Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

What we know about creativity and effectiveness

Article • WARC Best Practice, June 2020

Explores current thought and reading on the connection between creativity and effectiveness, a relationship for which there is compelling evidence, especially in terms of creating brand fame: a driver of long-term performance.

What we know about differentiation and salience

Article • WARC Best Practice, April 2020

Explores the value of both salience and differentiation, the importance of the latter is often disagreed on by marketers.

What we know about long-term and short-term effectiveness

Article • WARC Best Practice, October 2019

This article provides marketers with information about how to balance long-term and short-term strategies.

What we know about the theories of brand growth

Article • WARC Best Practice, September 2019

This article outlines various theories of brand growth, including the currently popular theory developed by the late Professor Andrew Ehrenberg; his and other theories are presented.

Emirates NBD: Inspire What's Next

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, Tala Arakji, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Private bank Emirates NBD grew brand favourability and sales with an awareness campaign in the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Telecom Company: What are we allowing?

Case Study • Dana Alkutoubi, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Saudi telco STC's hard-hitting multi-channel approach showed parents the reality of online threats to their children while greatly increasing uptake of its child-safety app.

Beit Al Baraka: Making this place their home

Case Study • Emile Atallah, Tahaab Rais, Carl Bou Abdallah, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Lebanese NGO Beit Al Baraka launched an innovative payment card to help underprivileged elderly in a way that would empower them and preserve their dignity.

Puck: Making meal-time fun time

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, Anna Sadykova, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Spreadable cheese brand Puck used an edutainment strategy to increase sales in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Etisalat Misr: Hekaya – Family Talk.

Case Study • Dina El Dessouky, Yosr Khalifa, Mustafa Darwish, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Egyptian telco Etisalat crafted a comic campaign to narrow the gap between itself and Vodafone and win customers over to its hybrid offer.

Jawwy: The Ramadan campaign that didn't launch during Ramadan

Case Study • Mario Morby, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Telco Jawwy drove revenue growth and brand awareness with an unconventional Ramadan campaign in Saudi Arabia.

Ahmini: The Uncovered

Case Study • Melek Ourir, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Telco provider Tunisie Telecom harnessed the power of mobile to help bring about social change in Tunisia.

Burger King: Who said men don't cry?

Case Study • Ali Khalil, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

QSR brand Burger King targeted young Saudis with a social media 'trolling' campaign featuring football icon Sami Al-Jaber to drive sales of its new spicy menu across Saudi Arabia.

Puck: Repurposed Meals

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, Anna Sadykova, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Puck drove brand engagement and share to increase with a social content series during Ramadan across the Gulf countries.

Emirates NBD: Every Step Counts

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, Tala Arakji, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Emirates NBD, a leading UAE bank, launched a reward-based initiative to help people improve both their financial and their physical health.

Donner Sang Compter (DSC): Blood Unity

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Donner Sang Compter (DSC), an NGO promoting voluntary blood donation, hijacked an outdated tradition to increase awareness of the importance of donating blood in Lebanon.

Jawwy: The Fair Telco Company

Case Study • Mario Morby, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Mobile telecom brand Jawwy used entertaining video content to resonate with Saudi youth, and achieve positive results in terms of both short-term sales and long-term brand building.

Babyshop: The Gift of Mom

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Children's retailer Babyshop increased brand affinity through a multi-channel Mother's Day initiative centred around breast cancer in the United Arab Emirates.

Almosafer: As far as we go

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Travel platform Almosafer reversed declining market share through an emotive Ramadan film in Saudi Arabia.

KFC: Launching Local Chicken

Case Study • Maxime Menant, Remie Abdo, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

QSR brand KFC used a TV, social media and outdoor campaign to publicise its use of fresh Saudi chicken in order to appeal to national pride and boost sales in Saudi Arabia.

Nissan Patrol: Conquer Everywhere

Case Study • Garrett Olexiuk, Bhaskar Bateja, Remie Abdo, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Car manufacturer Nissan Middle East used a multichannel, personalised data-driven strategy to relaunch its Patrol marque in the United Arab Emirates.

Burger King: Burjer Kinj

Case Study • Ali Khalil, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

QSR brand Burger King created a social media, outdoor and in-restaurant campaign based on the Arabic pronunciation of 'burger' to increase Whopper sales and reignite interest in the brand in Saudi Arabia.

What's working in financial services

Article • WARC Category Intelligence, July 2020

Global strategies, campaign updates and trends in the financial services category.

Huawei’s effectiveness-based culture

Article • Event Reports, IPA EffWorks audience, October 2019

Looks at Huawei’s internal culture, which differs from the typical hierarchical structure and is focused on performance.

Wieden+Kennedy named North American agency of the decade at Lions Live

News • 25 June 2020

Wieden+Kennedy in Portland has been named as the North American agency of the decade by Cannes Lions, an honour that reflects a body of groundbreaking work delivered by the independent shop.

Tokyo leads Asia’s agencies of the decade

News • 25 June 2020

Tokyo-based agencies claimed the top two spots in Asia in the regional agencies of the decade ranking at Cannes Lions, with third spot going to Bangkok.

Effectiveness