As the sacred month of Ramadan approaches, businesses and marketers around the world are gearing up to connect with their audience in meaningful ways. Crafting effective Ramadan ads requires a delicate balance of cultural sensitivity, creativity and relevance. It's a time when brands have the opportunity to resonate with their audience on a deeper level, reflecting the spirit of Ramadan while delivering impactful messaging.
In this article, we delve into the art of crafting effective Ramadan ads. Drawing on our experience and expertise, we offer proven methods and strategies to help you create stand-out ad creatives that capture the essence of Ramadan.
Why Should Marketers Advertise During Ramadan?
From bustling marketplaces to online platforms, the excitement for Ramadan is palpable. For marketers, this presents a golden opportunity to engage with consumers in meaningful ways, resonate with their values and build lasting relationships that extend beyond the holy month. In addition, thoughtful advertising during Ramadan is necessary and beneficial for many reasons.
- Increased consumer spending: Ramadan is a time of heightened consumer activity, with individuals and families purchasing goods and services for Iftar (breaking of fast) gatherings, Eid celebrations and charity events. This surge in spending presents a significant opportunity for you to promote your products and services and drive sales.
- Cultural significance: Ramadan holds immense cultural significance for Muslims worldwide. It is a time of reflection, community and spiritual growth. By advertising during Ramadan, you can demonstrate cultural sensitivity and connect with audiences on a deeper level, fostering trust and brand loyalty.
- Capturing attention: During Ramadan, individuals often spend more time with their families and communities, leading to increased media consumption. You can leverage this opportunity to capture the attention of your target audience through strategic advertising placements across various channels, including television, digital platforms and social media.
Understanding Indonesian Consumer Behavior During Ramadan
Understanding — and anticipating — Indonesian consumers behavior and decision-making during Ramadan is crucial for businesses aiming to capitalize on this significant period. Indonesians typically display distinctive spending patterns and preferences during Ramadan, making it essential for marketers to adapt their strategies accordingly.
Top Categories and Shopper Groups in Ramadan 2024
During Ramadan, Indonesian consumers often prioritize purchases related to clothing and accessories, groceries and gift packs. This trend reflects the emphasis on family gatherings, gift-giving and the preparation of special meals during this festive season.
Moreover, Indonesian shoppers can be categorized into three main groups: unplanned shoppers, category explorers and brand lovers. Each group exhibits unique behaviors and preferences, necessitating tailored marketing approaches to effectively engage and resonate with them.
Targeting Millennials and Gen Z: Understanding Digital Markets
As two of the most significant demographics in today's digital landscape, Millennials and Gen Z consumers exhibit distinct preferences, priorities and spending habits that shape their interactions with brands online.
To effectively target Millennials and Gen Z in digital markets, brands must embrace authenticity, creativity and innovation in their marketing strategies. Engaging storytelling, user-generated content, influencer partnerships and immersive experiences resonate well with these demographics, fostering genuine connections and brand loyalty.
Ramadan 2023 Shifts and Ramadan-Specific Creatives
Ramadan 2023 brought notable changes in consumer behavior, emphasizing personal growth, reunions with loved ones and expressions of gratitude. During this time, Indonesians valued togetherness, kindness, spirituality, joy and inspiration. In response, marketers embraced Ramadan-specific creatives that resonated with these themes. Through heartfelt storytelling and captivating imagery, brands sought to evoke emotions that inspired positive action among audiences.
Looking ahead, the lessons learned from Ramadan 2023 guide marketers in creating impactful campaigns. By prioritizing authenticity, empathy and creativity, brands can foster goodwill, build affinity and make a meaningful impact this year.
General Creative Recommendations
Effectively communicating through creative content relies on a multitude of factors that shape audience engagement and resonance. In the subsequent sections, we delve into key considerations to guide your communication strategy, offering insights into how to tailor your messaging, visuals and approach to align with Ramadan’s cultural significance and values.
The Five Phases of Ramadan: Crafting Relevant Creative Themes
Crafting relevant creative themes for Ramadan involves understanding its five distinct phases and aligning campaign messaging with the sentiments and activities associated with each phase.
Pre-Ramadan: Planning and Anticipating
- During the pre-Ramadan phase, Indonesians engage in meticulous planning and preparation for the upcoming month of fasting and Eid celebrations.
- Campaign themes should focus on anticipation, preparation and readiness for the spiritual and communal activities ahead.
Pro tip: Showcase families planning and shopping for Ramadan essentials, such as food, decorations and gifts.
Ramadan: Inspiring Positivity
- Throughout Ramadan, individuals observe a strict fast from dawn to dusk, focusing on spiritual reflection, prayer and acts of charity.
- Creative themes should inspire positivity, resilience and spiritual growth amidst the challenges of fasting and self-discipline.
Pro tip: Showcase individuals and families engaging in acts of worship and reflection, and capture the peaceful and reflective atmosphere of Ramadan nights, including Iftar gatherings.
Eid Preparation: Generating Excitement
- As Ramadan draws to a close, excitement builds for the festive celebrations of Eid al-Fitr.
- Campaigns should aim to spark excitement and anticipation for the upcoming Eid festivities, highlighting the joy of reuniting with loved ones and partaking in celebratory traditions.
Pro tip: Highlight the preparation of special Eid meals, decorations and gifts.
Eid Fitr: Celebrating with the Audience
- Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan and is a time for joyous celebrations, feasting and exchanging gifts.
- Creative themes should center around celebration, gratitude and communal gatherings, reflecting the spirit of Eid and the shared sense of accomplishment after completing the month of fasting.
Pro tip: Depict families and communities coming together to celebrate, exchange gifts and enjoy special meals.
Post Ramadan: Extending the Celebration
- Even after the main Eid celebrations, the spirit of Ramadan continues to resonate, fostering a sense of community and goodwill.
- Campaigns can extend the celebration beyond Eid, emphasizing acts of kindness, continued reflection and ongoing support for those in need.
Pro tip: Highlight the continuation of positive Ramadan values and traditions throughout the year.
The Golden Period: Leveraging THR and Timing
Scheduling ads so that your audience sees them during the Golden Period can improve conversions. Ten days before Eid until three days after, they have more purchasing power because of the THR — the yearly bonus given to Indonesian employees before the start of the holy month.
The Rise of Prosumerism and Creative Renaissance: Leveraging UGC
Tiktok’s “Ramadan with Tiktok 2024” report outlines that in this age of “Prosumerism,” in which the audience becomes content producers who influence trends and cultural changes. So, consider creatives that show an average person using your product. In the age of the Creative Renaissance, how advertisers craft their advertising has been changed permanently by technology. So, incorporate the latest tech when making your ads by using AI-generated images, filters and camera effects.
Capturing Short Attention Spans: Utilizing Dynamic Images
With Indonesians deep into strict fasts during Ramadan, their attention span may be temporarily shorter. So, use dynamic images with three-second brand cues or shorter.
Sources of Creative Inspiration: TV Commercials and Social Media Trends
People consume TV commercials and social media trends every day. So, why not use them as inspiration for your native advertising?
From Fast to Feast: Make Eid Unforgettable
Hunger and boredom are two things that people face while on a strict fast. So, present your product/service/brand as a solution to these problems!
Creative Recommendations for Different Product Categories
Now, here’s where we get to witness effective Ramadan ads in action! See Ramadan ads applied in different product categories in the following subsections.
Clothing & Accessories
Wearing new attire to mark the beginning of Ramadan has become part of the holiday, so ads in the clothing and accessories vertical can do well if done right.
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This category is highly visual. So in this category, a picture really is worth a thousand words!
For this ad, the focus is a family who have decided to color coordinate with brilliant pops of color. For this category, we recommend that your thumbnail is targeted to moms, as they are usually in charge of shopping and are in charge of deciding the family’s festive attire. So, even if you’re trying to sell to men, don’t exclude women from your targeting. In addition, adapt to the “-Core” trend, where you breathe life into a specific aesthetic idea.
You can also make your ad stand out by playing with non-traditional Eid colors. Like with this ad, using pink helped it pop out, but users are still able to associate it with Ramadan because of the green hijabs.
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For the title, bank on unplanned shoppers who are looking for ideas everywhere. Like with this ad, offering a limited-time discount creates a sense of urgency, which will encourage viewers to act fast and buy right away.
If there are other unique selling points like plus size availability, you should capitalize on those in your title as well.
Food, Beverages and Grocery
Eating and drinking are central to Ramadan, whether it is to break the fast or to celebrate. So, keep these tips in mind when making your ad.
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Here’s the general rule of thumb: the more delicious the food looks, the more tempting it is! This makes it more enticing to purchase for Indonesians who are fasting.
But what about the less appealing grocery essentials? Like with this ad, go for a themed approach to show essential ingredients and/or products for breaking the fast or preparing the feast.
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For the title, make users crave and salivate for your product. This ad encourages you to imagine how great this drink will taste once you break the fast. You can also make the ad resonate better by incorporating your offer into the festivities.
Gift Packs
As an expression of love, sending gifts is also a part of the holiday. So, if you can frame your product/service as a gift, go for it!
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People tend to post photos of gifts online nowadays as a way of saying thanks, so how it’s presented is also very important. Show them how cute the gift packaging is through the thumbnail.
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When there’s a long list of people to give to, affordability matters. So, like with this ad, talk about how inexpensive this option is compared to other options.
Skincare & Perfumes
Skincare and perfumes are considered a part of self-care during the Ramadan season as they help counteract the potential negative effects of lack of nutrients and dehydration from fasting. Additionally, people want to feel and look their best during the Eid celebrations.
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What makes this a great thumbnail is that it hits various points that can help convince the audience to buy. It shows a Halal stamp, which means it is safe to use even while fasting. Plus, it shows how beautiful you can potentially look for Eid if you start using the product now. To make the ad even more relevant, you can take inspiration from social media trends like the “Ramadan/Eid-Fitr Look.”
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As the cherry on top, get people excited! Encourage them to imagine how amazing they would feel on Eid because of how they look and smell. For this ad specifically, the long-lasting effect was the main selling point in the title.
Travel
Ramadan brings families physically closer. And to make this happen, they’ll need to travel to their destination.
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Using images of family reuniting can make someone miss their hometown even more. For this ad, it’s about a mother and daughter meeting at the airport. Using half of the page for text made it highly successful! If possible, we recommend incorporating early bird and last-minute discounts as well.
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Traveling by car can be long and exhausting, and the title of this ad hints at how easy and convenient it would be to just buy a ticket home. Another approach would be to incentivize purchases by demonstrating potential savings. You should emphasize that browsing for transportation is a necessity during the process of planning a trip.
Electronics
The combination of gift-giving traditions, promotional offers, household upgrades and increased spending during Ramadan contributes to the popularity of electronics as a sought-after product category during this festive season.
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Whether as a gift for someone or for themselves, people are more likely to buy new electronics before Eid-Fitr. As an advertiser, give them a reason to purchase what you’re selling over the competition. Like with this ad, you can justify buying a TV to reduce boredom.
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For the title, creating a sense of urgency through limited-time promotions can work wonders. Reviews can also be powerful when effectively adapted as titles. Here, the use of the term “dream gadget” indicates a generally accepted perceived quality of the product.
Grab the Opportunity to Generate Sales from Ramadan
In wrapping up our discussion on Ramadan advertising, it's evident that this holy month offers marketers ample opportunities to connect with their audiences in meaningful ways. By understanding consumer behavior, respecting cultural sensitivities and crafting compelling creatives, marketers can lay the groundwork for successful campaigns.
As you plan your Ramadan advertising initiatives, remember that the MGID team is here to assist you. Whether you need help refining your messaging, crafting ad creatives or optimizing your ad placements, our experts are committed to supporting your advertising goals. With the right approach and our support, your Ramadan campaign is poised for success!
