When was the last time you had a shawarma sandwich at your favourite restaurant? With the rise of American diners and fast-food chains, local traditional shawarma restaurants had a real slump in sales because people want something new, something hip. With their tame and boring branding there was no way they could compete with those expensive branding campaigns and social network presence that the competition was getting. Not it until now at least.
The newest kid on the block, Shawarma Republic is here to make it change. The brand successfully re-appropriated the traditional shawarma and transformed it into a modern and interesting sandwich. It all started with a viral video on YouTube. The video portrayed a DJ spinning music with shawarma making the idea of consuming this type of sandwich something that could be identified as "cool". The owners tried to make path for resurgence by changing the way we look at shawarma in general. The viewer decodes this video in a way that wants him to try and see if there is something different in that particular sandwich.
Shawarma Republic also appropriated the very popular Obama "Yes We Can" campaign in one of their visuals with the slogan "United we sandwich". In other words, the main idea is a heavily westernised image that conforms with what the competition is offering to attract a maximum number of clients. The viewer is interpellated by this image which includes him in the story and main theme of the visual. The "We" creates a sense of belonging to group of people, a group that is willing to try/or tried the brand new shawarma. The viewer also immediately relates this visual with the "Yes We Can" campaign which was successful creating a positive appeal to the brand.
Shawarmanji, a brand that is also fighting for it's place in the battle of the sandwiches is also taking the same approach. The visual is professional yet approachable which targets the viewer in becoming a potential client. The shawarma which was at one point and old and traditional offering is now having a second wind thanks to this re-appropriation by Shawarmanji, for example, that is integrating it with our today's standards.
Shawarma also had an international boost after Tony Stark refers to it in the latest instalment of the Iron Man franchise. Following the release of the movie Shawarma restaurants in LA and New York were jam packed with people wanting to try or to replicate their favourite action hero.
Reviving old products or items has always took an important part in the world of branding and visuals. Shawarma was popular and will remain popular. However, these new approaches are making it more hip, more trendy. It's just 21st century version of one of the region's most popular sandwich.
No comments:
Post a Comment