Mentos wanted to adapt their ‘fresh thinking’ global platform to produce their first-ever campaign for the Middle East. Mentos also needed to increase brand engagement with Arab youth in a more relevant way. With this in mind, we discovered something that fit the brand proposition perfectly. As Arabs, we often find ourselves doing things that don’t make sense, yet we do them anyway as part of culture. Call them idiosyncratic or plain bizarre; we’ve all partaken in these behaviors. This unique insight inspired our campaign, where it is during these moments that Mentos is the ‘fresh thinking’ needed when behaviors around us don’t make sense. With social media as a massive channel of expression in the region among teens, and Memes trending among Arab youth as a language of its own, it was the perfect way for a refreshing brand like Mentos to tap into this youthful audience. Inspired by this cultural insight, we created a highly entertaining platform for Arab youth on social media, generating hilarious Facebook Memes and Tweets in Arabic and English, stirred by everyday situations in our culture that could really use some fresh thinking. From melodramatic moms, to our obsession with plastic wrap, we encouraged people to #GiveThemAMentos when others don’t make sense. We launched our campaign with a TV ad, drawing viewers to visit our campaign hashtag to view our refreshing content in Arabic and English, but also to tag situations in their everyday lives that need fresh thinking. With the help of Twitter – we even sent out packs of Mentos to those in serious need of fresh thinking, not only giving people a Mentos digitally, but in reality too. In the first days of our launch, #GiveThemAMentos was proving to be a success with our Memes and Tweets circulating the blogosphere and social media. In the first 2 weeks alone, Facebook Post Likes on Mentos Arabia increased by 344%. Facebook Post Shares also jumped by a refreshing 938%. A significant growth in engagement levels compared to previous content. And by the end of our campaign, over 3.7 million unique people were reached with over 4.7 million social media impressions. With thousands of New Facebook fans joining Mentos Arabia, it was clear that our audience found our content refreshing too. Best Social Integration with a TV Commercial The unique insight inspired our campaign TV commercial, where it is during these peculiar moments that Mentos is needed to freshen our thinking with clarity. In this film, we witness our quirky character having an escalating meltdown, as he desperately tries to switch the channel that’s stuck on a classic Mexican soap (his worst nightmare, his grandma’s fantasy). Instinctively, like many of us, he beats the remote control on any hard surface he can find, but to no solution. In the end, it takes a simple Mentos candy from his friend to give him some ‘fresh thinking’ to solve the dilemma – a simple battery change. Our TVC encouraged viewers via social media to GIVE THEM A MENTOS! If ever faced with people around them that need some fresh thinking too. Best Use of Humor What better way to connect with our target audience, Arab youth then with humor? As Arabs, we often find ourselves doing things that don’t make sense – whether it is our obsession with keeping on all plastic wrapping or dealing with our melodramic mothers. Inspired by this cultural insight, we created a highly entertaining platform generating hilarious Facebook Memes and Tweets in Arabic and English, stirred by everyday situations in our culture that could really use some fresh thinking. We successfully captured thousands of likes, comments, shares and most importantly, LOLs. Best Use of Social Media for Food & Beverage Social media is one of the most important channels of expression in the Middle East among teens, and Memes serve as a language for Arab youth on its own. Considering this insight, we connected the Mentos “fresh thinking" with a unique social hashtag, #GiveThemAMentos to use in situations that just don’t make sense. Within the first few days of the launch, the hashtag proved to be a huge success among our fans with an increase of 938% of Post Shares on Facebook. Best Facebook Campaign Inspired by the cultural insight that people in the Middle East often participate in idiosyncratic behaviors, we created a highly entertaining platform for Arab youth on social media. Over the course of 8 weeks we generated hilarious Facebook Memes and Tweets in Arabic and English, stirred by everyday situations in our culture that could really use some fresh thinking. We executed a content driven strategy, complemented by Facebook social advertising that generated 11,818 new Facebook fans, 20,927 post Likes, 644 post comments, 2,206 post shares and a total of 43,010 page shares in 8 weeks.
1) Facebook Page (campaign ran from November 18th, 2013 - January 17th, 2014): http://on.fb.me/1eWMkhq 2) English TV commercial: http://bit.ly/1hfw91P 3) Arabic TVC commercial: http://bit.ly/LX0TGf 4) Direct Outreach and Mail to Twitter Influencers: http://bit.ly/1gyACIu 5) Sample post on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1cyRPhQ
