Tora Bika - underwhelming in two languages

I saw this ad in two languages, and neither are interesting, both forgettable. The above is the Arabic, the English is just as bad, the ad goes "all the coffee... at your house". Thing is, they did book ad space for this, and well, I guess this whole "at your house" thingy is some coordinated campaign judging by their Macchiato instagram effort (here). 

Well, I am exactly this kind of product's target audience, and feel myself totally unmoved. So yes, we do instant coffee - make that several cups - but what's the addition is this bringing? Emotionally? Or on the "daily slice of life" level? Or even on the price-point level which is crucial to the Lebanese at this point? Considering the above, this leaves me underwhelmed, 

Nescafe wins with its new ad

Very few brands can portray their markets without being cheapo. Or overdoing it. Or getting the characters wrong. Or the wrong slices of life that represents them. Nescafe wins on all counts. They even go local with "spilling coffee is a good omen" to "spilling Nescafe is a good omen", without forgetting the football match, the beach vendor, the dad whose daughter asks "want some Nescafe with all that sugar?", or the man who rushes to follow his wife before she goes to work with her Thermos of Nescafe, and the whole multitude of situations one can drink Nescafe in. Truly honest, realistic and believable ad. Please have fun watching it here.

Maxim's - instant coffee

Well if Najjar can do it (here), why not Maxim's. Maxim's is indeed plunging head first in the instant coffee segment - in the hope of capturing some of the market of Nescafe (and its various subrands and tastes) now that the Nestle brand is no longer in forceful traction in the Lebanese market. Again, Najjar adapted to the times after years of trying to convince new generations of the merit of ground coffee, so Maxim's simply followed suit and introduced its own as well. Maxim's is known for a hoard of other food products mind you (check here) so delving into the instant coffee is not too far off of a jump.

Small side note: For a brand that has, for so long, signed with "3ndo yeke bil dene" (thinks the world of you) the introduction of "awaken your senses" is interesting. Perhaps they are targeting a totally different segment of those they are usually focusing on?

Cafe Najjar - adapts to the times.

Cafe Najjar tried. Really, really tried.

But it came to naught.

Tried what? To convert a new generation to the merit of ground coffee instead of the easy-to-prepare and at-your-beck-and-call instant coffee (Oh, come on, Nescafe!). Take this old ad for example - it was obvious it was replacing the "red mug" with a "blue one" (here). Still, after trying to reach millennials and trying to speak their language, eventually Najjar capitulated.

Introducing not just one, but three different flavors of Najjar instant coffee: red (har har, like.... Nescafe!), decaf, and Gold (all right fine, several brands apart from Nescafe have gold, so I am giving this a pass). Do note, as with everything, these days there are a lot of "local" equivalents - mind you I already spoke about local production and how sometimes it does not match neither quality, nor expectation, nor price (here).

So here's hoping Cafe Najjar is reasonably priced as compared to the competition - and competition there is, even if, at this point, consumer loyalty is out the window for the Lebanese (I spoke about this prior, among others here).