Brand | UAE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS |
Product/Service | UAE PARTICIPATION AT 2011 G20 SUMMIT IN FRANCE |
Entrant | ZED COMMUNICATIONS Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES |
Category | Use of Digital in a Promotional Campaign |
Entrant Company: | ZED COMMUNICATIONS Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES |
Sales Promotion/Advertising Agency: | ZED COMMUNICATIONS Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES |
The Brief
The UAE was a guest nation at the 2011 G20 Summit in France. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wanted to engage young Emiratis in the G20. The site includes a face matching game for younger visitors; and the i20, where gamers can manage an imaginary national economy through a 20-year economic cycle. Funding can be raised through tax collection and boosting industrial output; and investments made in R&D, infrastructure, education, healthcare, civil defense, etc. Random events like earthquakes wreak havoc if the country is unprepared. Leader-boards in various categories showcase the best educated country, the richest country, etc.
Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation
Our challenge: how to explain how this elite international club of rich and powerful nations decides what to to do with trillions of Dollars; and how the decisions can have wide reaching knock on effects for the global economy and everyone's lives? Early on, we developed the idea of actually taking your own (online) seat at the G20 and created the online ads using this theme, to build maximum engagement. We spent weeks snagging every aspect of the site and the games to ensure that our simulated economic cycles were as close to reality as we could manage.
Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results
The online banners had high click-through rates and the site had many visitors in the UAE and beyond. The i20 game developed a real following, with multiple leader-boards measuring everything from the smartest nation to the richest, and the best educated to to the poorest.
Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service
The UAE has a very high level of broadband penetration at around 72%, higher than France, for instance; moreover, the UAE population is skewed young and spends way above average time online by global standards. Arab youth are true digital natives and seek their information online. So it seemed logical to use an online platform for our promotion. Banners drove traffic to the dedicated site where multiple games were offered to different age groups.
Credits
Rex Del Mundo |
Zed |
Creative Director |
Rajesh Kumar |
Zed |
Digital Designer |
Habib Gul |
Zed |
Digital Head |
Peter Sagyeghi |
Sento Media |
Interactive Developer |
Amal Chidiac |
Zed |
Graphic Designer |
Sameer Mohammed |
Zed |
Digital Games Developer |
Mnawar Shourakaa |
Zed |
Arabic Writer |
Mohammed Kharat |
Zed |
Account Manager |