Thursday, June 23, 2016

On Persil and Mona Abou Hamze


That Mona Abou Hamze has grown into a major celebrity is a foregone conclusion. I freely admit I seldom watch television and never watched any of her episodes but even I know who is she is, which is a testimony to her fame.
Persil is teaming up with Abou Hamze to promote their dark color protecting version of their famous washing liquid. Whereas I am very cautious as to the use of celebrities in advertising, especially in the Arab region where the advertising becomes "oh-the-one-with-so-and-so-in-it" (with so-and-so being Fadia el Chere2a or Pipo, both characters invented by Fadi Reaidy - not that I have anything against him just giving a generic example) which tends to eclipse the brand in question and makes the advertising focus on a gimmick by a character.
Persil certainly does not run that risk due to its much established credibility. But above all, it was Abou  Hamze's exceptional management of her own brand which makes this advertising believable. For all her fame, she never associated with brands left and right, kept her credibility where it belongs and even when she was hit by personal woes (I shall not relate them here) she still managed to retaliate in an above the fray manner.
For a Brand like Persil wanting to go knee-deep in CSR, Abou Hamze is still a "fresh" face advertising-wise, she has not been tied to any other brand which makes this teaming up the right step (hopefully for both of them).