Ramadhan in 2019, from a marketing perspective

As Ramadhan approaches, global brands get creative. In 2018 many of them came up with some interesting marketing tactics specifically for the holy month. This year Muslims are expected to start fasting from May 5th.

Some of the more creative approaches for the fasting month were created by the following brands:

Snickers

Snickers Malaysia took a different approach to the holiday and instead of pushing its chocolate bars, sought to promote understanding among its diverse ethnic population.

In a short video, The Shift Switch, Snickers dramatized a situation in which a non-Muslim took on extra work on behalf of her Muslim colleague so that she could break fast with her family.

With more than 900k views on YouTube alone (and more on Facebook), the video inspired a movement in the country which inspired many, including local celebrities, to show their support to the Muslim community by doing the same.

McDonald’s

Through Ramadan in 2018, McDonalds Malaysia changed how they deployed their Google Ads. According to Think with Google, instead of keeping them the same through the fasting month, Google stopped showing ads through most of the daylight hours.

Starting at 3pm, though, when ‘dinner research’ starts in the Muslim Malay community, McDonalds bid heavily for phrases related to ‘buka puasa’ or ‘break fast’ in local language.

The ads then featured a countdown timer to sundown along with offers on special Ramadan food favorites alongside a download link for the local McDelivery app.

According to Googles that these seasonal tactics boosted McDonald’s ad clickthrough rate by 20%, decreased the cost-per-click by 50% and provided 87% of the company’s new site visits for the month.

Telekom Malaysia

Telekom Malaysia (TM) produced a short video, Iklan Raya TM 2018, which showed the perils of family visits as well – as well as the benefits of keeping in touch with far-away relatives through its network.

So, what’s in store this year?

Facebook provided a detailed guide to shopping habits during the period in both Malaysia and Indonesia as well as tips on how to structure a campaign over the month.

Google, too, covered the holiday in a blog post from 2018 and detailed a ‘day in the life of a Muslim’ during Ramadan – including both spiritual and material needs over the holiday.

Google also has a 2019 digital guide which offers cases studies and information on how to help marketers target niche a niche audience.

source: http://econsultancy.com