The Ramadan Ad Trends of 2023
Each year, as the ninth month of the Islamic calendar comes around and Muslims prepare for Ramadan and Eid celebrations, the Middle East enters its busiest season of festivities. In 2023 as Ramadan celebrations are nearing the end of the season, we wanted to hear from experts in the region about the trends that have emerged this year and how brands are connecting with consumers.
While Ramadan ad campaigns often prioritise a sense of family, prayer, togetherness and charity, each passing year is also reflected in the sentiment shared by the general population. A particularly big this year seems to be the use of a child’s perspective to show the importance of creating lasting memories and bringing together every member of the family to celebrate. And refreshingly, over the past few years, brands outside of the region have also taken part in celebrations. Across the world this year, Uber Eats joined in on the festivities, as well as Pepsi Malaysia and UK supermarket giant Tesco.
Speaking to LBB’s Nisna Mahtani about the trends they’ve seen are VMLY&R Commerce MENA’s Leila Katrib, Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai’s Mazher Abidi, M&C Saatchi UAE’s Asmaa Ahmed, Science & Sunshine’s Ash Chagla and Wunderman Thompson Riyadh’s Manuel Kurkjian.
Leila Katrib
Executive creative director at VMLY&R Commerce MENA
One of this year’s Ramadan trends is brands creating meaningful connections with their audiences using a child’s perspective as a base for their communication. These are beautifully crafted campaigns, all asking people to channel their inner child to be kinder, or to promote togetherness.
One of these is McDonald’s ‘Live the Child within this Ramadan’, asking adults to learn from children’s behaviour to be more kind.
LEGO’s ‘Building Bridges’, invites people to be more forgiving and reconnect like children naturally do this through play.
IKEA’s ‘Togetherness Assembled’, is another campaign seen through the eyes of a child who wants to be included. It highlights the importance of every family member coming together to assemble family moments.
Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation’s ‘Shebr w Nos’, focuses on the purity of a child’s heart how such a small thing that fills our lives with moments of happiness should never have to suffer.
But, have these brands broken out of the clutter of sameness with people coming together around an iftar table or acts of kindness? Are any of these campaigns a real game changer? One campaign I believe broke the mould of sameness – and that I enjoyed every episode of because of how entertaining and fresh it was – is TikTok’s ‘Based on True Stories’. It uses personalised entertainment and direct targeting to show brands how to win this Ramadan with numbers worth remembering, through fun mini-series that are popular during the holiday.
Although Ramadan is about bringing people together – and there’s certainly a fresh perspective this year – I believe in 2023, we need to take a leaf out of the TikTok book of creativity and consider a more modern, entertaining approach to drive conversion.
Mazher Abidi
Head of strategy and insights at Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai
Ramadan has always been front and centre as a marketing moment for brands in the Middle East; however, it’s also clear just how much more prominent Ramadan is around the world over recent years – a positive progression in making society altogether more inclusive.
What’s also been striking this year is the growing body of evidence suggesting brands at home and abroad have (belatedly) realised that there is so much more to Ramadan than tired clichés of moons, meals and lanterns. We’ve seen marketers build communications around some of the lesser referenced themes of the Holy Month, and these efforts have been effective in setting brands apart.
Food references have been done in much more meaningful ways KitKat’s ‘Iftar bar’, UberEats ‘Iftar billboards’ (pictured below) and even brands that rely on pushing sales have looked to differentiate Carrefour’s ‘Champions of Ramadan’. We’ve had wonderfully crafted stories from brands looking outside typical suhoor/iftar moments such as adidas ‘From Sunrise to Sunset’, as well as heart warming stories by McDonald’s Arabia’s ‘Live the Child Within’ and Emirates NBD’s ‘Greetings from Earth’.
There have also been some unique campaigns that have been distinctive for their creative execution; illustration-based campaigns by Cadillac’s ‘Ramadan Cruises’ and Lacoste’s ‘A Ramadan Story of the Crocodile’ stand out from the region, and it will be interesting to see how brands lean into these trends.
Ramadan looks set to continue its growth into one of the most important marketing moments for brands around the world, and I’m sure we can expect the same type of creativity we’ve seen apply to occasions such as Christmas and the Super Bowl applied to Ramadan in the coming years.
Asmaa Ahmed
Strategy director at M&C Saatchi UAE
Let me start with a human truth for those observing Ramadan: they are tired of the same old togetherness, passive charity, song and dance ads with a showcase of picture-perfect traditions and conventional themes. That’s why the biggest trend of authentic communication is shifting, whether during Ramadan or beyond.
From stylised moments to real life stories, our very own Oppo Ramadan campaign ‘Closer with Ramadan’ showcases an expat trying to fit in the occasion. There’s also Orange Egypt’s ‘Ramadan in Egypt, Something Else’ campaign which captures a nostalgic feel and conveys heartfelt emotions. From selling products to entertainment-first content that sparks discovery, beautifully highlighted by Cadillac Arabia in their ‘Ramadan Cruises’ YouTube Series. Last but definitely not least, from diluting the concepts of giving and empathy in an emotional seasonal campaign to creating meaningful change beyond that stands the test of time like Jawwy’s 2019, but part of the shift, the ‘Goodness All-Year-Round’ Ramadan campaign.
Ash Chagla
Chief creative officer at Science & Sunshine
Ramadan is one of the key sales and marketing moments in the year. Most brands are very active with offers and promos, and others use it as a time to reconnect with their audiences through emotive campaigns. I like to think of it as our region’s Super Bowl or festive season, where storytelling always wins if it’s done right.
This year, I felt that most brands chose the more emotive route… Or maybe my social feed is just selective with what it chooses to show me. One of the stand out pieces for me was the Emirates NBD ‘Greetings from Earth’ film which depicts a little girl’s obsession with space - it’s got all the Ramadan feels, brings people together and it’s topical and relevant for the UAE and the wider Arab world as the interest in space exploration grows. The story is heartwarming and insightful, and the filmmaking craft is wonderful. I loved the bit about the mum having to make 16 iftars for the 16 sunrises and sunsets in space. A beautiful film from one of the UAE’s oldest local banks.
Manuel Kurkjian
Associate creative director at Wunderman Thompson Riyadh
As ad people and brand guardians, we’re constantly walking a fine line between reaching audiences in important moments and turning them off. Get it wrong, and you’re seen as corporate giants looking to squeeze every riyal and double-tap out of customers, even in the holy month of Ramadan.
This season, exceptional regional work proved that brands and creatives can still find a way to move people, and yes, sell.
While classical themes of togetherness and gratitude prevailed, Almarai’s contextual campaign pushed it further by promoting its wide range not only across digital platforms but across ages, interests, series, times of day, you name it. With Saudis streaming content in Ramadan more than any time of the year, the campaign yielded great results.
A campaign by stc Baity also approached things differently with an unexpected target audience: gamers.
Avid game lovers often lose track of time when they’re playing. To help them avoid missing mealtimes, ‘Baity Battle’ introduced the first game mode synced with real time to help gamers remember it’s time to break their fast.
Meanwhile, HungerStation, the number one food delivery app in the Kingdom, protected those most vulnerable on the road by encouraging customers to tip drivers with time instead of money. Consequently, during the month of generosity and patience, customers thought twice about putting undue pressure on delivery people when their orders were bound to arrive on time.
See you next Ramadan.
[Photo by Abdullah Arif on Unsplash]
