Total 610 words used.
How our online video went viral, engaging 4.5x as many people with a Nowruz video
We created award-winning video content that shared a celebratory message for the Iranian Nowruz
COMMUNICATION CHALLENGE
On March 21st, 2022, the Iranian calendar read 01/01/01, marking the Iranian New Year and beginning the Nowruz celebrations. Since the beginning of our agency, we have been sending out greetings for special occasions. This time was different, and this time we made it different.
How we use digital media in Iran to amplify our message
For the first time since our beginning, we solved our non-profit Nowruz greetings challenge using only digital. No clever gifts, no printing or packaging, and no delivery hassles — a win for the environment you might say.
COMMUNICATION SOLUTION
We tailor most of our agency communications to our LinkedIn audience, where we derive good organic growth and interest from new clients and talent. For us, LinkedIn is a prime place to communicate because of the high-value individuals that frequent the platform.
How videos on social media in Iran can get results
With both LinkedIn and Instagram in mind, we chose to create an epic video of an epic story to form the basis of our Nowruz greetings. Nowruz is the name for the occasion of the New Year and translates as “new day”. The occasion is officially recognized by 12 countries, with roughly 300 million people celebrating it worldwide. In fact, in 2016, UNESCO recognized the importance of Nowruz by declaring it “an intangible cultural heritage of humanity”.
The story of Mashia and Mashiana might sound familiar. That is because it is the Iranian equivalent of the Western origins story of Adam and Eve, but maybe more positive. We animated these first humans using interpretive dance created by a local theatre director, Mr. Mohsen Hosseini. The actors conduct their performance among items of the “Haft Seen”.
How we used video production for a successful social media campaign in Iran
Put simply, the message in our Nowruz video was about fresh starts. Firstly, we showed this with the new year and the numbers 01/01/01 on the Iranian calendar. Secondly, we used the Nowruz as a symbol for fresh starts. Lastly, we combined these with the Iranian mythical origins story to symbolically invite our audience to let go of their past troubles and to make a fresh start based on love, like Adam and Eve (or Mashia and Mashiana).
COMMUNICATION RESULT
The results of our video were beyond our expectations. We achieved a reach of over 4.5x relative to our LinkedIn following. This impressive stat was helped by the cheeky and creative copywriting used in the caption. It is not easy to translate, but in Persian, the word for human is Adam, like the man in the origins story. We toyed with the double meaning of the word human, which resulted in higher engagement among our audience. Among the positive feedback, the copywriting was something that our audience pointed out as being witty and enjoyable.
Aside from the likes and comments, we also received inquiries from local brand managers who expressed an interest in us using this low-budget but high-quality video technique to help them up their social media communications game.
We make international award-winning video content in Iran
We were excited enough to learn that our Nowruz video greeting went viral, but we were thrilled when we learned it had won an international award. Yes, Zigma8 won bronze and an honorable mention at the WINA Awards 2022, hosted in Dubai. The award marks the first occasion an Iranian-based agency wins at the WINA Awards. We're hoping that it won’t be the last.
Nomination Title: Origins of a new beginning
