Ülker celebrates its 65th anniversary, recalling the "Happy Moments" it has created for consumers

Pointing out recent research conducted by Ülker, Yıldız Holding Chief Marketing Officer Ahad Afridi said, “We recognize that everyone, children, teenagers, women, men, students or businessmen have had at least one happy moment associated with an Ülker product. We built our campaign for the brand on this strong concept.” Ülker celebrated its 65th anniversary with an advertising campaign based on the concept of “A Happy Moment Makes Life Beautiful” and built a 360 degree campaign based on the idea that people of all ages have had a happy moment associated with Ülker. The advertisements appeared on TV, in cinema theaters, the press and on outdoor and online communications.

The TV commercials, which constituted the first stage of the campaign, will be broadcast on national TV channels. Cinema, press, outdoor and online ads will be introduced in the near future.

Everyone has a happy moment with Ülker
Pointing out recent research conducted by Ülker, Yıldız Holding Chief Marketing Officer Ahad Afridi said, “We recognize that everyone, children, teenagers, women, men, students or businessmen have had at least one happy moment associated with an Ülker product. These ‘happy moments and memories’ have entered the daily conversation of many people who tell each other how they straighten Ülker Çokomel’s packages and put them between the sheets of their notebooks or how they struggle to eat the last part of the Çokokrem that remains in the tube. Ülker unites many people who have experienced the same warm feelings of happiness, joy and sharing and so we built the campaign on this strong concept.”

We stayed true to our founder’s philosophy.
Noting that the concept of the campaign is enmeshed with the philosophy of Ülker’s founder and Honorary Chairman Sabri Ülker, Afridi added, “Everybody has the right to a happy childhood, no matter where they live. We wanted to incorporate this philosophy in the advertising.” Citing research he had conducted about Ülker before coming to Turkey, Afridi said, “When I talked to dealers and distributors, read the messages that consumers have sent to Ülker’s call center or listened to people talking about their memories of Ülker, I noticed that Ülker, no matter what it has undertaken, has always set a good example. It does a great job, and never compromises quality. It tracks every food product at the executive level. Ülker is flexible and has a quick decision-making process. It has realized many firsts in its field and planned numerous international ventures. During its formative years the company employed foreign experts to improve its production. Its management had the foresight to establish an R&D department even though its product range was too small. All these values strengthened Ülker’s progress towards becoming a global brand, but above all, Ülker’s over-riding concern has always been “consumer satisfaction”.

An award winning director
Gregor Nicholas a New Zealand native known internationally for his direction of the movie “Broken English”, was given th job of directing the commercial. Belgian Danny Hiele was the director of photography. Around 300 actors and extras took part in the “Happy Moments” that were depicted in the film. Gregor Nicholas, who has won awards for his short films in international film festivals in cities such as Chicago and Venice, was asked to direct the commercials because of his success in capturing the feeling behind the moment, a quality that is much admired by audiences around the world.

Film Credentials:
• The TV films were shot as a series in two different locations. The scene on the boat relates happy moments experienced by a number of people of different types and ages who lead very different lives.

• The scene that was filmed on a university campus illustrates some happy moments that have existed for decades, some of which have been experienced since, by every new generation. These moments have changed and grown but have never lost their power as social phenomena.

• The 5 days of shooting involved a crew of 80 and a cast of 300. The actors were chosen at the end of a one-month preparation period.

• It took an entire day to shoot the views of Istanbul from a speed boat.

• For the filming of the boat scene, which took 2 days, a boat was rented from the Istanbul Intercity Boat Lines.

• The university campus commercial also took two days and was filmed on the beyazit Campus of Istanbul University. A group of students performed in the concert scene of the commercial.