2013 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

We received an overwhelming response from Emirati youth with more than 1000 photos submitted in 1 day (December 2nd). This translated to 8% participation compared to a benchmark 3 to 4% (Facebook). ** Nearly 8,000 bank customers saw the exhibition during the course of two weeks after the National day. *** The exhibition made news worth USD 410,000 over just 2 weeks including coverage in a local TV show. The photos were also featured in Time Out Dubai as Dubai’s best Instagram pictures. Moreover, the initiative was also covered by the Instagram Marketing blog as a case-study.

Creative Execution

We used social media to invite Emirati youth to share their original photos depicting the festive spirit of National Day in the UAE. Entries were submitted via Twitter or Instagram using the #ENBDNationalDay hashtag. Every time a user snapped a picture on Instagram, the cover photo of Emirates NBD’s facebook page changed in real-time. This was region’s first Live Facebook cover as we had turned a static Facebook cover into a real-time photo gallery. Emirates NBD gave Insta-artists their moment of fame as well as gave them something more to brag about. The best 41 pictures were then celebrated through a pop-up photo gallery in Emirates NBD’s biggest branch in UAE where the bank’s customers became the surprise audience.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The young generation finds bank advertising annoying and boring. The reality is that banks today simply do not speak their language. As UAE’s leading bank, Emirates NBD wanted to change this and connect with the local Youth. But first we needed to know what makes them tick. We knew Emirati youth love to brag – especially through social media. And we found that Instagram had become their new bragging platform* – not Facebook or Twitter! Instagram’s ‘visual’ status updates were the new status symbol as the youngsters used them to document their daily lives. The mobile app had turned these amateur photographers into Insta-artists. With the UAE’s 41st National Day approaching, and knowing how Emirati youth express their pride & love to the nation, Emirates NBD sensed an opportunity. Our idea was to celebrate UAE’s ‘Insta-artists’ by creating Middle-East’s first photo exhibition powered by social media.