Souq.com's first regional campaign

Souq.com's first regional campaign


Souq.com, as per their SlideShare Presentation, is the leading online platform in the Arab World where buyers and sellers trade safely. Since its launch in July 2005, Souq has grown to be the premier online shopping site in the UAE; then it opened new branches in Jordan, KSA, Egypt and most recently Kuwait. souq.com gives users the opportunity to leverage its big community to get the advantages of e-commerce in a safe &secure environment.

As much as i'm proud with the Middle East's growing and expanding e-commerce site, i was a bit disappointed with their first regional campaign. The campaign is a part of Souq's expansion strategy, so i was expecting a more strategic campaign to approach new customers in the region, with a little test or research to how non-souq or non-ecommerce customers behave. Despite the theme of the campaign, which focuses on the reaction of souq customers when they receive the package, i don't think the TVCs done can still deliver the message souq wanted her audience to receive.
I didn't see much work on the brand identity, while i expected a more aggressive campaign. Compare it with the simple home shopping campaign for MBC, which sticks to the user's mind from the beginning, and the whole TVC is focused on the brand and will never confused MBC's audience.
Having watched the TVC, it took me, and a number of people i know, a while to recognize what the ad is all about. And this is while i know Souq (not new customer and not new to ecommerce).
On the other hand, i found the documentaries that were done by TV stations, like CNN, did a better job on educating customers about souq and show its brand identity.
Not sure if the target audience of souq's campaign was new-to-ecommerce or new-to-souq. If it's the first one, it didn't really educate them about the site or ecommerce and what it means; it didn't provide a reason to make the change. If it's new-to-souq, which also means a current user of another ecommerce site, it didn't show the what's in it for users to change.
Overall, i believe it's a great step forward for Souq to start advertising on TV, but i am sure Souq deserves a much stronger and a more creative campaign.

Way to Go Souq.com :)

More information about the campaign:
Campaign Title: Happiness in every box
Agency: Interesting Times
Countries: UAE, KSA, Kuwait and Egypt.
Platforms: Online and TV.

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