Parmigiano Reggiano “On Air” in The Gulf Countries

The Consortium presents a new advertising campaign in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. The project aims at opening the market demand for the PDO cheese in the Gulf countries

Reggio Emila, 17 January 2019 – The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium launches a large scale advertising campaign in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. The initiative is part of a multi-year investment plan that aims at developing the market potentials in the Gulf area.

The campaign, developed by Hirux International (market leader in the Middle East in the distribution and communication sectors), is based on a TV commercial that will be aired on the main satellite broadcasting media of the target countries. The commercial, developed in 3, 5, 6, 15 and 30 second formats, has been designed by the Lebanese Salim El Turk with the support of Pomedia Agency.

The Consortium’s strategy aims at educating Arab consumers on the specific characteristics of Parmigiano Reggiano, a cheese that stands out for itsselection of the best and 100% natural ingredients and for using the same recipe for one thousand years.

A survey specifically carried out by Hirux/Nielsen highlighted that consumers mistaken Parmigiano Reggiano with generic Parmesan. Indeed, Parmigiano Reggiano accounts for only 30% of the sales of hard cheese in the three target countries, whereas Parmesan accounts for the remaining 70%.

The story board of the commercial stages the contrast between the two products: in a typical Arab family, the mother – starring Carol Hannoun – tries to convince the son to eat generic Parmesan.  The child calls the police that, after an impressive raid in the house, exposes the woman that turns out to be an impostor. The commercial ends by showing Parmigiano Reggiano.

The television campaign includes 1886 commercials on the Pan Arab channels and 1369 on the Pan Asia ones for a total of 3,200 GRP on the former and 3,030 on the latter. At the same time also a web campaign on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram will be launched to reach as many consumers as possible, including the numerous expats that account for more than 70% of the population in Dubai.

“The project – states Riccardo Deserti, Director of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium – is meant to open up a door on the markets of the Gulf Area.  United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are among the countries with the highest per capita income in the world: the goal in the next 3 years is to increase the share of the King of Cheeses”.