Ooredoo’s Ramadan TVC wins first place in “Viral” forum

Ooredoo Kuwait, a member of the international Ooredoo Group, recently announced that its Ramadan 2016 TVC ranked first place in Tasaweeq’s “Viral” Forum, an annual event that aims to evaluate television commercials produced by different public and private entities in Kuwait in Ramadan. The award was presented by Tasaweeq’s judging panel during a celebration ceremony that took place at Al Shaheed Park on Wednesday evening, and was received by Ooredoo Kuwait’s Senior Manager for Branding, Fatima Al-Mukhaizeem.

Commenting on this success, Al-Mukhaizeem said: “We’re glad to see that our television commercial this year succeeded in reaching the hearts of as many audiences as possible, not just in Kuwait but across the entire region. We wanted to focus on the true spiritual essence of the Holy month of Ramadan, a very special and sacred time of the year, and the connection between man and God.”

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the entire crew who worked on this production from A to Z, especially the team at Senyar Productions for their amazing execution to this project. I’d like to also thank Tasaweeq for holding such an important annual event, which helps raise people’s awareness on the importance of television commercials,” she added.

The judging panel for this year includes Dr. Saleh Al-Shebl from King Fahad University’s College of Mass Communication, Dr. Fatima Al-Salem from Kuwait University’s College of Mass Communication, media and corporate communications specialist Lama Bouresli, Kuwaiti director Faisal Al-Ibrahim, and branding specialist Khaled Al-Ajeel. The ad was among 48 competing entries, and the voting was open for one week on an online poll on Tasaweeq’s social media channels.

The star-studded production’s lyrics are written by Emirati lyricist Ali Al-Khawar and the music is composed by Kuwaiti composer Fahad Al-Nasser. The song is a duet performed by Saudi singer Rashed Al-Majed and Egyptian star Angham, and features Tunisian singer Lutfi Boushnaq. The lyrics focus on the simplicity of making a strong connection with God by asking for His help sincerely and honestly, and it touches on the themes of God’s support and unconditional love to all people, regardless of their background.

Ooredoo’s TVC featured a number of well-known characters, including Turkish actor Burak Ozcivit, Kuwaiti retired actress Raja Mohammed and the actor couple Fouad Ali and Haya Abdulsalam, in addition to a number of social media influences known for their philanthropist work, such as Safa Al-Failakawi, an advocate of adoption, in addition to Kuwaiti university students in the USA, Group 228, Dr Majeda Al-Yatama, Sundus Al-Qattan, and Oman footballer Ali Al-Habsi.

The commercial is produced by Senyar Productions, and is directed by Italian director Marco Bellone. This is the first joint production between Ooredoo Group’s operating companies in the region, but it is not the first collaboration between Ooredoo Kuwait and Senyar; the production company is behind last year’s Ramadan commercial, which won 3 national awards for its innovation and creativity. The commercial focused on Kuwait’s golden era of television in the 1970’s through the 1990’s.