‘More than Food, Great Stories to Share’ - EU promotion campaign in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Agricultural food and beverage products from the European Union are more than just food and drinks, there is a story behind each burst of flavour. This campaign run in the UAE and KSA from 2019 to November 2022, and featured a participation in the EXPO 2020 in Dubai.

Objectives:

The overall objective of the communication campaign was to promote the key merits of EU agricultural produce among consumers and businesses in the GCC countries:

• Inform business and consumer audiences about the merits of EU agricultural produce; and
• Create positive awareness of EU agricultural produce among business and consumer audiences, with the aim of increasing the consumption, use, and import of these products.

Strategy and Activities:

The Campaign progressively built on the awareness, engagement, and lessons learned generated by the communication activities that have been running since 2018 in the region.

It featured tasting experiences for consumers in various malls across the GCC regions that serve as community hubs.

Specific events have been organised for business audiences in order to promote EU agricultural produce to key buyers in the region, and to provide information regarding the benefits of this produce.

GCC influencers and media representatives had the opportunity to travel to Europe to learn first-hand about various EU agricultural produce and their origin and, in turn, share this with their audiences based in the GCC countries.

The Campaign supported the EU’s participation to the EXPO 2020 Dubai (1 October 2021 – 31 March 2022) by running a series of specific activities and events, in particular a “More than Food Festival” on Bluewaters Island (17-19/02/2022) and a European Caravan.