COVID-19 had created a unique situation the world over. Ramadan 2020 was no exception; with the world in lockdown, how would we celebrate? The initial challenge set by Starbucks was simple – ensure the brand remained relevant during Ramadan 2020.
The Challenge
The Insights
Our initial plan took into account a key brand truth for Starbucks. It’s a brand with a strong resonance in the GCC. Ramadan has its own customs and traditions. Could we blend them?
We looked at our Sila tool for insights about the season and saw an interesting trend. The emergence of gifting and togetherness had been emerging since 2019. The continued trend, especially during a difficult Ramadan, couldn’t be that difficult. Could it?
The Strategy
Starbucks is a brand with strong relevance that needs no introduction in the GCC, so if one can’t visit the coffee house, then it seemed a slam dunk to us to introduce the proposition of stay-at-home Starbucks. With the day constrained by fasting, we set about to create a Starbucks Ramadan coffee moment before Suhoor and after Iftar. Right when our data said there was a null in activity.
Creating that moment and linking the Chilled Coffee of Starbucks to this moment is easier said than done.
To get the chilled nature of the drinks across, we distributed ice buckets to integrate into the content and then set about creating the moments around gaming (men) and the Zoom catch ups now happening instead of house visits post-fatoor. We created these moments, introduced the product and set about creating engagement points.
The Results
With a minimal budget, we were able to work with a handful of creators on Instagram and YouTube to drive home the message with significant engagement.
The campaign generated $120kUSD in extra media equivalency, a 26.2% engagement rate on the content, and contributed to the continued significant growth of the brand’s sales in 2020. The audience involvement extended beyond the creators’ target audience, with Lulu Al Khataf’s content being among the top content on the #Frappuccino hashtag on Instagram during Ramadan.
Sila's influence?