2012 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

The 2011 Red Bull X Fighters in Dubai was one of the biggest paid attendee events staged by Dubai with the exception of Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world) opening which was free! The truest telling of our endeavours came one day before the event when tickets (15,000) were completely sold out. In a country where most event attendees wait to purchase tickets upon arrival at the event, people were scrambling to purchase tickets to ours. (Source: Red Bull)

Creative Execution

TV, radio, cinema & outdoor communication generated mass awareness for the event. The event gained extra mileage and visibility through TV barter partnership as well as through PR on leading TV & radio stations in the region. The X fighters experience was felt by the consumers at their favorite hangouts and venues where tickets were available and sold. They had a chance to engage with the X Fighters video game in the activation arenas that were constructed in high-traffic areas across the country. Online & Social media was used to update our audience on the event and also to drive participation and attendance through competitions. Ambient buzz marketing played a major role promoting the event in business areas. A “Traffic FINE” look alike was placed on windshields of cars informing the owners of the event date, location and where to purchase their tickets from.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Red Bull, the most popular energy drink in the world, with 3 billion cans sold globally each year, is not new to staging events in UAE – but historically all these events have been free to attend. The 2011 Red Bull X Fighters World Tour event in Dubai was the first of its kind large scale freestyle motocross event in the UAE, and the first paid & fully ticketed Red Bull event. The challenge was selling 15,000 tickets, not just to the youth & motor enthusiasts, but to all that are “Young at Heart”. In addition, the event coming to Dubai was a great opportunity to achieve an incremental sales uplift of 25% during the month of the event. Therefore we had to create hype by taking over the hottest and most challenging spot in Dubai, and create a loud WOM communicating the magnitude of the event.