Newly adapted digital strategy in light of Covid-19 led to more followers on Fatafeat’s digital platforms.
Fatafeat has announced positive Ramadan campaign results following a strategy adopted in response to the presence of Covid-19 during the Holy Month. With the adapted strategy focused on amplified levels of digital content, alongside traditional linear programming, Fatafeat claims to have had universal increases in followership, digital subscribership and engagement across all social platforms.
The campaign saw an increase of over 1m new subscribers and followers across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat, with increases in each platform resulting in a combined 11.6m followers of Fatafeat’s social platforms. Engagement across platforms was at an all-time high, with highlights being Instagram, which saw more than 2m video views across the month, and Facebook where videos were viewed more than 25m times – a 78% increase from 2019.
Snapchat proved to be a strength for the brand, having been included in Fatafeat’s Ramadan campaign for the first time this year, with five shows running in parallel – including a show which had been filmed exclusively for Snapchat – Qatayef Ramadan with Afnan.
Henry Windridge, Head of Brand for Discovery, the parent company of Fatafeat, commented: “Creating a month’s worth of content without the ability to film or work alongside colleagues definitely presented its challenges; however, our dedicated team showcased its strength and agility to deliver the rich content experience that Fatafeat fans deserve, across a multitude of platforms.”
The campaign’s execution was made possible by the months of filming which had taken place ahead of lockdown coming into effect in Dubai, where Fatafeat’s studio is based and all content for the brand is created, allowing producers and editors to finalise pre-recorded content. The new content was backed by evergreen content, as well as fan favourite recipes, which were seeded across platforms, and the support of Fatafeat’s chefs.
“With filming unable to take place at our studio in Production City, we relied on our advance planning and offsite production capabilities to finalise content, aided by the agility of our chefs who continued to create content from their homes. It’s the adaptability and versatility of the team which allowed us to succeed in welcoming so many people into our kitchen whilst they celebrated ‘Ramadan at home with Fatafeat,” Windridge continued.
Alternative plans had been made for public relations events and media engagement which also had to be overhauled as a result of the restrictions; a cancelled media event in Morocco meant the PR element of the campaign was reliant on more traditional means to raise awareness and drive engagement, resulting in activity which reached an estimated 57m across the region.
Continuing the focus on digital, the team behind the success of Fatafeat has recently launched the world’s first fully Arabic cooking course app – Genius Kitchen. The app offers viewers and cooking fans another way to access their favourite chefs and recipes, featuring 120 cooking classes from the Arab world’s popular cooks and chefs. Genius Kitchen is also home to almost 9,000 recipes, 60 quick-view ‘How To’ videos and 140 episodes in its library of TV shows, with new content uploaded each week.
