Franklin Templeton campaign marks 25 years, recommits to the Middle East
The integrated campaign was rolled out in the form of radio spots, out-of-home advertising such as on the Dubai tram, print media – including prominent regional publications such as The National, Gulf News and Khaleej Times – as well as across social media and YouTube content.
Beyond highlighting the brand's presence in the UAE since 2000, and in DIFC since 2004, the campaign also aimed to reaffirm Franklin Templeton's brand promise of being 'Your trusted partner for what's ahead'.
Balaji Vaidyanathan, Head of Marketing for Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEEMEA) at Franklin Templeton, said, 'This isn't just about trust; it's about looking forward and being dedicated to the future of investment in this vibrant landscape. We weren't just looking back at our history, but also as a testament to our continuous evolution and innovation within the region. Beyond celebrating our history, the campaign was about reaffirming our commitment across the Middle East.'
Franklin Templeton multi-channel campaign roll out
While the creatives and video content for Franklin Templeton's campaigns were produced in-house by its dedicated team, the brand partnered with specialised agencies for various aspects of the rollout.
The radio spot was developed in collaboration with ARN ABC – Arabian Radio Network to ensure the message resonated effectively on air. For the highly visible tram campaign, the brand partnered with Info Media Group.
'This blend of in-house expertise and strategic agency partnerships allowed us to maintain creative control while leveraging external specialists for their specific channel proficiency,' Vaidyanathan added.
The Franklin Templeton campaign leaned into a mix of channels to boost visibility, maximise impact and audience engagement.
Vaidyanathan explained, 'For print media, we began by partnering with prominent regional publications such as Khaleej Times and Gulf News to secure front-page advertisements, leveraging their credibility and visibility to reach our target audience effectively.'
He added, 'Our digital campaign utilised programmatic advertising on platforms such as DV360. The impressive viewability rates, significantly exceeding industry benchmarks of 50 per cent to 60 per cent, demonstrated that our ads were effectively placed and captured audience attention, successfully driving them to our dedicated campaign landing page.'
Complementing this, Franklin Templeton's impact buys with Khaleej Times and The National yielded high click-through rates (CTR), indicating strong audience engagement and effective messaging.
Franklin Templeton also leveraged social media, particularly LinkedIn, to publish a mix of static and video content, which also surpassed industry benchmarks for engagement, thanks in part to its employee brand ambassador programme.
Vaidyanathan said, 'This initiative was designed to capture the attention of our target audience in a highly visible and memorable way within a key urban area.'
He added, 'This integrated, multi-channel approach ensured that the campaign resonated across various touchpoints, significantly enhancing both our visibility and engagement with the diverse audience in the UAE and the wider region.
Franklin Templeton is focusing primarily on the UAE for this campaign, given its long-standing presence and commitment to this key market.
Success metrics of the campaign
Franklin Templeton defined a range of metrics to define the campaign's success, which fell into three main categories.
First, the brand looked at consideration metrics, which included engagement on ads – specifically click-through rates (CTR) and view-through rates (VTR) – as well as visits to the campaign page and the time spent there. This helped the brand understand how well the campaign content resonated with our audience.
Vaidyanathan said, 'A key video created for YouTube captured viewers' attention, far exceeded the industry benchmark for skippable ads on YouTube, which is 40 per cent to 50 percent, demonstrating its ability to captivate viewers. The campaign also targeted financial professionals through B2B publishers such as Citywire. Additionally, we ran targeted radio ads on Dubai Eye during peak commute times and launched an out-of-home advertising initiative with a branded tram in Dubai Marina.'
The brand also tracked awareness metrics, including the total number of impressions, reach, frequency, video views and circulation for print ads. These metrics gave the brand insight into how broadly the campaign was seen and how often our audience was exposed to it.
'Additionally, we monitored channel-specific metrics. For our digital campaign, this meant tracking impressions, clicks, CTR, and viewability rate for both programmatic and impact buys. On LinkedIn, we looked at impressions, CTR and VTR. On YouTube, we tracked impressions, views, and VTR. For print ads, we considered daily average circulation, total readership per copy, and opportunity to see (OTS),' Vaidyanathan added.
By using these metrics, the brand aimed to reinforce Franklin Templeton's reputation as a trusted partner and leader in the Middle East's investment sector.
The campaign is scheduled to run for a duration of three months, from July to September 2025.
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