We asked the MENA Effie Awards’ jury members to share their insights into this year’s crop of winners, what it takes to win, and the state of marketing effectiveness today.
How would you define 'effective marketing' in one sentence?
Gautam Kapur, Vice President and Head of Digital Engagement at Emirates NBD
Effective marketing starts with a deep under- standing of one’s consumer and ends with memorable storytelling. What I have come to appreciate is that perfection is a myth; one shouldn’t pursue it endlessly. Instead, brands should work towards creating guiding frameworks, rooted in consumers’ insights, and deliver meaningful memorable experiences. Put it in action: Innovate – Test – Learn – Scale – Repeat! That’s effective marketing.
Toufik Chadli, CMO at Alsafi Danone
Marketing effectiveness starts with a high level of alignment between marketing strategies and marketing goals and leads to the delivery of the intended results.
Hamza Jeddawi, Chief Marketing Officer at Salam
It is the process of utilizing all marketing capabilities to drive sustainable business results in an efficient manner.
Muneeb Rasheed Arrabi, MarComm General Manager at Zain
Amazing results with minimum costs.
Maria Gedeon, Founder and CEO, Gedeon Mohr and Partners
The ability to go above and beyond the business objective of your brand, serving it in an efficient way while fulfilling all the stages of the marketing funnel.
Mahmoud Gawad, Marketing Director at the Health Water Bottling Co.
It is the ability of a marketing strategy and its creative execution to deliver on business objectives and maximize ROI.
Mitin Chakraborty, Head of Marketing for Babyshop at Landmark Group
Effective marketing is the process of driving a brand message while aligning it with the business and marketing objectives of the brand.
Milad Rouhana, General Manager MEA & Pakistan at Perfetti Van Melle
The most prestigious marketing award a marketeer could get.
What key trends did you see emerge at the MENA Effie Awards in 2022?
Muneeb Rasheed Arrabi, MarComm General Manager at Zain
Influencers.
Pablo Dachefsky, Executive Creative Director at Wunderman Thompson Dubai
Well, there were many different cases, but the highlight for me was the ones with the amazing use of PR. Simple ideas with powerful insights and local relevance are executed in a very delicious, simple, smart, and agile way. Another trend is the use of ‘brand design principles’ as a communication asset. I could find a few cases based on a redesign process of the brand at the core of the case. It means that we’re going back to our basics: rethinking new photo styles, backgrounds, brand tone of voice, etc. Amazing cases where you can see that the success came from a deep understanding of the customer and how the brands must rethink their basics to connect better (again) with their audiences.
Mahmoud Gawad, Marketing Director at the Health Water Bottling Co.
Creativity... by bringing strategic ideas to life in a more ownable and memorable way.
Gautam Kapur, Vice President and Head of Digital Engagement at Emirates NBD
“The winner takes it all,” as they say. I call it the ABCD check post. 'A' stands for attention - leveraging the element of curiosity to gain attention. 'B' for branding - always aligning with their brand and its ethos. Followed by, 'C' for connection - building meaning through memorable storytelling, and finally, 'D' representing direction - steering its target audience to take action.
Akshaya Sikand, Head of Marketing for Cadillac at General Motors
The region has always been an innovator and I witnessed this across various categories. While Dubai has always been emblematic of innovation, KSA is also picking the pace. If there is one trend that I’ve picked from all the cases I’ve judged this year is that there is a lot of focus on the kingdom and a lot is happening there. Another trend I witnessed is the prevalence of NFTs, bitcoin, machine learning, AI, and AR. As a region, it’s clear how we continue to stay on-trend and technology forward.
Toufik Chadli, CMO at Alsafi Danone
More entertaining content, some moves into uncharted spaces, and more importantly, more courage in presenting the brands in a new light.
Ayoub Merimi, Head of OmniCommerce at Abyat
I’ve identified two main trends this year. The first one is the use of puzzle messages to intrigue and awaken the curiosity of the consumer at a very efficient cost. Second is how a lot of brands went across the industry to target a new set of consumers. For instance, we saw F&B companies getting into gaming; automotive stepping into music and entertainment, attracting audiences in a way that their competitors aren’t. This helped brands drive efficiency and effectiveness to a new level.
Milad Rouhana, General Manager MEA & Pakistan at Perfetti Van Melle
Year after year I am seeing digital communication getting a bigger pie, and it is evolving as well, to be more focused and more effective.
Did you see work at the MENA Effie Awards that inspired you to think differently about marketing effectiveness?
Toufik Chadli, CMO at Alsafi Danone
Some of the campaigns were really inspiring. Some demonstrated how a powerful idea can significantly uplift the effectiveness of a campaign and how a limited budget can enable a step up in resourcefulness. The main idea here is that greatness can be attained when we stop entertaining our excuses and focus on doing what’s right for our brands while being comfortable with taking a certain level of risk.
Weera Saad, Director of Central Europe, Middle East, Turkey, and Africa - Creative Shop at Meta
What makes Effies different from any other awards in this industry is that “it awards work that works.” As someone who’s worked in strategy most of her professional life, this really matters to me. Moreover, creativity with impact is something that my team at Meta strives for every day. This year, I came across work that derived some amazing results through creative sophistication. These campaigns stood out to me compared to those which showed results but couldn’t quite strike the chord well between creativity and im- pact, which is where the sweet spot lies.
Bhaskar Bhateja, Strategy Planning Director at TBWA/Raad Middle East
One clear theme that we witnessed this year across all entries is the consciousness of marketers toward building stronger brands. They are realizing that the more equity and power their brands have, the easier it is for them to build long-term marketing effectiveness. This shows how they are focused to eliminate reliability on short-term or tactical approaches, making them more confident in taking risks. And we’ve seen some great work when brands and marketers take risks.
Mahmoud Gawad, Marketing Director at the Health Water Bottling Co.
Definitely. Such a level of diverse cases from all over the region, sectors, and industries inspires us to think differently about marketing effectiveness.
Ayoub Merimi, Head of OmniCommerce at Abyat
What made the winning entries stand out this year is the fact that these brands have very detailed consumer insights. It’s like they know their customer better than themselves. I advise marketers and brands to get to know their consumers better than anyone else. This gives them a competitive advantage allowing them to drive results even on a low budget.
Gautam Kapur, Vice President and Head of Digital Engagement at Emirates NBD
This was the most enriching and rewarding part of being part of the journey. The cross-pollination of effective ideas that worked is fascinating. It cuts through sectors, geographies, and industries.
Milad Rouhana, General Manager MEA & Pakistan at Perfetti Van Melle
Yes, indeed. We had a few cases that were very well rounded, from a clear challenge that was well presented to solid insights that led to the right strategy; then we saw it evolving with a very creative communication/asset, and at the end, the results were amazing. And what is best in all is the effectiveness of the communication, which was not very expensive. So, fair budgets when well utilized could do magic.
What is the MENA Effie deliberation process like?
Gurvinder Kaur, Brand Manager at DIFC
The MENA Effies is the most prestigious award in our industry, [thanks to its] judging process. The jury consists of experts from across the spectrum, segregated to review categories within their expertise. Every entry under each category is analyzed after careful discussion among pro-professionals. This helps bring each and every jury member’s perspective to the table, thus making the process very fair and transparent. In my opinion, bringing a mix of experts from different sectors is a brilliant idea.
Mahmoud Gawad, Marketing Director at the Health Water Bottling Co.
It is about actively listening to each other, challenging one another, being open, and most importantly, having fun.
Hamza Jeddawi, Chief Marketing Officer at Salam
It is a very enriching process, transparent in nature. The MENA Effies’ judging process is very different from any other awards in the industry; it doesn’t just evaluate creativity or insights but takes a more holistic approach by considering the entire process of building a campaign. Most importantly, it seeks the answer to one question – did it work or not? As it rewards results, it is a lot more valuable than the rest of the awards in our industry.
Milad Rouhana, General Manager MEA & Pakistan at Perfetti Van Melle
Each case goes through a very thorough screening process in the first judging session. Post this screening, a few cases will move to the second round where all will be also assessed by another group of professionals. This is where the final decision will be taken on which case will not make it to an award. The rest will be split across the segments they deserve to be at Gold, Silver, or Bronze.
Gautam Kapur, Vice President and Head of Digital Engagement at Emirates NBD
It’s been an honor and sheer delight to be amongst the best marketing minds at Effies. The deliberation process was thorough and gave each of us enough time and thought to put forth our opinions, which were at times quite polarizing, yet compelling. The briefing and moderation process helped us steer through some very difficult cases! While some entries were a resounding YES, others left us hoping for so much more. In the end, we believe we did justice to the quality and quantity of submissions this year.
Antonio Mara, Regional Digital Lead at Porsche Middle East and Africa
The core of this award is effectiveness. It measures and celebrates effectiveness. I’ve come to the realization that in traditional marketing, this hasn’t always been the official KPI. In spaces such as digital and performance marketing, data is everything, and measuring these metrics isn’t as difficult. But, in traditional marketing, marketers have always struggled with finding the right metrics to measure effectiveness. The MENA Effies deliberation process defines these metrics and allows marketers to be awarded based on these.
Toufik Chadli, CMO at Alsafi Danone
The process is quite straightforward: After reviewing the submitted case and assets, the judges open the space for every judge to share their views on the level of effectiveness of the campaign. A strong focus is put on the objectives and the results delivered. Sometimes, the judges are all in alignment from the beginning and they proceed with rating the case. At other times, the judges have to engage in a detailed review in which arguments are shared around what made the campaign effective or not and they end up bringing the majority to a consensus.
Muneeb Rasheed Arrabi, MarComm General Manager at Zain
You meet smart people with excellent knowledge and experience in the industry. Then, you all judge the entries. Judges are critical. It’s not easy, yet it’s fun.
