According to Google Trends, searches about mental health went up during the start of Ramadan last year. However, unlike the year 2020, they gave a positive twist. A 190 percent year-by-year gain in search intent for the term “psychological comfort” in the United Arab Emirates was witnessed.

With the rise in searches for feel-good and comedy content, positiveness is growing, and people are pursuing a mood uplift. Additionally, a 167 percent search increase for “Series” in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, was seen.

Most producers took advantage of the desire for uplifting content by churning out playing pranks, skits, and challenging subscribers as well as fellow producers on their channels. Creating Art Together by Emirates Airlines was among the trending ones.

Here are the Ramadan Marketing campaigns that pull at the strings of the heart.

1. Emirates Airlines Ramadan Campaign: Creating Art Together

The Emirates workers joined hands with the United Arab Emirates artists with learning difficulties (known as people of determination in the UAE) to deliberate about the way they liked to convey the meaning of Ramadan using the box design.

2. IKEA: A Comfortable Ramadan

In this campaign, IKEA furniture is utilized to set up Iftar for the family after the fast. Watch the campaign’s video here

3. Aramex: Delivering Togetherness This Ramadan

This Ramadan campaign’s delivering togetherness shows how Aramax can help you convey togetherness in case you’ve been kept apart by challenging times. Watch the video here

4. Coca-Cola: Bringing Strangers Together

Until the division breaks down, and the disparities the gap, everybody begins their journeys together as strangers. That’s the message in this video.

5. Old El Paso: Wrap It Up

The wrap-it-up campaign encourages people to cut down on food wastage. By preserving it for future use. Watch the campaign here.

6. Home of Switz: The Endless Virtual Iftar Table

In a manner that allowed people to be sewed with other dinner tables during Covid-19, the campaign established an Instagram filter that allowed people to take photos of their dinner. Watch the video here.

7. McDonald’s: My Happy Table

Because of Covid-19, a lot of Malaysian Muslims working in Singapore can’t get home to celebrate Ramadan together with their loved ones. What if the spirit of Ramadan is strong, watch this campaign

8. Tata Motors: Celebrating Goodness

Watch out for what transpires when a group of workers assembles against all human hurdles to celebrate goodness during Ramadan.

9. Ooredoo: Let’s Make the Internet Better This Ramadan

To contain the height of hate that was spreading on the internet, Ooredoo circulated this Ramadan Ad. Watch it here

10. The ¾ Pizza Box’ From Pizza2Go

Wastage of food dominates talks during Ramadan. Given 25 percent of the wastage that happens during Iftars, the Pizza2Go, in collaboration with the Emirates Red Crescent, was motivated to initiate their “Food Wastage” campaign.

The Pizza2Go’s  ¾  classic pizzas edition enables customers to curb 25 percent of the Iftar food waste. The Emirates Red Crescent receives some of the unique priced ¾ pizza from Pizza2Go to help during the month of Ramadan.

11. Vodafone

This campaign was released through Vodafone Egypt’s Facebook page during the first day of the Ramadan celebration. It has got a total of 934.5K likes since its release.

From actors and sports personalities to singers,  it’s normal for Ramadan ads to caption celebrities. Vodafone went for the pop hero, Amr Diab.

Ramadan and Ramadan Marketing FAQs

Here are the commonly asked questions about Ramadan as well as Ramadan marketing.

What are the dos and don’ts of Ramadan?

According to almouj.com, Muslims normally wake up before sunrise and eat a meal known as suhoor, and then fast the whole day until sunset – the fast is halted by a meal called iftar. Repeat for the entire month. During Ramadan, one doesn’t only abstain from food and drink, but more importantly from bad habits and behaviors. The hunger and thirst one feels are supposed to develop patience, self-restraint, and gratitude. The overall significance of Ramadan is to get closer to God.

Do embrace the community spirit and wish a blessed Ramadan to Muslim friends and colleagues.

Do accept food and drink when offered during Iftar, it is a sign of respect and friendliness.

Do stay calm. Work might be a little less productive and people who are fasting might be a little tired, but be patient with everyone this month.

Do try fasting for a day. It’s a good way to understand your own needs and self-control as well as a way to understand what your Muslim friends and colleagues are going through this month.

Don’t eat, chew, drink or smoke in public during the hours of daylight, even if you’re not Muslim.

Don’t play loud music as it may offend those who are fasting. Playing music through your headphones is allowed as long as it is not audible to the people around you.

Don’t dress inappropriately or wear tight-fitting clothes – modesty is key.

Don’t worry if all these rules feel like a lot. Ramadan is a peaceful and serene time that lasts a month so try and enjoy it while it’s here.

What are some of the things you should incorporate in your Ramadan marketing campaigns posts?

According to intifada.com, here are some things to include in your marketing campaigns during Ramadan.

Brief Background on Ramadan

Ramadan is the Islamic holiday that takes place during the 9th month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Muslims refrain from various forms of physical intake during daylight hours throughout the month. This not only includes eating but drinking and smoking too. Families get together each evening when the sun sets to break the fast together and they often stay up to the early hours of the morning enjoying time with family and friends. You can read details about the holiday here.

Consumer Behaviour During Ramadan

Ramadan shopping behaviors are complex as consumers across different countries are using both offline and online means to purchase many different products and services. According to Meta interactive reports for Ramdan, in Egypt, 86% research their Ramadan purchase online and 54% use e-commerce to discover ideas for Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr purchases. 

While in Saudi Arabia, 91% research their Ramadan purchases online and 54% use e-commerce to discover ideas for Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr purchases. And in the United Arab Emirates, 91% research their purchases online and 54% tend to use e-commerce websites for ideas about Ramadan and Eid al- Fitr purchases. The take from this is that if you want to increase your sales, you wouldn’t want to miss a huge opportunity like Ramadan and Eid al- Fitr in which sales in the Muslim countries tend to double and sometimes triple. There are so many opportunities for trying new ideas for your marketing campaigns.

Ramadan 2022 Marketing

Before we get into various aspects of marketing during Ramadan we should mention that this year, Ramadan 2022, will take place starting on the 2nd of April in the evening and ending on the 1st of May in the evening. The Eid Al-Fitr will take place after this period. Companies that are thinking of advertising during this period need to plan because some publications can get booked months ahead of time. 

Though it is possible to even start marketing campaigns in some circumstances after Ramadan has already started you may find that the outlets you wish to advertise with are understaffed or extremely slow to respond because of decreased working hours during Ramadan, this is especially the case in more traditional Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia. We recommend that you start your Ramadan planning 2 months before the holiday, which would be the 2nd of Feb in 2022.

The Crescent Moon Symbol

Widely seen to be one of the most common symbols of Islam today the crescent moon is used on flags for various countries, for many Muslim organizations, and even the Red Crescent. The first visible crescent moon marks the beginning of each month, including Ramadan and Shawwal which is the start of Eid al-Fitr. 

Given its clear connection with Islam in the minds of most people today the crescent is probably the most common symbol used in Ramadan ads and marketing today. If you are planning on doing any type of visual marketing during Ramadan consider using the crescent moon.

Dates Images

Dates are an essential part of the breaking fast meal each evening during Ramadan and due to this, they can commonly be found in Ramadan ad campaigns. Dates are the first food that is eaten when breaking the fast and have been part of the Ramadan tradition going back to the origins of the religion.

Lanterns

Lanterns are commonly strung up in many Muslim countries due to the late hours Muslims keep during this season. As a result of this lanterns have become iconic of the Ramadan season, especially in countries like Egypt where the tradition began. However, the lantern isn’t as common as the crescent moon, many marketing campaigns utilize lanterns in various ad formats to convey the spirit of Ramadan.

What can I sell during Ramadan?

According to legit.com , here are some of the things you can sell during Ramadan.

Food

Food consumption increases during the month of Ramadan as families feast in the evening after many hours of not eating. Families spend more indelicacies which therefore give rise to shortages of some certain types of food during this season. During Ramadan, two main meals are served: suhoor, which is served before dawn, and iftar, which is served after sunset. Suhoor should be a hearty, healthy meal to provide needed energy throughout a day of fasting, it ends when the sun rises and the fajr, or morning prayer, begins.

Rice

Naturally, most people love to eat rice. For most people, the daily meal is not complete without eating rice, that shows the extent people love it. It is believed that rice is easy to cook and digest easily. It does not cause constipation or any other stomach disorder after consumption; unlike beans that disrupt some people’s stomachs when consumed.

Yam flour and Cassava flour 

The above is what we call black and white amala. These two products also sell very well during the Ramadan period as people eat them for the Sari food. Yam Though yam is expensive now, it sells well during Ramadan. Some people love to make pounded yam during the period as it is believed that it holds on to hunger for the rest of the day.

Bread

Bread is consumed at the time of Iftar, fast breaking time, then taken with tea during late hours in the night and also with tea that is taken at Suhoor – a pre-dawn meal. Bread sells daily on a normal day but during the  Ramadan period, it sells faster as most people love to take it with tea, butter, or egg before eating any other foodstuff.

The above Ramadan marketing ideas aren’t the only ones, but they’re the most popular. So can use them and the other ideas in the faqs, to come up with your heart-winning campaigns.