A long with scenic shots of Pakistan’s beaches, farms and landmarks, run close-ups of mixed achar  on parathas, Imli ginger sauce mixed in chana chaat and chilled Fruiti-O mango nectar, as Shangrila Foods’ Zaiqe Sohni Dharti Ke subtly showcases the production and consumption of their products. The campaign aims to celebrate Pakistan’s traditional foods and highlight how Shangrila’s range of products (that have evolved for over 30 years) “can add magic to these foods.”

According to Mohsin Ali Hasan, Brand Manager, Shangrila Foods, the target audience for this new campaign are “Pakistani cuisine lovers and people who are passionate about travelling in search of the country’s best, signature foods.”  

The creative and media buying agency behind this, as well as Shangrila’s other campaigns in the last four years, is Brandcom, which according to Hasan understand “the pulse of Shangrila’s brands.” The challenge was, as it always is, executing the idea without showing faces or playing music and with minimum human interaction. “Everyone in marketing talks about creative liberty; we, however, talk about the creative limitations that make our job that much harder,” says Hasan.

The campaign was almost entirely digital focused, which seems to be the trend with most brands in these Covid-19 times. Hasan says that 70% of the budget was spent on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, while further digital engagement was garnered through tools such as Google Display Network (GDN), programmatic advertising, banner ads on local publisher sites, rich media ads, digital PR and print magazines. Hasan adds that shooting the commercial was tricky as it was shot post the first Covid-19 wave, “when everyone had to be socially responsible. We managed it, while adhering to all the relevant SOPs.”

According to Hasan, the campaign over-delivered in terms of the KPIs set by “63% on Facebook and 133% on YouTube” as well as across all social media platforms used. In his view “this was one of the best performing campaigns for Shangrila Foods in FY 2020-21. No one can deny the power of digital, especially the impact it has on Millennials and Gen Z.” Since media consumption habits have drastically changed post Covid-19, Shangrila are using all their digital platforms to “close the sales loop via e-commerce,” he adds.

Apart from straightforward advertising, Shangrila are using digital in various other ways to engage audiences. For instance, their “Cooking Icon” on YouTube teaches young homemakers and working women easy fusion recipes created by top Pakistani chefs such as Chef Gulzar, Chef Mehboob, Chef Maida, Chef Shireen Anwar and Chef Zarnak Sidhwa. “We also promote cooking tips, kitchen hacks and more through Facebook and Instagram and are continuously engaging food-based communities in brand discussions and incentivising them through cooking classes, cooking competitions and giveaways.”

Future goals include “adding more flavour to their consumers’ lives” by providing them with an enhanced and professional food making experience.