2013 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

The Search for the Ultimate Explorer was created as an entertaining and engaging way to re-launch the brand and position Explorer as a leading resource for information and inspiration, enabling Explorer to grow and connect with their customer base. The objective of the campaign was to find an Ultimate Explorer within the UAE that would become a brand ambassador for Explorer’s products, both print and digital. The search was incentivized by a prize worth AED 500,000 that included a free apartment, car, flights, shopping, plus a whole host of free experiences to enjoy over the following 12 months. The search took place over three months and was executed across a range of media channels including print, web, email, social media and video, and delivered in association with a carefully selected group of partners that reflected the lifestyle behaviours of Explorer’s target audience.

Success of the Campaign

The campaign generated 17,800 entries and 25,600 votes, over 40,000 YouTube views and 220,000 website impressions during three months. In addition to this, the campaign enabled Explorer to connect with their customers both face-to-face at events and via their social media channels, making the campaign a powerful brand engagement tool and an excellent source of user-generated content. It also provided consumers with inspiration to get active and try new experiences. Following the success of the campaign and increased demand for their activity guides, Explorer launched with great success an Ultimate Explorer guidebook in September 2012.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

The campaign launched with a live event, where the first ten winners were selected, and was supported by promotion via email, online, radio, video and print activations that all launched within the following few days. Throughout the campaign entry mechanisms included online, social media, radio and print to ensure maximum reach and integration. As the key concept of the campaign was connection and interaction with Explorer’s audience by creating a platform for participation whereby Explorer’s customers also become their ambassadors, the campaign also included a series of face-to-face activations and events at key stages of the campaign. Limited media budgets meant that it was essential to leverage online channels and build mechanisms into the competition that would help the campaign to go viral, thus increasing the reach of the campaign and amplifying Explorer’s marketing message. These features were successfully integrated into and driven through all campaign collateral.