Market Background:

Etisalat Misr was perceived as a “me too brand”, one so enchanted by the market leader Vodafone to the extent that they blindly followed Vodafone’s every move, or at least that is what consumers thought. Irritated, Etisalat took a vow to innovate every product, promo, & piece of communication that they rolled out, and they sure lived up to their promise!

Take Hekaya for instance, Etisalat’s Hybrid tariff. After a long due brand overhaul, with a new logo, tonality, and more importantly a more sharply defined audience; Hekaya was ready to disrupt the market. Hekaya introduced “Hekaya Family” the first “Hybrid tariff for the family”, compromising one package for 3-4 different lines all paid in one bill, and the first of its kind proposition “all the lines could talk to each other absolutely for free”! Hekaya Family launched with a campaign that went on to be a huge success, and cemented itself as the ideal hybrid tariff for families.

The Problem:

A couple of months later Etisalat’s competitor followed suit, copying not only their product “Hybrid Family lines”, but also their value proposition free calls between the lines! After having cemented Hekaya Family as the greatest and only Hybrid Family Tariff in the market, competition was copying the product, the claim, and the proposition.  

The Task:

Etisalat Misr upgraded Hekaya Family with yet another edge, family members sharing a bundle get double the mobile and internet minutes. With calls amongst family members sharing a bundle being for free, how can these minutes to “outsiders” be packaged in a way that enhances Hekaya Family’s position as the ultimate family hybrid tariff!

The Idea:

Families in Egypt are extremely intricate. While your wife and kids made up the family you would probably share a bundle with, your wife’s brothers in laws are also family, & their extended relatives are all family as well, and ones you have obligations towards, hence the need for these outsider minutes. Hekaya Family was now a tariff for not just the family but the family’s family!

The Film:

Egyptians are particular when it comes to marrying. Families meet in the name of love, but a battle lies between the lines, each family trying to top the other in social class and power. Each family will try to show superiority through heritage and having a dense family tree with multiple powerful family members counting for a lot of score points! 

So the face of the previous Hekaya Family Campaign megastar Ahmed Helmy was back on duty.

In his daily life Helmy is an aspiring family man who rose from talk show host to A-lister, a perfect representation & inspiration of Hekaya Family’s audience; a middle-class family man working hard for every upgrade. On camera Helmy is admired for his humor & Hekaya Family exploited that to deliver its message.

Two Egyptian families meet for the engagement of a young couple, with Helmy being the main spokesperson for the grooms family, but a not-so-subtle battle ensues between the heads of the families, each trying to outdo the other in the importance of their family members, as well as their wealth. A very familiar scenario, with an explosive escalation. As names were dropped and distant relatives were summoned Hekaya Family furnished its new proposition as “the best tariff for the family and extended family, no matter how large”!