The new slogan sees the company move away from its old “the sweet heart” message, which the company had used for many years. According to Johny Rahal, group marketing manager at Mazola, the company wanted to build on its past messaging, rather than abandoning it completely.
All about health
“We took the earlier positioning, and came up with something engendered by it – but taking into account the current position of the market, and what customers are looking for and aiming at. Today’s customer is really interested in health, is more aware about what he should and should not be eating, is looking more at the ingredients of each and every product he buys, whether or not he trusts a brand,” he said.
The new slogan also reflects what Mazola says are the natural qualities of its products, which do not contain preservatives or added antioxidants. Rahal said the slogan was being updated to be aligned with the products, rather than the other way around.
Correcting one of the issues with its previous slogan – where Mazola had the wording and a highly-recalled jingle, but lost out on a visual implementation of the “sweet heart” concept to a competitor – the company is planning to promote the new catchphrase heavily.
It has partnered with the Saudi Ministry of Health for a series of events in malls, salons and other public places, with housewives as its main target audience. While Mazola will be looking to promote its new brand platform, the ministry’s agenda for the events is yet to be finalised.
Cook’s personal connection
The company is also working with well-known Saudi cook Hatun, to produce a series of videos featuring Mazola products. Rahal said Hatun was an ideal choice as spokeswoman for the company, as she not only used Mazola products in the past, but also had a compelling personal story.
“It turned out that Hatun had two children who were diabetic,” said Rahal. “And among her videos which she will be launching, she will be explaining that she had these circumstances in her family, and that’s why she chose Mazola, because it caters to the health of her sons.”
Mazola also wants to incorporate the new slogan on its product packaging. But strict government regulations covering messages on packaging make this a longer-term project.
“Even when we won a product of the year award, [the local authority was] reluctant for us to put it on our packaging. They have certain regulations which sometimes prevent us from putting even the simplest things on our packaging – but we will be in discussion with them to see if this will be feasible,” said Rahal.