The campaign is relevant to creative strategy for several reasons. It adeptly utilized a limited budget to yield its returns, showcasing efficiency in resource allocation, especially through basing an entire campaign on an existing song by the brand. Additionally, the campaign departed from the conventional one-way communication approach often seen on Saudi National Day. Instead, it embraced a digital-centric strategy, emphasizing the power of user-generated content (UGC), which proved effective. Leveraging TikTok's platform, especially its strength in viral challenges and influencer partnerships, the campaign successfully met the client's objectives of enhanced brand visibility and engagement.

The campaign occurred within the cultural context and timing of Saudi National Day, a significant occasion for the Saudi people that symbolizes unity and national pride. This occasion is marked by heightened emotion, patriotism, enthusiasm, and celebration. The Saudi population's celebrations, online and offline are very notable during this period, for an intense 24 hours. Brands fight for share of voice and the audience will also decide how and where they express their celebration. The question is seldom on ‘IF’, but ‘How’ they will celebrate. There is the known challenge, but also the opportunity. Furthermore, worth mentioning is the fact that in Saudi Arabia, social media usage is exceptionally high, and woven into day-to-day dynamics, especially on the platform TikTok, so utilizing it was essential. This approach also aligned with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goals of fostering technological advancement and digital transformation, making the campaign further relevant to cultural and regional dynamics. To give some context about the brand, the Saudi Banks Media and Awareness Committee is a Saudi committee with the role of promoting the banking industry and raising awareness among different segments and age groups in Saudi society.

The campaign aimed to bolster Saudi Banks' image as a dynamic, culturally attuned brand, particularly during the competitive Saudi National Day where brands compete fiercely for audience attention.

Situation:

Amidst the patriotic excitement of Saudi National Day and a saturated advertising landscape, we faced the challenge of crafting an impactful campaign with limited resources.

Brief:

The brief was, in a two-week frame, to come up with a creative strategy to stand out on Saudi National Day without a budget to create a creative campaign from the ground up. We were however given the go-ahead to use existing material, and that was where we found our solution.

Objectives:

Building a strong brand presence on TikTok, benchmarked against market averages, and engaging with the Saudi population effectively on the significant occasion of Saudi National Day.

Business Challenge:

Saudi Banks embarked on a campaign to strengthen its connection with audiences during Saudi National Day, addressing past communication gaps and enhancing the bank's presence in this vital period within the constraints of a limited budget and a tight two-week timeframe.

Client Needs and Brand Values:

The need to reinforce their relevance during National Day was key. With the brand’s mission to promote financial literacy, building trust and closeness with the audience is essential so, a strong National Day presence was highly relevant.

Target Market and Desired Outcome:

Focusing on the Saudi population, particularly those vocal on TikTok, the campaign aimed to resonate with this dynamic demographic. The primary objective was to position Saudi Banks as a dynamic, culturally responsive brand, achieving a prominent TikTok presence and high engagement levels.

Insight:

Faced with budget constraints, we realized our opportunity to use existing brand materials for Saudi National Day. We shifted from one-way communication ads, traditional to Saudi National Day, to a two-way digital campaign, letting the audience create content, and chose TikTok for its user-generated content strength.

Arriving at the Insight:

Our campaign direction was informed by an in-depth analysis of various data sets, including behavioral patterns during Saudi National Day, user engagement statistics on TikTok, and the unique cultural nuances of the platform. This analysis revealed that our target audience had a strong inclination towards producing User-Generated Content, particularly when engaged with culturally resonant elements

Challenges and Solution:

Challenges included engaging an overwhelmed audience, working within budget limits, and a tight timeline. The breakthrough was repurposing a nationalistic song in TikTok's Brand Hashtag Challenge, enhanced by the voice of micro-influencers combining to create a highly engaging and viral campaign.

Creative Idea:

Our campaign diverged from the typical Saudi National Day one-way strategy, focusing instead on two-way dialogue through UGC. Embracing creating a movement approach rather than advertising, we harnessed an existing patriotic song that was created by Saudi Banks to inspire user creativity within our budget.

Creative Execution:

The overall idea directly influenced the execution and led us to utilize TikTok, the preferred platform of our target audience, and one where UGC tends to thrive. The campaign started with posts prompting content creation with this song. We amplified the initiative by collaborating with micro-influencers, boosting UGC, and extending reach. The strategic use of TikTok's "Hashtag Challenge" played a crucial role in enhancing the campaign's visibility, anchoring our approach in interactive and participatory communication that resonated well with our target audience.

Business Impact:

The campaign yielded a remarkable 1134% increase in user-generated content on TikTok and 167% surge in views up from the TikTok average of 3K-7K UGC submissions for the hashtag challenge, significantly boosting brand visibility during Saudi National Day. The chosen song's viral success, reaching #1 on TikTok, elevated the brand's presence, supplemented by nearly 4 million organic YouTube views, enhancing brand recognition and audience engagement.

Behavioral Change and Client Satisfaction:

This campaign shifted behavior from passive observation to active participation during Saudi National Day resulting in substantial organic UGC, with notable post-campaign engagement even extending from the region to the USA causing client satisfaction.

Cultural and Industry Impact:

By promoting active participation in Saudi National Day celebrations, the campaign redefined cultural engagement and industry practices. It positioned the brand as a key player in cultural events, setting benchmarks for future industry practices and engagement.

1- Overall budget: 75,148 USD.

2- Breakdown of costs:

- X promotion: 8,553 USD - (11.4% of the total budget).

- TikTok promotion: 10,389 USD - (13.8% of the total budget).

- TikTok hashtag challenge: 33,264 USD - (44.3% of the total budget).

- Influencers: 13,874 USD - (18.5% of the total budget).

- Prizes for participants (10 iPhones): 8,893 USD - (11.8% of the total budget).

- Music Insertion: 175 USD - (0.2% of the total budget).