Ramadan in the Middle East is an important time for advertisers. During a year, brands dedicate a significant portion of their budgets for advertising during the holy month, because of the  attention that's present during that time. But last year, marketeers slashed their budgets and reduced marketing activity due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. So, what happened this year?

YouGov decided to find out by measuring Ad Awareness scores for brands for the Ramadan period this year vs the previous year. The results revealed some interesting trends in terms of whose communications are reaching more of the adult population in the country.

The Ad Awareness score measures whether a respondent has seen any advertising for the brand in the past 2 weeks. Below is a lit of the top 10 brands who had a high change in score during Ramadan 2021 compared to Ramadan 2020. 

 

The most prominent trend is that the list is dominated by leisure and entertainment venues, the brands which were hit hardest by the pandemic last year. With the ease in restrictions this year, these brands went all out to get customers back to their venues and there's no better time to target them, than during the holy month.  The top brand on the list, which is Global Village, decided to extend its open season into Ramadan this year. This extension, coupled with it being the silver jubilee (25th year) season, saw it promote its 25th world record-breaking event, which clearly reached a wide audience in Ramadan.

Read our interview with Jaki Ellenby, Executive Director – Marketing and Events at Global Village

Noon.com, which was the second brand on the list showed an Ad Awareness bump of +11.1. During the holy month, the brand extended daily deals and discounts, giving up to 75% off on groceries and household items. Food delivery platform, Talabat, which was the third brand on the list partnered with the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) to launch ‘Ramadan Heroes’ campaign with the aim of providing iftar meals to those in need. The virtual charity endeavor struck a chord with people and helped the brand enhance its Ad Awareness this Ramadan.

The study shows the power of relevant communication strategies coupled with purpose led campaigns can really get the attention of the consumer today. All the brands listed in this study made sure their messages were aligned with the values of the holy month such as family, kindness and togetherness.