Trending: Pâtisserie Brands Competing on The Outdoor Advertising Over Al-Mawlid Al-Nabawi Treats’ Domination.

Once a year, specifically on the 12th of the Hijri Year of Rabi' al-Awwal, Egypt celebrates Mawlid Al-Nabawi as a jolly remembrance of Prophet Muhammad's (Peace be upon him) birthday. This year, it marks the 19th of October.

The celebrations in Egypt include many public festivals and processions, the traditions and festivities always involve sweet stores setting up their tents and fill them with Mawlid's delectable sweets which are stuffed with sweet flavors, pistachio, and almond nuts, in addition to miniature horses and dolls to be handed out among buyers.

Many brands started to release special OOH campaigns to commemorate the birth of Prophet Muhammed (PBUH). This is one of the high peak seasons for famous confectionery brands to launch outdoor advertising campaigns highlighting Mawlid Al-Nabawi's traditional rituals. To touch the competition heat on such occasion, let’s take a look at the previous Mawlid campaigns that have been covered on our website, including; Simonds’ luxurious OOH campaign, El Domiaty’sMawlid campaign that attracted attention back in 2019, La Pomme’s festive 2020 campaign, Etoile’s perplexing campaign that was preceded by a mysterious teaser, Tseppas’ iconic ads for Al-Mawlid sweets,Exception Patissiere’s colorful outdoor advertising campaign back in 2018, and even going back to La Poire’scampaign back in 2017. This is an overview of the landscape of the competition over the past few years.

This year, El Abd pâtisserie, Monginis, and Etoile pâtisserie are creating a buzz on Greater Cairo’s OOH scene, taking Mawlid Al-Nabawi's celebrations to a whole new level on the OOH scale, dominating the landscape with many outdoor campaigns. So, let's have an insightful look into each confectionery brand.

Monginis is bringing back the festivities of old, evoking nostalgia with Mostafa Hagag & 3enba

Monginis has proven itself as a brand with a strong presence on the outdoor scene, as evident by its campaign back in 2020. With a penchant for theatrical antics, the brand distinguished itself this year by first releasing a teaser campaign, before fully revealing what they had in store. The past few weeks, a puzzling OOH campaign has drawn onlookers' curiosity on roads by revealing enough to enthrall audiences, but without providing too many details about the anonymous campaign or project. Therefore, the first step for Monginis was to think out of the box and to create an aura of curiosity, and generate buzz around the campaign across Cairo's roads ahead of the big reveal, since initiating a teaser campaign is a smart method to raise a company's profile in preparation for the larger campaign’s launch.

Looking back at the bizarre OOH campaign, it can be seen that the advertiser employed a peculiar catchphrase that aroused curiosity in the form of a rhetorical question which states "is he coming back?... well, is she coming back?!" or "هو هيرجع؟...طب وهي هترجع", leaving audiences perplexed and confused. The prevalent phrase of the campaign is featured on a pink-themed background, hinting that the anonymous campaign is Monginis, which is known for its lovely pink color that represents the brand identity.

After a few days, the mystery behind this teaser campaign was revealed to be for Monginis, celebrating Mawlid Al-Nabawi with Moustafa Hagag and 3enba, featuring the artist who was among the top 50 most-streamed Arab singers on Anghami, while the other’s music has proven to be popular among youths and millennials.

Both celebrities made their appearance first on a TV commercial full of joyous and festive vibes, performing a special song for the occasion. On the outdoor adverts, the aforementioned artists are surrounded by Mawlid Al-Nabawi celebrations like the puppet show platform, the Egyptian folklore swing or Mawlid Swing, and the funny clowns to commemorate this special occasion and express their joy.

Following that, this campaign has landed on the OOH scene with a graphic that depicts Monginis' products stacked on a puppet show platform with Moustafa Hagag and 3enba posing in front of it, evoking nostalgic sentiments for the old Mawlid celebrations. Revealing that the “He” was “Mawlid” and “She” was “Joy” to represent the motto of this campaign “Mawlid is coming...Joy is Back” which means " المولد يرجع...الفرحة ترجع" So, Do you think the campaign is worth all this buzz?!

This is not the first time Monginies uses celebrities as brand ambassadors, earlier this year in April, they released a campaign with the family of the actor Ahmed Zaher, in the “Completes Our Joy” campaign.

Ahmed Adaweya & Mohamed Adaweya revive the joyful sensations of family gatherings with El Abd Pâtisserie 

Looking back to 2020, El Abd celebrated in the streets of Cairo with an OOH campaign that evoked the same energizing feelings. This year, just in time for the season of festivities of Mawlid Al-Nabawi, the renowned confectionery brand El Abd Pâtisserie is raising the bar higher to join the celebrations by releasing a breathtaking TV  commercial, featuring the veteran singer Ahmed Adaweya and his son Mohamed Adaweya, sparkling amidst festive vibes and showing off Egyptian traditions and rituals at Mawlid. Worth mentioning, Al Abd is one of the most coherent brands within the industry, in terms of brand image and identity, even when it comes to brand ambassadors, check their Eid’s campaign with Abdel basset Hamouda and Ahmed Kamel, the brand’s consistency can be noticed clearly.

From the TV screen directly to the OOH arena, El Abd Patisserie has captivated Greater Cairo's OOH scene, involving the titanic Sha'abi singer Ahmed Adaweya, accompanying the star Mohamed Adaweya, coming together on billboards not only as stars but also as a father and son, evoking the familial bonds essential to the occasion. The visuals show Ahmed Adaweya while performing his iconic dance by lifting his hands up in happiness with a bright smile on his face, and his son standing behind him, enjoying the festive spirit. The legendary Al-Mawlid doll is also included in the outdoor advertisement, serving as a cultural symbol for the season. The joyful ad copy encourages viewers to rush to the nearest branch or call the hotline in order to get their hands on Al Mawlid's sweets before they run out of stock.

Etoile takes a bite out of the market to join the fierce competition among Confectionery brands in Al Mawlid!

A couple of years ago, Etoile released a catchy commercial with a jingle that rapidly went viral among audiences to bring joy for Al Mawlid season, as the brand collaborated with the renowned actor Mohamed Anwar to represent their brand in this campaign. Last year they released a sub-brand Kenoz Box, Then they deployed Khalid Eleish, the famous TV and Radio presenter to offer the new Kunafa products before the season of Ramadan. This year, Etoile has invaded the OOH scene with the same campaign screened before, showing off Mohamed Anwar in a pink and white suit clutching Etoile's Mawlid sweets, adorning a bright smile on his face.

The catchy motto "مولد يا سادة هي دي السعادة" represents the jingle which popped up on Etoile's commercial, translated into "This is Mawlid...This is Happiness". The accompanying ad copy provides Etoile's hotline on the billboards for orders.

Al Mawlid Al-Nabawi; An essential part of the Egyptian society & culture, and a trending section of Egyptian OOH seasonal marketing

The three brands show fierceness on the outdoor advertising media in this occasional campaign, they focused on ensuring the audience reach by using ads’ combination and intellectual approaches with brand ambassadors, all in a cheerful

Al Mawlid Al-Nabawi’s celebrations are entrenched in Egyptian culture, customs, and traditions. The festivities have evolved with Egyptian society, becoming a part of more practical aspects of life, as they also take part in the marketing strategy of most of the confectionary brands which are keen to launch OOH campaigns to promote their traditional sweets. We’re looking forward to seeing what other surprises these three brands have for us next year, and how their upcoming OOH campaign will turn out to be as we keep an eye on the OOH arena to monitor all outdoor activities, so we can’t wait to see which other brands will join the competition.