
Humour as an effective
content strategy
Emotion and humour were the
creative strategies of nearly a third
– 32% – of shortlisted papers in the
Effective Content Strategy category
at this year’s WARC Awards. The
Grand Prix winner, Coca-Cola’s
Hijacking the African Cup, showed
how emotion and humour could
successfully engage audiences.
“Creating emotion is what brands
have to do today,” writes BETC Paris’s
Lennie Stern who judged this year’s
Effective Content Strategy. “Make
them laugh and you’ll encourage
them to share new cultural
references.” A more emotional
or humorous approach could be
found in many of this year’s winners,
including Whiskas’ Kitten Kollege and
Malaysian telco Maxis’ 4G Films.
3 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
2
Content must scale up to
reach its full potential
In a survey by WARC asking entrants
into the Effective Content Strategy
category whether their clients
will be investing in more branded
content in the future, 89% agreed
that they would. Given that brands
are committing more to the benefits
of content, budgets need to grow
to ensure that it can be consistent
over time and deliver on marketing
objectives. As judge Nick Kendall
writes on page 28: “Scaling, and
scaling hard behind proven success,
is the new business practice. Now
content is growing up and finding
‘the power of ideas’. So let’s make
sure we have ‘the power of media’ to
drive them.”
3
Content that creates a
point of difference
Telcos, particularly those in the
MENA region, where countries such
as the UAE and Saudi Arabia boast
some of the highest smartphone
penetration in the world, are
increasingly dependent on content
marketing to help differentiate in a
highly commoditised sector. There
are lessons here for marketers in
sectors such as financial services
where differentiation remains one of
the biggest challenges. According to
Dan Shepherd, page 33: “Showing
is better than telling to get into
consumers’ hand and hearts. In a sea
of sameness, littered by the debris of
countless boastful claims, content
makes impressive waves and ripples
that last.”
4
Content that engages
new audiences
Nearly half – 44% – of entrants into
this category surveyed by WARC
cited new customer acquisition
as a key objective of their content
marketing. And many winning
campaigns successfully reached
new audiences. Dating app Hinge
repositioned itself as a relationship
app through an animated film,
inviting people to Escape the Dating
Apocalypse and doubled its user
base. Meanwhile, Emirates NBD’s
Dear Younger Me increased youth
acquisitions through branded
content that engaged emotionally
with Egypt’s under-25s.
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Executive summary
Content is starting to take a more central role
in communications strategies that recognise its
strengths and its power to connect
This Effective Content Strategy
Report features some of the
world’s most effective content
marketing strategies. It draws
on the winners of the Effective
Content Strategy category at
this year’s WARC Awards which
is designed to reward branded
editorial-style content that can
demonstrate a business outcome.
Coca-Cola: integrated into the vernacular
in Egypt
4 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
This report looks at all entries to
the Effective Content Strategy
category of the 2018 WARC Awards,
a global case study competition
designed to reward next-generation
effectiveness. It considers features
of the entries and analyses drivers of
effectiveness.
WARC has analysed the entries
into this category to identify
common themes among successful
content marketing strategies. The
charts on pages 10-16 have
been generated by the metadata
around all the entries, as well as
from a survey that was sent out as
part of the entry process. Thanks to
this data and the contribution of an
eminent judging panel (page 7),
chaired by John Dokes, Global
Chief Marketing Officer and General
Manager, AccuWeather New York, we
have identified four themes around
Effective Content Strategy which
are: Humour as an effective content
strategy, Content must scale up
to reach its full potential, Content
that creates a point of difference
and Content that engages new
audiences.
Connect: achieved great results
The Effective Content Strategy
category aims to reward branded
content strategies that can
demonstrate a business outcome.
It’s clear that many organisations
are now following the ‘hero, hub,
hygiene’ model of content pioneered
by YouTube. First, making a grand
statement with a ‘hero’ piece of
content – usually an online video or
a TV ad. Then, supporting that with
‘hub’ content – the more everyday,
regular content that is drip-fed
to specific audiences. Finally,
underpinning the whole effort
with ‘hygiene’ content – always-
on material that is optimised to
audiences’ intentions and interest.
Evidence of this could be seen in this
year’s Grand Prix winner, Coca-Cola’s
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Executive summary
On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is
easy and 10 is hard, how hard
was it for you to dissuade your
client of old advertising ‘rules’?
100%
22%
75%
56%
50%
25%
22%
0%
Content
Difficult (7+ out of 10)
Moderate (4-6 out of 10)
Easy (1-3 out of 10)
Hijacking the African Cup (page
20). This also demonstrated how
a well thought out content marketing
strategy can supersede advertising
and integrate into a country’s
vernacular. The song at the heart
of the campaign became a national
earworm and featured all the names
of the new players in Egypt’s national
5 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
football team. Coke also instigated a
jersey swap, where any non-Egyptian
football jersey could be swapped
with a (Coke-branded) Egypt jersey.
There were countless other parts to
this campaign which made it a Grand
Prix winner but essentially Coke got
the nation singing to its tune and
wearing a jersey adorned with its
logo. Chris Wall, Head of Creative,
Ogilvy Public Relations, who was on
the jury, commented: “It feels bigger
than a content campaign to me. They
did a catchy song which everyone
loved, the video performed well and
it caught everyone’s attention. And
people were wearing the shirts at
matches. That’s the dream.”
Undeniable enthusiasm
In a survey that was distributed
as part of the entry form to all
entrants into the 2018 WARC
Awards, we asked how hard it was
for practitioners to dissuade their
clients of old advertising ‘rules’.
Twenty-two percent described it as
‘difficult’, 56% said it was ‘moderately
difficult’, while just 22% described it
as ‘easy’. Yet, despite the stumbling
blocks in encouraging advertisers
Will your client be investing
to experiment with new content
in more branded content in
formats and try something that
the future?
perhaps doesn’t look like advertising
100%
of old, there is a palpable enthusiasm 89%
for content: 89% of entrants claimed
that their clients will be investing in 75%
more branded content in the future.
More investment 50%
And it is time for more investment
in content, according to Nick
Kendall, who judged this category 25%
for a second year in 2018. Citing
examples such as Connect’s Slow 11%
Trends (page 35) from Lebanon 0%
Content
and Live Love Laugh’s Ask Again No
(page 29) from India, he writes on Yes
page 28: “Maybe content should Don’t know
stop being the poor cousin and grow
up to become the central player in a Our thanks to John Dokes, Nick
brand repertoire.” He praises many Kendall and all the other judges
of this year’s winners for achieving (pages 7-8) who took time to
great results on comparatively understand and debate what makes
tiny budgets, and speculates that a successful content strategy.
investing in these good ideas to
take them to the next level would be The 2019 WARC Awards will open
the most practical way of achieving for entries on 1 November. Please
effectiveness and avoiding what he contact lucy.aitken@warc.com for
describes as ‘digital landfill’. more details.
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Winners’ take-outs

Aside from the ROI, you have to be in tune with the response
to your content – who it is resonating with and not resonating
with. Comments are ever-present on the internet; it’s just
about listening. It’s important to see content as the beginning
How do we continuously of a dialogue rather than a one-way statement.

improve our understanding We need to continually test pre and post campaigns
that leverage branded content to determine the
of content's commercial effect? effects it is having on the marketing mix.

Start off organically; observe consumers’ interactions and

sentiment so you can adapt and maximise the content to
capture the interest of larger target audiences.

Original content that people would want to watch so much that

they actually don’t mind it coming from a brand. In a world of ad
blockers, shorter attention spans and infinite content to consume,
advertising is becoming less and less popular among people with
every passing second. Branded content is supposed to be the antidote
How do you define to that. Branded content is all about a brand being successfully
present within people's attention spans without them minding.
branded content?
Stories people want to hear that come in any format.

Content brought to life by a brand that is entertaining,

engaging and informative, that consumers are happy
and willing to watch and share with their friends.

6 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018 © Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Judging panel

John Dokes Lionel Benbassat Michael Davidson

Chair of judges Managing Director, Associate Partner & Head
Global Chief Marketing Fred & Farid of Strategy, Venables Bell
Officer and General & Partners
Manager, AccuWeather
New York

Aliya Hasan Jennifer Usdan McBride Nick Kendall

Head of Strategy, Director of Digital & Founding Partner,
Vizeum Australia Innovation, J. Walter Broken, Electric Glue
Thompson New York and The Garage Soho

Lindsay Landy James Larman Namita Mediratta

Planning Partner, Executive Strategy Global CMI Director,
Ogilvy Director, Drum Content, Unilever

7 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018 © Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Judging panel

Bronwen Morgan Mylene Ong Daniel Shepherd

Head of Content, Head of Strategy, Director, Digital
Flamingo Colenso BBDO Planning, PHD UAE

Lennie Stern Dean Taylor My Troedssen

Head of Creative and Director of Creative Planner, Forsman
Entertainment Strategies, Strategy, Momentum & Bodenfors
BETC Paris

Chris Wall
Head of Creative,
Ogilvy Public Relations Please contact
Interested in judging Effective Lucy Aitken, Managing Editor,
Case Studies, WARC
Content Strategy in 2019? lucy.aitken@warc.com

8 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018 © Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Chapter one:
Analysis of campaign trends
Case study countries

Where did the shortlisted case studies come from?

Lebanon 5%

Canada 5%
United Kingdom 14% United Arab Emirates 5%

India 9%

Thailand 5%
United States 5% Tunisia 5%

Egypt 19%
Malaysia 9%

Saudi Arabia 5%

Singapore 5%

Brazil 5%

Global 5%

10 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018 © Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Online video plays a leading role in content strategy

Lead media (selected media)

Commentary
70%

62% Online video continues to be a key component

60% of content strategy, accounting for 20% of non-
shortlisted campaigns and nearly a quarter –
50% 24% – of shortlisted ones.
Social media, on the other hand, was the lead
40% media in 14% of non-shortlisted campaigns but
only 10% of shortlisted papers.
30%
26%
24%
No shortlisted campaigns used television, radio
20% and audio, virtual and augmented reality or word
20%
of mouth, advocacy as their lead media.
14%

10% 11%
10%
6% 6% 6%

0% 0% 0% 0%
0%
Content Online Social Television Radio & Virtual & Word of
marketing video media audio augmented mouth,
reality advocacy

Non-shortlisted Shortlisted

11 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018 © Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Low budgets are the norm for content campaigns

Media budgets
Commentary
70%
67%

“One of the joys of content is its ability to

60% achieve good things on small budgets,” writes
52%
Effective Content Strategy judge Nick Kendall
50% on page 28. He adds: “Most of the papers in
2018 seemed to arrive at their current content
40% approach out of crisis: ‘budgets were low’,
‘competitors dwarfed us’, ‘times were desperate’,
30% ‘we needed a different approach’, etc.” This was
26% borne out by the data which revealed that more
20%
than two thirds of the shortlisted work – 67% –
14%
had a budget of up to $500k.
10%
10% Only one winning paper – Antarctica’s Web
6% 5% 5% 5%
3% 3%
5% Series (page 25), which saw the Brazilian beer
0% 0% 0% 0%
0% brand investing in a multimedia content play that
No budget Up to 500k 500k - 1 million 1 - 3 million 3 - 5 million 5 - 10 million 10 - 20 million Over 20 million blurred fiction and reality – had a budget of more
than $20 million.

Non-shortlisted Shortlisted

12 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018 © Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Emotion, storytelling and humour prove popular

Creative strategy
Commentary
25%
Winning campaigns took an emotional
approach – sometimes with humour – and
21%
20% used storytelling techniques to connect with
20%
audiences. Whiskas’s Kitten Kollege (page 24)
and EGBank’s The Chronicles of Oufa (page
16% 16%
23) used all three creative strategies. As BETC
15%
Paris’s Lennie Stern from the jury points out on
12% page 19: “The advertising process is often
11% 11% 11%
about trying to do something that everybody will
10%
9% 9%
like. Integrating humour in advertising is about
7% 7% looking for something people will definitely love.”
Yet, as she cautions: “What lies between like and
4% 4%
5%
love is risk.”
Meanwhile, campaigns such as Hinge’s Escape
Emotion Informative, Storytelling Humour User-generated Celebrity Music
0% The Dating Apocalypse (page 41) used
educational content, emotion-heavy storytelling to make a serious
participation
point.
Non-shortlisted Shortlisted

13 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018 © Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Content focuses on a brand-building role

Objectives of the campaign/activity

Commentary
Strengthen the
78%
brand / its appeal Content marketing is primarily used to
New customer acquisition 44%
strengthen the brand / its appeal. In the survey
of WARC Awards entrants, 78% of respondents
Market share gain 44% in the Effective Content Strategy cited it as an
objective.
Sales volume gain 44%
On equal pegging in second place, with 44%,
Increase profit / reduce were new customer acquisition, market share
33%
operational cost
gain and sales volume gain. This could be seen
Sales value gain 33% in successful papers such as i-can’s Fair Sex
Customer retention /
Fair Say (page 42) that used social media to
22%
increase purchase loyalty change the male narrative on contraceptive
Drive web traffic / choices in India.
22%
social media engagement

Other 11%

Behavioural change / 11%

not-for-profit campaign

Reduce price sensitivity 11%

Development of 11%
the category
Market share defence / 11%
arrest decline
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

14 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018 © Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Content campaigns tend to be more long term

Timescales
Commentary

Papers entered into the Effective Content

Content 11% 44% 44% Strategy category were more likely to be longer-
term campaigns (12 months or more) than
papers in the other three categories. This could
Social 40% 50% 10% be seen in campaigns such as Saudi Telecom
Company’s Unveil Saudi that won a Gold as well
Innovation 42% 42% 17%
as the Long-Term Idea Special Award (page
36).
Purpose 10% 50% 40%
At the other end of the spectrum, 11% of Content
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
campaigns had very short timescales (six
months or fewer). As Nick Kendall points out on
page 28, “If only these ideas were approached
Very short (< 6 months) Short (< 12 months) Long (> 12 months)
as more than a ‘one off’, given more central
importance and funded with more budget…I
can only hope that many of these ideas will be
supported again next year, and built upon, rather
than discarded as more digital landfill – the
equivalent of single-use plastics!”

15 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018 © Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Soft and hard metrics

Soft metrics – Social media, awareness and PR value rank high

Commentary
50%

40%
40%
Social media and PR value are the highest-
ranking soft metrics among shortlisted
29%
27% 30% campaigns, with 29% and 18% respectively. This
18% 20%
was in evidence in many papers, including the
13%
15%
11%
Grand Prix winner from Coke in Egypt, Hijacking
8% 8% 7% 6% 5% 4%
8% 10% the African Cup (page 20), where the strategy
0% 0%
0%
of leading multiple conversations to address a
Social media,
buzz
Awareness Brand health /
equity measures
Web traffic Consumer
participation
PR value Brand-specific
measures
Search
performance
number of different targets paid dividends in
terms of PR and social media engagement.

Non-shortlisted Shortlisted In nearly a third of both shortlisted and non-

shortlisted campaigns, market penetration/
customer gain and sales were the most popular
Hard metrics – Selected hard metrics show that customer gain and sales dominate hard metrics. This could be seen in winning
campaigns such as Hinge’s (page 41) and
50% Emirates NBD’s (page 43), which successfully
recruited new customers.
40%

29%
32%
29%
32%
While market share and efficiency gain were
30%
popular metrics among non-shortlisted
21%
18% 20% campaigns, they accounted for only a small
10% proportion of shortlisted papers.
10%
5%

0%
Market penetration / Sales Market share Efficiency gain
customer gain

Non-shortlisted Shortlisted

16 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018 © Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Chapter two:
Humour as an effective content strategy
Make ‘em laugh
The most shared content is always
Lennie Stern from BETC Paris argues
in some way evocative. Whether
that achieving the right balance between a campaign makes us cry with
laughter or sadness, it makes us feel
emotional clues and informative content something to connect with the brand
purpose. That’s obvious, right? Even
leads to effectiveness.
if it might seem pretty basic, it sums
up what should stand at the heart of
all communication.
Emotion comes first in
the ‘skip this ad’ age
Creating emotion is what brands have
to do today. It has always been true,
but it is unquestionably crucial in our
current age of ‘skip this ad’. This era
is one where we are all struggling for
a few nano-seconds of attention. At
Lennie Stern is Head of
the heart of any piece of advertising,
Creative and Entertainment
regardless of the channel or platform,
Strategies, BETC Paris
there should be relevance, emotion,
and compelling creative execution.
Audience attention needs to be
captured in a meaningful way for ads
to be effective. Emotion triggers a
strong memory. Emotion speaks to
guts before speaking to brain, and
is actually the secret ingredient for
memorable content. There’s no need
to prove it again: many studies show
18 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
that people rely on emotion rather
than information when it comes to
making a choice between brands. It is
the right balance between emotional
clues and informative content which
leads to effectiveness.
Old equation, new
technical requirements
Today, the question is less about
which kind of emotion trigger is the
most effective one and more about
how to use them in the most relevant
way. What is at stake is finding the
right tonality and addressing the
right target in the right moment on
the right channel. This is actually
the biggest challenge brands and
advertisers have to address.
This year, the WARC Awards’
Effective Content Strategy winners
celebrated emotion as an effective
strategy in an integrated approach.
Which means most of the rewarded
works in the category used this
‘emotional’ leverage in the best
way possible. Not only to create fun
and entertaining content about a
brand or a product, but also to build
communities, drive engagement
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Make ‘em laugh

and create conversion perspectives

through those entertaining pieces
of content.
It’s also true that they successfully
used humour and feel-good emotions.

The whaaaat?! factor

I dare anyone to say they felt nothing
watching Coca-Cola’s winning entry
(page 20), Whiskas’ Kitten Kollege
(page 24) campaign or EGBank’s
The Chronicles of Oufa (page 23).
Yes, they made me go “whaaaat?!”
but not only that. They also got the
most precious thing on earth: my
attention. The appeal of having a
funny commercial is really attractive.
Content that tickles our funny bone
often triggers an association in our
neurons that a certain brand makes
us feel good.
EGBank’s The Chronicles of Oufa
campaign achieved exactly the
right balance of emotional response
and brand recognition. So right, in
fact, that it has piggybacked its way
into ‘helping the youth’ emotional
advertising with only a negligible
commercial investment. Sneaky
heartbreakers!
Coca-Cola: "used humour
and feel-good emotions"
The advertising process is often
about trying to do something that
everybody will like. Integrating
humour in advertising is about
looking for something people will
definitely love. What lies between like
and love is risk.
How humour is risky
Humour is what we have to
encourage every single day. Yet
comedy is not easy because it’s so
incredibly subjective. Advertisers
run the risk of being overshadowed
by the joke, or – even worse – of
Whiskas: "using existing cultural
references to shape new ones"
straying into the territory of being
too offensive. In all art, subtlety and
understanding your audience is
key to whether or not your content
will leave a cultural mark on your
consumers.
But this is actually how culture gets
shaped. A large part of our collective
culture spirit is made of these rare
pieces of content that make us
laugh, react and connect. This is
actually what people are expecting
from brands and content. Make them
laugh and you’ll encourage them to
share new cultural references.
EGBank: "piggybacked its way into
'helping the youth' emotional advertising"
Content’s virtuous circle
This is the perfect virtuous circle
we have to feed every day through
the lens of brand and content.
This is what Coca-Cola or Whiskas
managed to achieve: using existing
cultural references to shape new
ones. They turned their content
into pop-culture phenomena.
To be honest, humour is the best
tool to achieve this outstanding
goal. It is what we call entertainment,
the foundation of advertising, and
the future of brand communication
too.

19 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018 © Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Coca-Cola: Hijacking the African Cup
Earning brand love by reigniting football fervour
GRAND PRIX AND BEST
MULTIPLATFORM SPECIAL AWARD
Agency: FP7/CAIRO
(part of McCann World Group)
Advertiser: Coca-Cola
(The Coca-Cola Company)
Market: Egypt
Soft drink brand Coca-Cola
reawakened Egypt’s passion
for its national football team.
What is interesting beyond
the content is the nationwide
movement they created. This is
about more than the content,
music video and web documentary
they did. They owned the
movement they created.
Lennie Stern – Head of Creative
and Entertainment Strategies,
BETC Paris
20 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
Objectives
During the African Cup of Nations,
Coke wanted to reignite passion
for the national team and build its
association with football.
Insight
Egyptian football had been
experiencing a crisis after the
government had officially banned
live audiences from attending
matches following the Port Said
stadium massacre. The national
team’s spirits dropped and fans
drifted towards international
leagues, not even knowing the
names of Egypt’s players.
Strategy
The campaign began with a docu-
drama that launched on social media,
featuring football personalities
encouraging fans to give Coca-
Cola their non-Egyptian jerseys to
have them replaced with Egyptian
ones. All non-Egyptian jerseys
were recycled into duvets and
donated to the underprivileged in
the outskirts of Cairo. Not being the
Cup’s sponsor, Coke was unable to
mention it in its communication. It
created an online music video set in a
ping-pong hall, where a group of men
sang a catchy song featuring the new
team line-up to help fans acquaint
themselves with the new players.
Results
$150,000
earned media
10%
increase in football association
5pts
increase in brand love
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
Takeaways
Building communication
around an event that you
don’t officially sponsor
presents many challenges.
Find ways to engage
meaningfully with the
event’s audience instead.
Leading multiple
conversations and
addressing a range of
targets in a variety of
tonalities can be more
effective than adhering to a
single-minded message.
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Content empowers brands
Remember the days when all
Be the interesting content, don’t interrupt it,
advertisers were fixated on the
advises FP7 Cairo’s Naila Fattouh that this year ‘single-minded message’? That
was when all we had were just a few
took the Effective Content Strategy Grand Prix seconds to tell our audiences one
unique thing about our brand. Those
for Coca-Cola’s Hijacking the African Cup.
were the days when the strategists
among us flaunted their talents
of zoning in on that one message
that mattered most. We’d put this
message on a pedestal and often
give it divine authority, calling it a
‘truth’ or ‘essence’.
Well, those days are gone. Not
because that no longer works,
because it does and always will.
It’s because now we no longer
have to stick to just one message.
Naila Fattouh is Head of
By changing our mindset to being
Strategic Planning at FP7 Cairo
content-first, we have freed
ourselves from the handcuffs of the
30-second TV spot. Content allows
us to have multiple conversations
with multiple targets in multiple
tonalities, all of them serving one
main objective.
Through thick and thin
That’s what we learned from
working on the football campaign
21 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
for Coca-Cola Egypt. With decades
of experience in the local market,
Coke had done its share of single-
minded communication and had
become one of the most loved
brands in the country. Moreover,
much like elsewhere in the world,
Coke invested heavily in Egypt’s
greatest passion, football, helping
position the brand as an authority
on the sport. Coke knew the ins and
outs of Egyptian football and owned
it like a pro. Coke was there with its
consumer, the Egyptian fan, when
Egypt’s national team was in its glory
days winning the African Cup of
Nations three times in a row. Coke
was there when Egypt beat Italy in
the Confederation’s Cup and tied
with Brazil. Coke was in the stadium,
on the street, in the cheering
parades, painting the nation red after
our team’s colour.
But Coke was also there when
loyal fans died in a horrific massacre
in Port Said stadium during a local
league match (a politically charged
incident that followed Egypt’s 2011
revolution). Coke was there when the
fans and team alike were suddenly
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Content empowers brands
defeated in willpower and on the field,
inexplicably losing the next three
African Cup of Nations tournaments.
Coke stood by its fans as they
watched their all-star team fail one
too many times and eventually retire.
Leading the conversation
So in 2017, when Egypt was
approaching the African Cup of
Nations hesitantly and insecurely,
with a new team line-up, Coke
needed to rise to the occasion. How
could a brand with the scale of Coca-
Cola possibly choose one single
message to communicate during this
critical time for the country? Would
we talk about the new team? Would
we talk about the dwindled passion
and sense of pride for our team?
Would we encourage people to wear
the red jersey once again and cheer?
We couldn’t possibly choose just
one… so we didn’t! Amidst an entire
market of brands communicating
the same occasion, Coke needed
to lead the conversation. That
meant discussing everything with
everyone. To do so, we needed to get
out of our comfort zone, forgetting
22 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
the traditional advertising we had
been doing for years and instead
focusing on creating different pieces
of content that would help us hijack
the event. Our campaign consisted
of an emotional docu-drama, a
comedic music video, a CSR initiative
and a nation-wide activation, each
focusing on a different insight,
creating a new debate.
Our diverse content helped us
engage not only with people of
different interests but also with
the same audiences several times
over, making the brand extremely
agile. Regardless of the topic being
discussed, Coke was there with its
relevant content. Our content-led
strategy helped us move from topic
to topic without constraint, smoothly
and easily becoming part of the
national dialogue.
More importantly, content helped
us grab our audiences’ attention. In
an era where consumers’ attention
cannot be taken for granted, brands
need to work harder to become
interesting. And as fun as advertising
can be, it often falls short of
becoming the real topic of interest
Coca-Cola: "took real issues on and created solutions"
for audiences. Marketers today
struggle with getting consumers to
slow down while scrolling, to give us
a mere second of attention. However,
content empowers brands to take
on bigger topics that actually matter
to consumers, surprisingly enabling
brands to get much more than a few
seconds of undivided attention.
Identifying the tension points
This is exactly what happened with
our campaign. Through its content
strategy, Coke managed to tap into
sensitive tension points among
the nation at large. We discussed
the harsh reality of our fans not
wearing the national jersey anymore,
preferring to wear foreign ones. We
were also the only ones to raise the
concern that Egyptians didn’t even
know their new team line-up and took
it upon ourselves to make the entire
country memorise their names.
We took real issues on and created
solutions through our campaign.
Accordingly, we no longer had to
depend on forceful advertising
interrupting the interesting content:
we were the interesting content.
The success of the campaign
proved that using content correctly
allowed a big brand like Coca-Cola to
own a big occasion and everything
around it, the jersey, the team line-up,
the national pride and the fun of it all.
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
EGBank: The Chronicles of Oufa
Increasing new account sign-ups by targeting an ignored demographic

Objectives life of university student Oufa as he

GOLD
Agency: FP7/CAIRO
(part of McCann World Group)
Advertiser: EGBank
Market: Egypt
Small Egyptian bank EGBank raised
awareness and increased new
account sign-ups by siding with
the country’s overlooked youth.
This campaign provided
insights on why there are better,
more structured choices and
how those can really connect
with the community.
John Dokes – Global Chief Marketing
Officer and General Manager,
AccuWeather Network
Of the 90% unbanked Egyptian
population, more than 70% are
youth, the main drivers of massive
spending, lending and financial
potential for the future. EGBank set
out to become the bank for them,
but was faced with the target’s
negative perception of banks, seen
as ‘deceitful’ and ‘confusing’.
Insight
Egypt is still very much a patriarchal
society and the youth’s place in
the country is that of second-class
citizens: they live with their parents
until they get married, yet they are
considered too old for mothering and
too young for real responsibility and
decision-making authority. The bank
decided to target two audiences: the
youth who hated banks and the rest
of the population, who needed to
know that EGBank was now only for
the youth.
Strategy
The Chronicles of Oufa launched on
TV and social media with a series
of 13 episodes documenting the
struggled with not being considered
and being taken for granted. Each
episode highlighted an unspoken
insight about this generation, only
to reveal that EGBank would be the
first to take Oufa and his friends
seriously by helping them open their
first account.
Results
$700,000
earned media
73%
increase in top-of-mind awareness
100%
YOY increase in number of accounts
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
Takeaways
While advertising sells a
product to those who need
it most, content has the
ability to intrigue those who
feel they don't need it at all.
Whereas advertising sells
more to users, content can
recruit non-users.
Human stories backed up
by a true, unspoken insight
on the audience, can help
brands be allowed to enter
the targets’ world, and even
represent them.

23 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018 © Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Whiskas: Kitten Kollege
Earning a place online by revisiting the brand’s core purpose
BRONZE
Lead agency: AMV BBDO
Contributing agencies:
MediaCom, Google
Advertiser: Whiskas (Mars Petcare)
Market: United Kingdom
I liked it from a content creation
point of view: they clearly started
with the data, using lots of Google
search data. It’s really robust. They
then built a nice platform out of it,
which grew in its second year.
Dan Shepherd – Director,
Digital Planning, PHD UAE
24 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
Objectives
Whiskas, the global reference in cat
care, was struggling to stand out
online as it had always prioritised TV
and lacked a digital presence. The
brand set out to find its distinctive
voice within online cat content.
Insight
Whiskas found that, when it comes
to cats, the internet is full of funny
content, but lacking engaging and
educational content. To be true to
its essence, the brand wanted to
become the online reference in cat
care. To build awareness at point
of market entry, Whiskas chose to
develop its communication around
kittens.
Strategy
It identified the most common care
queries around kittens and found
that most of them coincided with the
key moments of a kitten’s first year.
Online series Kitten Kollege tackled
the most popular queries with
humorous and educational videos
which would help new pet owners
through The Year of Kittenhood. The
content was hosted on a YouTube
channel and a partnership with
American comedy channel College
Humor ensured videos were funny,
digitally native and mobile first.
Users who viewed two or more
videos were re-targeted with related
product ads, served through Google
Display Network. The next phase of
development is a series around the
Kat Institute of Technology, home to Takeaways
the best Kitten Kollege graduates.
Branded content is new
Results territory, therefore,
the best solutions are
bespoke. Going back to a
39m brand’s core mission can
impressions help find the right insight to
guide the execution.
One episode Data alone is not enough:
it’s human sensibility
reached 25% of all cat
that transforms numbers
owners in the UK
into insights, and insights
into ideas.
13
markets saw roll-out
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Antarctica: Web Series
Gaining back relevance by boldly modernising the brand approach
SILVER
Lead agency: AlmapBBDO
Contributing agencies:
Blinks, B/Ferraz
Advertiser: Antarctica (AB InBev)
Market: Brazil
Beer brand Antarctica regained
relevance in Brazil by adopting
a more modern communication
approach through a web
series tackling topics close
to its target’s hearts.
It was a very well done
campaign, and in an engaging
format. It strikes a nice balance
between the need for ultra-short
content and the demand for
more brand engagement.
Namita Mediratta – Global CMI
Director, Content, Unilever
25 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
Objectives
Antarctica had started suffering
from Brazil’s macro-economic
troubles, with people turning to
either value or premium beers. Its
preference decline was due to a loss
in relevance, so it decided to adopt
a more modern communications
strategy.
Insight
Brazil was undergoing recession and
an identity crisis, with corruption
and scandal in many sectors of
society. Brazilians began expressing
themselves on social networks,
discussing issues of character and
virtue.
Strategy
The brand launched a web series
which went beyond the superficial
beer universe to address thought-
provoking issues. Antarctica’s
traditional TVC was dethroned
and efforts were focused on social
media channels to align with modern
media consumption habits. TV and
cinemas only hosted trailers, acting
as advertising for the web series.
A retargeting strategy ensured
people followed the series and
a variety of formats allowed for
content amplification. Blurring the
line between fiction and reality, the
main character was given his own
profiles on social media. Fans could
interact with characters through
a Messenger chatbot and a song
produced exclusively for the series
was launched on Spotify.
Results
13.9%
increase in ad awareness
7.5%
increase in ‘for someone like me’
204%
increase in organic Google
searches for Antarctica
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
Takeaways
Modernise your brand’s
advertising approach.
Leveraging new platforms
while keeping the brand’s
unique tonality and
personality will lend it
greater relevance without
the risk of losing its identity.
Rethink the role of TV: it can
be an advertising medium
leading the audience to
your online content through
teasers and trailers.
Blur the line between fiction
and reality by giving your
audience the chance to
interact with the content and
the characters starring in it.
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Chapter three:
Content must scale up to reach
its full potential
Put your money where your content is

Now that content has tapped into I have judged the WARC Awards’
Effective Content Strategy category
the power of ideas, Nick Kendall says twice now. The first year, I must
confess, I was disappointed by the
proper investment needs to support it to general quality of entries. There
ensure it can be consistent over time. were some great prize winners in
2017: Knorr’s Love at First Taste was
a big enough idea to last and last.
The MS bicycle idea left an indelible
image in my mind. KFC’s cheesy
lines were… well, gloriously cheesy. Source: Admap/Data2Decisions
I can still remember these cases
and still recommend them as ‘good these awards is the one offered by
reads’. They were exceptional but the Content Marketing Association
they were also, I fear, exception. itself. “Content is about sustained
So at WARC’s celebratory event attention, gaining your audience’s
reviewing the learnings I was, I am trust by drawing them into your
afraid, a bit of a humbug. Using brand’s community for a desirable
Nick Kendall is Founding
the famous chart (top right) as my amount of time.” Whether that makes
Partner of Broken, Electric
only slide, I ranted and reminded things clearer for you I will leave you
Glue and The Garage Soho
everyone of the proven importance to decide. What is clear for me is that
of creativity in securing an ROI. it tries to define the ‘content’ side of
I suggested that, all too often, it ‘content ideas’. Maybe what matters
seems papers are obsessed by ‘what more is the definition of an idea.
the pipes can do’ and not The Idea The definition of how and where an
itself. Maybe this is not surprising idea appears will keep on changing,
as it is an early discipline and we but the definition of an idea (and
therefore focus more on the ‘content’ the power of greatness to be the fly
part of our ‘content ideas’. Indeed, wheel of success) will not. “An idea
the definition of a ‘content idea’ for captures the audience’s interest,

27 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018 © Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Put your money where your content is
influences their emotional response,
and inspires them to action.”
In this year’s awards, I am pleased
to say, I saw lots of great ideas. My
favourite (other than Coke’s Grand
Prix on page 20) was Slow Trends
(page 35) by Lebanese brand
Connect. It got me thinking again.
Slow Trends had no budget. The idea
itself created its own audience –
proof again of the capacity of ideas
to power their own media. But what
would have happened if the power
of media (and a budget) had been
applied to the idea? One of the joys
of content is its ability to achieve
good things on small budgets.
Most of the papers in 2018 seemed
to arrive at their current content
approach out of crisis: ‘budgets
were low’, ‘competitors dwarfed us’,
‘times were desperate’, ‘we needed a
different approach’, etc.
A shift in perspective
It is noticeable that, of the 13
winners, nine enjoyed a budget
of less than $500k. Two thirds of
shortlisted papers claimed their
budget was $500k or less, and most
28 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
often much less. Given the quality
of many of the ideas in this year’s
awards, I wonder if the time is right
for a shift in perspective? Maybe
content should stop being the poor
cousin and grow up to become the
central player in a brand repertoire.
Many of the ideas here are capable
of that.
The Coke Grand Prix is an example
of one idea spawning many, STC’s
Unveil Saudi (page 36) is a
campaign that can become a long-
term positioning, while EGBank’s The
Chronicles of Oufa (page 23) could
run and run. If only these ideas were
approached as more than a ‘one
off’, given more central importance
and funded with more budget! The
problem, I would guess, is one of old
practices behind new forms and, in
this case, the old practice is setting
budgets and fixing them at the start
of a year.
As a result, even though these
cases prove themselves to be
effective at small budget levels,
there seems to be no ‘new best
practice’ of putting more money
behind the success in order to take
The Live Love Laugh Foundation: "a deep thought that will take time to become a
cultural norm"
them to the next level. Maybe more
organisations need to develop
‘dynamic’ or ‘performance-related’
budgeting practices; with budgets
being allocated as an idea takes
hold. In the absence of this method,
I can only hope that many of these
ideas will be supported again next
year, and built upon, rather than
discarded as more digital landfill –
the equivalent of single-use plastics!
Imagine what Nippon’s (page 31),
or Maxis’ (page 30) campaigns
would look like with more investment.
Certainly Live Love Laugh’s Ask
Again (page 29) is a deep thought
that will take time – and should take
time – to become a cultural norm.
Kitten Kollege (page 24) could be
the Open University of the ‘Caternet’
if given long-term budget support.
Dear Younger Me (page 43) could
become a compelling series (a kind of
Desert Island Discs) if given time to
grow. Consistency – lest we forget at
our peril – is the baseline for brands.
True broadcast fame – lest we also
forget – is the life blood of success.
Scaling, and scaling hard behind
proven success, is the new business
practice. Now content is growing up
and finding ‘the power of ideas’. So
let’s make sure we have ‘the power of
media’ to drive them.
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
The Live Love Laugh Foundation: Ask Again
Raising awareness of depression by showing the difference a simple question can make
SILVER
Agency: McCann Worldgroup
Advertiser: The Live
Love Laugh Foundation
Market: India
Indian mental health charity Live
Love Laugh Foundation raised
awareness of depression and
increased visits to its website by
creating a safer environment for
sufferers of depression to open up.
It speaks to both parties –
the potentially depressed one
and the one asking. It makes
you wonder: ‘Could you live with
yourself if something was wrong
and you didn’t ask again?’
Mylene Ong – Head of Strategy,
Colenso BBDO
29 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
Objectives
In India, depression is the single
biggest cause of suicide, yet it
isn’t acknowledged as a serious
condition. The Live Love Laugh
Foundation aimed to increase
awareness of depression, drive visits
to its online information centre and
help normalise the subject.
Insight
Research shows that the first step
towards getting better is opening up,
but sufferers can find this impossible
if they don’t feel that someone is
willing to listen.
Strategy
The Foundation urged people to
‘Ask Again’ whenever they felt
that someone had not answered
truthfully to the standard greeting
‘How are you?’ A film showing the
need to ask again was launched on
social media, while OOH and print
featured real stories of people who
fought depression. Partnering with
the Indian Medical Association, the
Foundation started a programme to
equip general physicians with the
skills to identify signs of depression.
On Facebook, it created a guide in 12
languages on how to help a friend in
need, and it associated with online
shopping portal Myntra to send
mental health literature with every
order. All communication directed
to the Foundation’s website, which
featured an interactive section to
help people better understand their
state of mind as well as short reads Takeaways
on topics related to mental health.
Awareness and education
Results should always go hand in
hand when dealing with
sensitive topics. It is never
20m enough to communicate the
impressions need for more awareness
of a problem: this has
to be paired with useful
1,696% information and tools to
increase in website visits overcome the issue.
22
new centres of treatment built
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Maxis: 4G Films
Improving brand metrics and earning trust by showing the brand’s human value
SILVER
Lead agencies: Ensemble
Worldwide, Initiative Malaysia
Contributing agency: Mojo Films
Advertiser: Maxis (Maxis Berhad)
Market: Malaysia
Malaysian telco Maxis gained
consumers’ trust through online
films depicting how its reliable
network could strengthen
human connections.
It was smart that they moved
away from a single-equity strategy
and took an emotional road that
sums up all the functional features
the other telcos claim.
Mylene Ong – Head of Strategy,
Colenso BBDO
30 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
Objectives Results
Looking to build trust, telco Maxis
decided to invest in emotive
brand-building, strengthening its 7pts
relationship with consumers. increase in ‘network superiority’
Insight
Malaysians find it hard to 6pts
differentiate between telcos, and increase in ‘brand I trust’
choose on the basis of practical
factors such as data, speed, and Takeaways
price. However, they have to like and 14%
trust a brand before they believe its increase in ‘willingness to pay more’ In categories where
superiority claims. differentiation is hard
and brands focus on
Strategy VIEW FULL CASE STUDY communicating product
The telco launched Maxis 4G Films, benefits, concentrate on
a series of online shorts inspired building an emotional bond
by powerful human connections. with your audience instead.
Stories of friendship, family,
Create real, relatable
promises, love and forgiveness all
content and people will
set the stage to show how a great
naturally identify with it and
internet connection can strengthen
share it organically.
human ones. Each film was timed to
coincide with spikes in ad viewing
and searching linked to festive
seasons, and shorter 30-second
versions were broadcast on TV
to drive conversations and online
searches.
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Nippon Pylox: If you can dream it, you can Pylox it
Increasing sales through identifying and connecting with the most relevant communities
BRONZE
Lead agency: Ensemble Worldwide
Contributing agencies:
Sashimi Social, AdParlor
Advertiser: Nippon Pylox
(Nippon Paint Malaysia)
Market: Malaysia
Spray paint brand Nippon Paint
Malaysia increased sales of
its Nippon Pylox product by
partnering with influencers
from the three communities that
used spray paint the most.
They were obviously up
against it with budget and that's
often where the best creativity
lies; when people have to do
a lot with not very much.
Bronwen Morgan –
Head of Content, Flamingo
31 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
Objectives demonstrations on how to best
Nippon Paint Malaysia (NPM) needed use the product for their specific
to increase sales and product passions.
awareness for its spray paint variant,
Nippon Pylox, but had to do so with a Results
small budget.
Insight 41%
Using Google Keyword Planner, increase in sales
NPM identified three distinct user
segments: motorcyclists, cosplayers Takeaways
and graffiti artists. $27,500
earned media Be resourceful with a small
Strategy budget: use freely available
Through social listening, influencers tools such as Google
were identified within these three 133% Keyword Planner and
segments and videos were created growth in organic searches Facebook Audience Insights
to represent each community. The for Nippon Pylox to identify your target
30-second films were based on real audience. This way you will
stories from each influencer and focus your media spend
highlighted their experiences using VIEW FULL CASE STUDY effectively by only targeting
Nippon Pylox. From those videos, precise segments.
an open dialogue started on NPM’s
Facebook page to understand the
communities’ specific wants and
needs for spray paint. Some of their
requests were then brought to life
and NPM sponsored one major
event from each segment. At these
events, influencers gave talks and
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Chapter four:
Content that creates a point of difference
Show, don’t tell
The Middle East and North Africa
Telcos in the MENA region are
(MENA) region is an incredibly
increasingly relying on content to connect dynamic, diverse and disparate
region. From the bright lights of
with new audiences. Here, PHD UAE’s the gleaming Dubai megapolis
to the olive tree-lined hillsides of
Dan Shepherd examines why content is a
Lebanon and the bustling souqs of
powerful way to differentiate in such Tunisia, the Arab world has multiple
personalities. And some.
a commoditised sector. As a result, a multitude of
nationalities call it home. And the
need to stay connected is deeply
felt. It’s no surprise that the Middle
Eastern telecom market has seen
rapid growth. That said, internet
speeds aren’t consistent across
markets. If Saudi Arabia and the
UAE boast some of the highest
Dan Shepherd is Director,
smartphone penetration in the world
Digital Planning, PHD UAE
and fastest connection speeds,
large areas of North Africa and
Lebanon struggle with deep-rooted
infrastructure and connectivity
challenges.
There is also much diversity in
the competitive landscape and
the region encapsulates the whole
sweep of telco operators. From
state-run legacy operators (STC,
Etisalat), international powerhouses
33 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
(Orange) to local upstarts (Mobily,
Zain, Connect, du), they battle
fiercely on a range of aspects: speed,
coverage, pricing…
Yet, this year’s Effective Content
Strategy category has brought to
light a growing trend. The use of
content is spreading in the category
and Arab telcos are using it cleverly
to forge deeper connections with
users. Orange, STC and Connect
have, in their own unique ways,
moved from the traditional boastful,
one-up-manship approach to,
instead, showing, rather than telling,
the power of their products. To great
effect to boot. What’s interesting is
that, here again, there is diversity in
the approach, highlighting the ever-
increasing options available in the
modern marketer’s content toolkit.
Actions, not words
Just consider these three cases:
Orange’s 32-bit Hammam Fighter
mobile game in Tunisia, STC’s
travelogue in Saudi Arabia and
Connect’s witty send-up of the
famously glacial internet speeds in
Lebanon. Three distinct examples
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Show, don’t tell
with a common thread, innovative
content approaches that put
the internet experience into the
consumer’s hands and bring their
promises to life, with actions and
not words.
Orange’s off-the-wall retro-gaming
approach (page 37), a Tunisian
Street Fighter, would have seemed
a bold, radical step too far for most
marketers, were it not built on such
solid consumer, product and cultural
insights as it is. It first identified
the growing gaming trend among
its core audience, digging deep to
understand the appeal of a retro
slant. It then further uncovered
the genuinely hilarious and utterly
locally compelling insight of the
not-to-be-trifled-with women of the
hammams (local baths), renowned
for their vigorous scrubbing, rubbing
and drying skills. Combining all these
insights into a pleasing, culturally
relevant and highly addictive game
wasn’t the point in itself. Running
it only on its superfast 4G network
was. It simply wouldn’t work on its
main rivals’ comparatively slow
network. Orange didn’t tell, it
34 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
showed. After getting its consumers’
attention through wit, it capitalised
on it by demonstrating what a
seamless experience, free from the
dreaded ‘wheel of death’ of slow,
buffering internet speeds, feels like.
Flipping this idea completely
on its head, Connect, a Lebanese
telco, actively highlighted the daily
frustration of pedestrian internet
speeds and the impact these have
on people’s online enjoyment. With
Slow Trends (page 35), it made fun
of people who discovered internet
trends like the Harlem Shake or the
Ice Bucket Challenge years after
they were big. This neat sleight of
hand showed Connect’s effortless
grasp of the location of its millennial
audience’s funny bone while playing
on their FOMO. It also allowed
the telco to avoid the perennial
quality proof trap that electronics
companies fall into when they try to
show the superior quality of their LCD
screens on the inferior TV screens in
people’s living rooms. Go figure.
As the clear, state-owned market
leader, STC had the boldest ambition
and it delivered content that
was cinematic in scope but also
represented the building blocks of
a content platform (page 36) that
should endure for years to come.
No mean feat. It too cracked an
illuminating cultural insight, that in a
vast, and often concealed kingdom,
many Saudis are not aware of the
rich, geographically diverse nature
of their own country. To shed light
on this, it didn’t tell consumers it
had the best nationwide mobile
coverage. It proved it. STC sent
a fleet of travel writers, cultural
influencers and photographers to
the remotest and most beautiful
parts of the country to report back,
travel-diary style, on reasons to
visit. All this was shot, edited and
uploaded via a smartphone. A
smartphone connected to STC’s
unparalleled internet coverage, of
course. Category leadership is not
claimed but shown.
Wildly different approaches
With more and more of our daily
media consumption coming through
our pocket oracles, it shouldn’t come
as a huge surprise that the medium is,
Orange: “off-the-wall
retro-gaming approach”
increasingly, becoming the message.
But in a region with such disparity in
internet connectivity, infrastructure
and access, it is hugely encouraging
to see three different telcos in
different countries take three wildly
different, yet insightful, boldly-
conceived and confidently-executed
approaches to content marketing.
Different they may be, but they’re
bound together by one overarching
realisation: showing is better than
telling to get into consumers’ hands
and hearts. In a sea of sameness,
littered by the debris of countless
boastful claims, content makes
impressive waves and ripples
that last.
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Connect: Slow Trends
Challenger telco grows sales and market share through empathetic humour
GOLD AND SMART
SPENDER SPECIAL AWARD
Agency: TBWA\RAAD
Advertiser: Connect
Market: Lebanon
Independent Lebanese telco
Connect achieved increases in
market share and sales through
humorous videos poking fun at
the country’s slow internet.
I liked how they spread the videos
organically and didn’t go out with
the brand first. It seeped into the
culture, people created memes
featuring the characters from
the videos – the brand language
became part of culture.
Aliya Hasan – Head of Strategy,
Vizeum Australia
35 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
Objectives
Lebanon suffers from the world’s
slowest internet connection.
Independent telco Connect was
committed to making Lebanese
people’s future better and offered
wireless solutions at a lower
price than the leading duopoly
of government-owned telcos,
but had only a fraction of the big
players’ budget.
Insight
Connect found that the most popular
content among its target audience
was that which addressed their daily
struggles. Across a variety of topics,
the audience’s coping mechanism
remained the same: with limited
means to improve their reality, they
laughed at it.
Strategy
To humorously and cynically
exaggerate the perils of slow
internet, Connect created two
videos showing viral trends from
2013 and 2014 arriving in Lebanon
late due to the slow internet.
Unscripted films featured fishermen
dancing the Harlem Shake and
a 50-year-old man taking the
Ice Bucket Challenge with goats
bleating in the background. The
videos were seeded on YouTube and
then shared on Connect’s Facebook
page, where they were served to
users through geo-targeting. As the
Ice Bucket Challenge protagonist
gained popularity, the telco featured
him in satirical memes around the
latest news.
Results
257%
increase in sales
254%
growth in market share
1m
impressions
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
Takeaways
Content still needs cultural
context. Understanding a
culture and deciphering the
trends within it remains the
best way to resonate among
the desired target audience.
Small budgets are no
excuse: brands can
still create memorable
campaigns that achieve
tangible impact at
unprecedented efficiencies.
Don’t advertise, entertain.
Create what people really
want to watch: genuine,
relatable content rather than
polished perfection.
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Saudi Telecom Company: Unveil Saudi
Proving network strength through never-before-seen content
GOLD AND LONG-TERM IDEA
SPECIAL AWARD
Agency: J. Walter Thompson
Advertiser: Saudi
Telecom Company
Market: Saudi Arabia
Leading telco operator Saudi
Telecom Company increased
perception of network strength
through live broadcasting from the
Kingdom’s most remote locations.
Rather than just telling people
they had the best connection,
they genuinely showed it.
Dan Shepherd – Director,
Digital Planning, PHD UAE
36 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
Objectives
Saudi Telecom Company (STC) faced
increasing competition over its claim
to have the widest network coverage
in the Kingdom. Rather than compete
on who could claim to have the
widest coverage the loudest, STC
decided to actually demonstrate
network strength to reassert
leadership.
Insight
Most of Saudi Arabia remains
unexplored, even to Saudis. With
Unveil Saudi, STC set out to prove
its wider coverage by broadcasting
live from some of the Kingdom’s
most remote locations, uncovering
the country’s hidden beauty in the
process.
Strategy
With a team of local photographers
and leading influencers, the telco
headed to these areas and captured
scenes that had never been shot
before to then broadcast them
live online using STC’s network. To
maximise reach and amplify the
campaign, STC used the content
for outdoor advertising, TVCs,
and across social media assets
highlighting the strength of the
network and encouraging the
audience to explore and share. A
collaboration with the Ministry of
Education resulted in an immersive
VR experience in schools and
universities, and the content was
also used by the Ministry of Tourism Takeaways
to promote Saudi Arabia.
It’s important to connect
Results with your audience on a
human level. People still love
to see interesting places and
17% hear personal stories.
increase in perception
Platforms, as opposed to
of network strength
one-off campaigns, lead
to long-term equity for the
320m brand, opening doors to
partnerships and fostering
media impressions
social media engagement.
Continuously communicating
$1.7m brand strengths can have
PR value a diminishing effect: create
content that tangibly
demonstrates your claims.
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Orange: The Hammam Fighter
Proving network strength by mirroring a local reality
GOLD
Lead agency: FP7/TUN
Contributing agencies:
UM MENA, Banni Banni, Atelier216
Advertiser: Orange
Market: Tunisia
Global telco Orange launched
its 4G services in Tunisia with
a game that appealed to the
youth and earned the brand
a lift in health metrics.
I've never ever seen gamification
locally done. There’s a lot to learn.
If we're thinking about how we can
lead the way on industry trends,
this is clearly the kind of work
that deserves an award.
Namita Mediratta – Global CMI
Director, Content, Unilever
37 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
Objectives
Youth, the main drivers of the telco
sector, tend to buy more from a
brand when they spend time with it,
so Orange decided to show them the
speed of its 4G through an engaging
product demonstration.
Insight
Young Tunisians were developing
a fascination with retro games, and
especially Street Fighter, which
featured characters from different
countries around the world, each
with their unique fighting style and
moves. Upon hearing that the game’s
developers were planning to launch
two new mysterious characters,
Orange imagined them to be Tunisian.
Strategy
The brand created its own version
of Street Fighter which, due to
its complexity, could only work
seamlessly on the fast Orange
4G network. The fiery characters
competing against each other
were Harzas, Turkish bath workers
famous for fighting to steal each
other’s clients, hence the name, The
Hammam Fighter. The campaign
ran exclusively on social media, with
a teaser video tracing the story of
the rivalry between the two Harzas
launched on Facebook and YouTube.
Various opinion leaders endorsed
the game across their channels,
and the Harzas became so popular
that they participated to Tunisia’s
Comic-Con.
Results
19%
Tunisian youth became
active players
$1m+
earned media
39%
increase in ‘top of mind’
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
Takeaways
Earn consumers’ love
and trust by showing
understanding of local
realities.
Create content that lives
beyond its original platform.
When the audience finds the
content engaging, they share
it and take it into places you
could have not imagined.
Product demonstrations
don’t have to be technical
and dull: look for the insight
behind an entertaining
behaviour and find a place
for your product within it.
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Chapter five:
Content that engages new audiences
People-first content engages new audiences
We’ve all heard the catch phrases
Vizeum Australia’s Aliya Hasan writes
around content – being ‘king’,
that good content can become even more ‘omnipresent ‘, ‘marketing nirvana’
and everything else in between.
effective when it champions a consumer Content has typically tried to pull
itself apart from advertising but the
perspective as well as being clearly aligned
line sometimes blurs. Brands get
to a brand or product truth. caught up in the desire for greater
exposure and see content as a
shortcut to engagement.
That’s when the wheat needs to
separate itself from the chaff and
the need for good content comes
in. Good content isn’t disguised
advertising, it primarily stems from
the world of the consumer, not
the brand and, most importantly,
it doesn’t drive engagement
Aliya Hasan is Head of
by default, it earns it through
Strategy at Vizeum Australia
craftsmanship and storytelling.
The brand has a critical role to play
in providing context and validity to
the content itself. Good content
becomes even more effective when
it is aligned and relevant to a brand or
product truth as well as championing
a consumer perspective.
These are all ingredients this year’s
Effective Content Strategy winners
had in common. Amidst a landscape
39 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
where way too much content is just
‘stuff’ that’s bolted on to a larger
campaign, these brands put their
best foot forward using a central
content strategy with a distinctive
purpose linked to their business goals
of unlocking new audiences. They
also identified a human experience-
led insight, strong enough to evoke
an emotional response through the
delivery of their idea.
Reframing romance
Among those brands that did this
well was Hinge (page 41), which
identified that the modern dating
experience was in fact creating
anxiety and leading to shallow
interactions that were more
‘gamified’ than romantic.
Its purpose was to reframe the
category. It bucked the trend of
short, snackable content and instead
showcased the warm, personable
and caring relationships it could
help build (through its differentiated
offering). It took the conversation to
new audiences who were seeking
meaningful relationships. It opened
doors for those who might have been
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
People-first content engages new audiences

sceptical – perhaps even dismissive

– of dating apps for the very reason
that millions of others flock to them.

Shifting perceptions
to create demand
i-can (page 42) ventured into the
very foundations of deep-seated
fears within the Indian female psyche
of what it means to be a dutiful wife.
More importantly, it put a mirror to
the men in a poignant way that was
simply impossible to ignore.
It purposefully designed a way
to create a shift in perceptions
surrounding contraceptive use to
create a demand for its product by
reminding users of the need they
always had but weren’t confident
enough to express. The content’s
influence extended not just to the
female users themselves but their
partners too.
Inspiring and recruiting youth
Emirates NBD (page 43) is also
worth acknowledging. Who would
have thought that today’s youth –
which is so often dubbed ‘idealistic
and entitled’ – would have wanted
Hinge: “showcased the warm, personable
and caring relationships it could help build”
to be preached to by previous
generations? And who would have
thought that a country like Egypt
would marginalise its young people?
Not only did Emirates NBD listen,
it also acted. The bank showed
empathy, which is atypical for the
category. In turn, that managed
to inspire and recruit a whole new
generation.
Content done well, does well
All three of these winning case
studies exemplify content with
a clear and compelling purpose
i-can: “put a mirror to the men in a poignant
way that was simply impossible to ignore”
blended with a people-first
mentality. They also successfully
created a holistic content
ecosystem and disseminated it in a
way that was conducive to discovery
rather than interruption. These
campaigns showed off content
strategically rather than tactically.
They offer valuable lessons to those
looking to start richer conversations
with people and creating a positive
impact on their business outcomes.
Content can provide an accessible
platform for new audiences to
experience brands that might have
Emirates NBD: “managed to inspire and
recruit a whole new generation”
been previously unfamiliar. It can
often be more trusted and disarming
than traditional advertising. Effective
content provides value back to its
audience. It is at its most potent
when it serves a role beyond the
brand or the product. It thrives when
it is entertaining, inspiring, informing,
or simply finding its unique way to
make people feel something and
draw them in.
Put simply, content done well,
does well. It can truly be a powerful
weapon in a marketer’s arsenal when
wielded skilfully.

40 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018 © Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Hinge: Escape the Dating Apocalypse
Repositioning of dating app doubles user base
SILVER
Lead agency: the STUDIO
Contributing agency: Red Antler
Advertiser: Hinge (Justin McLeod
and various individual investors)
Market: United States
Dating app Hinge doubled its user
base in the US by positioning itself
as a relationship app through
an online animated video.
It ticked all the things that
you need to do in order to be
successful in the content space.
Michael Davidson – Associate
Partner & Head of Strategy,
Venables Bell & Partners
41 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
Objectives
Dating app Hinge had set out to
build a product and brand that would
encourage relationships, but it
had fallen into the category’s trap
of gamification, abundance and
objectification. Looking to go back to
the app’s original vision, Hinge aimed
to increase downloads and distance
itself from the mindless swiping that
discourages real-world connections.
Insight
Swiping apps are not successful
because they help users find
relationships, they are successful
because they maximise user
engagement (and therefore
advertising revenue). The interface
of swiping apps is designed to
trigger the same neurobiological
mechanisms as a slot machine
but, despite the countless
matches, among users looking for
relationships, only 18% have found
even one relationship, ever.
Strategy
Hinge’s strategy was to go beyond
‘games’ and it created an online
animated film depicting a world
of zombie-like daters relentlessly
swiping in a bleak carnival. This dark
universe was juxtaposed to Hinge’s
world, featuring romantic and
pastoral imagery as well as tropes
from iconic 80s love stories like Dirty
Dancing and Ghost.
Results
Takeaways
15% Sometimes it’s not
increase in new members necessary to show how your
product works to promote it:
memorable content can be a
2x compelling reason for trial.
user base in six months
Daring to disrupt category
norms can pay dividends
if the strategy is rooted in
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
solid insight and backed up
by research.
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
i-can: Fair Sex Fair Say
Contraceptive brand doubles sales of a controversial product by encouraging self-reflection
BRONZE
Agency: McCann Worldgroup
Advertiser:
i-can (Piramal Healthcare)
Market: India
Contraceptive brand i-can almost
doubled sales of its i-pill through an
online video sensitising men to the
importance of using contraception.
It’s a topic you can’t talk
about or advertise, so the way
they tackled it was interesting
and the results they got were
powerful. This is a platform
they could go forward with.
Lindsay Landy –
Planning Partner, Ogilvy
42 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
Objectives
Leading contraceptive brand
i-can was hindered by government
regulations which banned
advertising for its i-pill on the basis
of claims such as “it encourages
promiscuity among millions of
youngsters.” i-can needed to arrest
i-pill’s decline in market share,
but it was operating in a sensitive
category, where legislation was
against it and talking about the
subject was taboo.
Insight
Research uncovered that the
majority of Indian women felt
their husbands were generally
considerate and caring, but
asserted their will when it came to
contraception, stripping women of
decision-making power.
Strategy
The brand set out to make men
sensitive to the issue and created an
online film showing women delivering
some oft-used excuses for not using
contraception in a man’s voice. At
the end of the video, people were
encouraged to pledge their support
and were directed to i-can’s website,
where they could access information
about contraception. The film was
launched on Twitter, engaging 400
influencers to drive conversations,
while Facebook was used to spread
the message further.
Results
Sales Takeaways
almost doubled
after three months Addressing taboo topics
is tricky. Rather than
encouraging rebellion, try
750% and create a safe space for
increase in website traffic dialogue and self-reflection.
Social media is an effective
234% tool to achieve broad reach,
but when having to raise
increase in queries
awareness of an issue it
to i-can’s helpline
is not enough on its own.
Make sure all social content
directs to an information hub
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
with educational material.
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
Emirates NBD: Dear Younger Me…
Earning customers through relevant content rather than ads
BRONZE
Agency: Momentum Egypt
Advertiser: Emirates NBD
Market: Egypt
New to Egypt, bank Emirates
NBD increased youth customer
acquisitions through branded
content that resonated
with them emotionally.
It felt like a breath of fresh
air for a financial services
brand to embrace the plight of
a generation and think about
how to use that pass-along of
wisdom to help people along the
path. That insight was strong.
Michael Davidson – Associate
Partner & Head of Strategy,
Venables Bell & Partners
43 Effective Content Strategy Report 2018
Objectives
With no bank in the market offering a
fully-fledged banking solution for the
youth, in 2016 Emirates NBD launched
a youth banking package, but a year
on there were no signs of evident
growth. Emirates set out to build an
emotional connection with the youth.
Insight
With 53% of Egypt’s population
under 25 years of age, the youth
are the country’s future. However,
due to Egypt’s ongoing political and
economic instability, the youth’s
confidence in the country’s future
was at an all-time low and Egyptian
banks ignored them, seeing them as
neither profitable nor of high value.
Strategy
Emirates NBD conducted a
behavioural psychology experiment,
asking Egyptians aged between 35
and 40 what advice they would give
their younger selves. The messages
of encouragement were crafted
into branded online documentaries
featuring young influencers and
entrepreneurs from Egypt. The
messages were also published in an
exclusive collector’s edition book
for youth prospects. Mentoring
workshops were held at universities
and youth hotspots, while key bank
branches were transformed into
youth networking hubs. Egyptian
celebrities organically shared their
own messages of inspiration and a
Snapchat branded content series Takeaways
showed young Egyptians making the
most of their lives with Emirates NBD. Rather than trying to sell your
product to an audience, show
Results them you understand them
and they will naturally be
drawn to your brand. Relevant
1,876 and useful content will be
new customers in six months more effective than ads.
Occasions, such as
2,423% Ramadan, see brands
fighting for attention
increase in monthly youth
through clichéd advertising.
customer acquisitions
Sometimes it is more
profitable to break away
1,652% from conventional occasion
advertising and instead
increase in Facebook engagement
focus on what your audience
really wants.
VIEW FULL CASE STUDY
© Copyright WARC 2018. All rights reserved.
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