2010 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

The results of the Be heard campaign were beyond all expectations. There were 12,000 visitors to beheard.ae in the first 10 days after launch alone, with over 400 questions posted by the public. After a month online, 23,000 visitors had gone to beheard.ae, with an average time of 4 minutes spent on site, and 700 questions added. As a direct result of the Be heard campaign, top of mind awareness for du went up by 12%, and sales increased by a dramatic 7%.

Creative Execution

The creative strategic solution was to let the public know that du was listening to their calls for better value during the global economic crisis, and responding by offering the most affordable services on the market. We asked people to Be heard, and let us know how they were dealing with the credit crunch and what their expectations were. Initially, the Be heard campaign was communicated without revealing du’s identity. Press, outdoor, radio and du representatives all led audiences to a website – beheard.ae – where the conversation with the public (and between the public) continued. The second phase of the campaign finally revealed du as the brand behind the push to get the UAE talking and saving during the crisis. This second phase introduced the solution to many of the problems aired by the public in phase 1: more affordable ways to stay in touch with the people dearest to us.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The business objective behind du’s Be Heard campaign was to increase sales by exploiting du’s cost-effective products and services at a time when people urgently wanted to save – the credit crunch. The marketing and communications objective was to highlight its range of offerings and how they translated into more choice, more flexibility and more value for money. The target audience was both Etisalat and existing du customers. While we had to underline du’s value proposition, we also had to address our audience’s perception of du as a ‘cheap’ brand. The insight was that in times of economic stress, people want to talk about what’s on their minds. This was relevant for du because it enabled the brand to represent itself as one that listens and responds to its public. The insight was relevant to the target audience because it provided a forum in which to share opinion.