Cannes Lions

WHEN EMBRACING DIRT BECAME AN ACT OF FAITH

MULLENLOWE GROUP, London / UNILEVER / 2017

Overview

Entries

Credits

Overview

Description

Through this initiative, we went beyond the outward manifestations of Ramazan like praying, fasting and eating, to its inner true meaning of helping others. Ramazan celebrates helpfulness and good intentions, beautifully called NIYAT in Urdu.

Interestingly children, especially in today’s modern times, participate rather mechanically in these rituals, without fully understanding the depth of wisdom which goes behind them.

While mothers do their best to educate them, they would welcome outside help in this regard, especially if rendered in an engaging story like manner - something always likely to elicit a child’s attention.

This line of thought we felt, would find emotional resonance during a divine time for purity.

‘Dirt is good’ if it can help children understand the true meaning of Ramazan.

This inspiring message, extremely synergistic with the brand’s core promise and expertise, would be broadcast across the large Islamic populations in Pakistan, India & the UAE.

Execution

The initiative was given the inspiring social media handle #MadadEkIbadat, meaning ‘helping someone is an act of faith’.

The online film told a warm story of how three children selflessly help an old man getting their clothes soiled in the process. This was released on the brand’s facebook and twitter channels and on YOUTUBE (public domain).

This was followed by several posts on facebook and twitter handles to encourage audiences to demonstrate acts of kindness towards strangers.

The music of the video became hugely popular and audiences were pleased when we released a downloadable ringtone of the same.

We also created a full-fledged video for Eid, sung by the popular Sufi singer Javed Bashir; and ran it on social media, TV (music channels), radio and music download apps.

Through these initiatives over a month, we were able to seed our message in the consciousness of a large Islamic audience.

Outcome

Please refer to RamzanResults.pptx for detailed graphs in the Supporting Content section

BREAKING DIGITAL RECORDS:

Unilever’s most VIRAL film ever (highest share rate).

HUL’s most viewed digital film (26 million views globally).

Pakistan’s most viewed branded film.

BREAKING INDUSTRY DIGITAL BENCHMARKS:

As compared to industry benchmarks;

Engagement rate: 20X higher

Completion rate: 10X higher

Organic Views: 16X higher