Background

Brief was to come up with a campaign that could stand out amongst the clutter of Hari Raya ads from Malaysian brands. Because Julie’s logo features a girl, we decided to tackle gender roles in Malaysian advertising. Every year, brands create ads that put women in the same roles: mothers, nosey aunts, ungrateful daughters and the like. The objective was to pose the question: Why don’t women have better roles in our Raya ads?

Describe the cultural / social / political climate in your region and the significance of your campaign within this context

In Malaysia, Hari Raya ads are a big deal. It’s a time for ads about family, tradition and coming together. We went a totally different route. We needed to stand out, so we took the opportunity to talk about gender roles in advertising. Our film challenged these stereotypes directly by literally getting its actresses to ask for bigger and better roles that better represented the contributions women make to society. The film immediately captured people’s attention and went viral during the Ramadan period.

Describe the creative idea

We created a film that was essentially an ad within an ad. We featured the shoot of a “traditional” Hari Raya ad, with a twist. During the shoot of this fictional ad, the actresses questioned the director about the nature of their stereotypical roles and challenged him to allow them to break out of these stereotypes and give them the opportunity to showcase more of what women really bring to society.

Describe the strategy

The Julie’s logo features a young girl, looking up with optimism. Given the fact that women have often been portrayed in secondary, stereotypical roles in Hari Raya advertising, we felt that it was only appropriate for the brand to step in and have a point of view on the roles women play not just in society, but specifically in the Hari Raya advertising landscape. Our strategy was to challenge stereotypes, ignite conversations and provide a more optimistic view of what women can do in society.

Describe the execution

The film ran from 3rd May to 7 June 2021 on Facebook and Youtube.

Describe the results / impact

The film went viral within days and received over 3.7 million views on Youtube within 2 weeks. We achieved a high level of engagement with our audience, many of who commented on how it was about time women were given better roles and represented more accurately in Hari Raya advertising (please see case study for examples). We also achieved RM254K of organic media coverage. As a result of the film, sales of Julie’s Love Letters went up by 48%.