Egypt: Real estate developers spend over $39mln on story-driven ads in Ramadan 2025

Zawya

07-04-2025

Egypt - Ramadan is a season of reflection, connection, and shared rituals. Across Egypt, families come together over Iftar and Sohour, creating memories that transcend the holy month.
For brands, this period has evolved into a cultural and commercial milestone, where emotionally rich campaigns spotlight generosity, warmth, and the meaning of home. In 2025, real estate developers embraced this moment more than ever, spending over EGP 2bn on advertising during Ramadan, according to The Board Consulting's Ramadan Ads Insights Newsletter.
This significant investment highlights how deeply the sector has embedded emotional storytelling into its broader marketing strategy, leveraging one of the most watched seasons of the year to build long-term brand equity and engage audiences.
Over the past three years, Ramadan advertising in real estate has steadily intensified. In 2023, developers launched 12 campaigns. That div climbed to 22 in 2024 and reached 24 in 2025, reflecting a more crowded and competitive media environment. Of this year's 24 campaigns, 11 promoted specific projects from developers such as TMG, Palm Hills, Cred, Hyde Park, Tameer, and Modon. The remaining campaigns focused on corporate branding, with familiar names like TMG and Wadi Degla taking center stage in multiple initiatives.
Among the standout launches was Jirian—a major new development introduced by Palm Hills, Mountain View, and Nations of Sky. Positioned as a transformative addition to Egypt's real estate landscape, Jirian spans 1,400 acres near Mehwar El Sheikh Zayed and aims to reconnect West Cairo to the Nile, reimagining waterfront living as part of a grand urban vision.
Other developers pursued more unconventional creative paths. Madinet Masr released a two-part campaign that balanced satire and sincerity. One ad humorously highlighted the everyday spirit of helpfulness, while the other embraced the quieter joys of modern life. Arabia Developments departed from traditional formats with a bold, fast-paced campaign composed of six 15-second episodes, marking a shift toward disruptive storytelling styles.
Margins Developments leaned into nostalgia, reuniting iconic personalities Esaad Younes and WAMA—along with their children—in a campaign that celebrated the idea of home as a place of generational continuity and emotional grounding. Modon Developments, meanwhile, garnered attention with a clever marketing twist. As the company expanded into Ras El-Hekma, some viewers confused it with the similarly named UAE-based Modon Properties, which manages the same destination. Modon's outdoor campaign appeared to lean into this ambiguity—intentionally or not—prompting increased interest and driving up call center inquiries, a valuable outcome in a market where attention translates into potential leads.
Performance on social media also played a key role in gauging campaign impact. By March 30, TMG emerged as the most viewed brand online, recording 199.5 million views. Organi Group followed closely with 194 million, while Madinet Masr reached 184.5 million. Hyde Park garnered 163.7 million views, and The Marq Communities attracted 107.9 million. On the project level, Jirian stood out with 33.5 million views, followed by Tameer's project with 29.2 million, El Attal Holding with 25.1 million, N Developments with 22.3 million, and Beta Developments with 20.2 million.
In contrast to the wave of new campaigns, the absence of several major players from Ramadan 2025's advertising scene was especially noticeable. Ora, Mountain View, Misr Italia, ERG, and Khaled Sabry Developments—all of whom had launched high-profile campaigns in 2024—opted not to advertise this year. Their previous work leaned heavily on emotional storytelling, celebrity appearances, and aspirational themes. Their absence may signal a strategic recalibration, perhaps driven by budget adjustments, a focus on off-season campaigns, or a pivot toward more niche, performance-driven efforts. At the same time, this shift opened the field for rising players to capture more attention and redefine the competitive landscape.
Overall, Ramadan 2025 marked a more introspective and emotionally grounded phase for real estate advertising in Egypt. Although the number of campaigns grew slightly, the creative tone took a noticeable turn—from flashy spectacles to more thoughtful and authentic storytelling. Themes such as home, connection, and belonging dominated the narrative arc of many campaigns, with developers embracing a broader emotional palette that ranged from humor and nostalgia to understated elegance.
Celebrity endorsements, though still present, played a more restrained role, often used to deepen emotional resonance rather than simply attract attention. The season demonstrated that in today's saturated media landscape, resonance matters more than reach, and authenticity holds more power than elaborate visuals.
In a Ramadan season defined by reflection, developers discovered that the most compelling campaigns were those rooted in sincerity. Storytelling took the lead, and authenticity emerged as the true star.