HungerStation Makes History as the First Saudi Brand to Win a Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2023
The campaign's creative use of AI technology in the decision-making of food ordering earned the award
HungerStation Saudi Arabia’s ‘Subconscious Order’ campaign has won the Grand Prix in Creative Commerce at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2023. It is the first time in Cannes Lions’ 70-year history that Saudi Arabia has won a Grand Prix.
Combining innovative thinking and cutting-edge technology, ‘Subconscious Order’ is a feature that taps into the subconscious mind to help the user decide what food they’re most in the mood for – eliminating the frustrations of decision fatigue that we all know so well when trying to pick food. In fact, according to a study by Seated, as quoted by the New York Post, the average adult spends around 132 hours a year looking at menus online. ‘Subconscious Order’ is designed for customers of HungerStation (Saudi Arabia’s first food delivery app) and uses the camera on a mobile or desktop along with in-app eye calibration and vision AI to track the user’s eye movement. It then uses topic modeling AI to organize food options and present an instant report of what the eye lingered on the longest, to reveal the subconscious craving – generating a list of local restaurants where HungerStation customers can then order the food they desire the most.
Mohammed Jifri, CMO for HungerStation said, “Myself and the team are so proud of having won the first ever Cannes Lion Grand Prix. It's not only an incredible milestone for HungerStation, but also a giant step forward for marketing in Saudi Arabia which has seen significant development in the last decade. This marks the start of a new era of marketing success in the country, and with our nation's 2030 vision, there are no limits to what we can achieve”
Rayyan Aoun, ECD for Wunderman Thompson KSA said, “This is a truly historic win for both Cannes Lions and Saudi Arabia, as it is the first time a campaign from the Kingdom has won a Grand Prix – one of the most prestigious awards for creativity in the world. As the first – and still the leading – food delivery app in the Kingdom, HungerStation is a pioneer in its field. It feels fitting then, that, along with Wunderman Thompson, our innovative campaign has won a Cannes Lions Grand Prix – a groundbreaking achievement for Saudi Arabia.”
Ahmad Chatila, Director of Brand and Communication for HungerStation said, “We are only beginning to comprehend the power of AI, but it's already transforming the world around us. It will surely disrupt commerce in years ahead and create more personalized customer experiences. As marketers, we need to consider how this technology can be used to glean more meaningful insights from customer data and create tailored experiences for them. This will allow us to anticipate their needs and provide them with more relevant moments rather than general ones”
The inspiration behind the work stemmed from a study from 'The Biology of Belief' by Dr. Bruce Lipton, that found ‘the conscious mind can only process 40 bits of info per second. While the subconscious mind can process information up to 500,000 times quicker.’ That prompted the team to ask: “What if we help people connect better with their subconscious mind, and let it find the answer they’re looking for”?
HungerStation seeks to open new horizons in the technical sector in line with the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, and it constantly desires to improve and develop the user experience to keep pace with the needs of its customers by providing smart and effective solutions. Hungerstation also seeks to strengthen the Kingdom's position in the technical sector and at global levels by employing AI in our lives and contributing to bringing change in the field of e-commerce.
Jason Carmel, Global Lead, Creative Data at Wunderman Thompson, said, “We are incredibly proud to have been part of such a momentous occasion and to have worked alongside HungerStation to deliver a powerful tool which is not only forward-thinking and smart, but that also taps into a genuine desire for the decision-making process to be simplified. This technology signals a step towards the future of ‘Zero UI’ interfaces, whereby users control a device through their voice, movements, glances, or thoughts. But it’s not tech for the sake of tech, it also addresses a need to cleverly address decision fatigue and help people with an important decision – choosing dinner!”
Commenting on the work, Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, Jury President of the Creative Commerce Lions said the campaign “turns transactional into emotional, and solves a pain point about choice overload which drives discoverability of new foods and places to order”. She continued, “In today’s world, brands have to apply meaningful value in order for people to offer use of their facial data, and ‘Subconscious Order’ did this beautifully. It’s a wonderful example of AI being applied to commerce and is a bold, brave way to change the user experience, which is no mean feat.”
The Cannes Lion 2023 Grands Prix wins mark yet another successful win for Hungerstation, as it received 6 awards this year, which are: A Grand Prix for Creative Commerce, issued by Cannes Lions, June 2023, a Bronze for Innovation, issued by Caples Awards, May 2023, a Grand Prix for Mobile-led Creativity, issued by Dubai Lynx, Mar 2023, a Silver for Website, Apps, and Games, issued by Dubai Lynx, Mar 2023, a Silver for HungerStation’s film (Blast to the Past), issued by Dubai Lynx, Mar 2023, and this film was also nominated for the list of the Top 15 Film Campaigns, issued by Campaign Middle East, Jan 2023.
