2013 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

s*uce is a home-grown fashion brand that aims to inspire creativity and nurture local talent. When the UAE National Day rolled around, we wanted to celebrate in a way that was different, meaningful and engaging. A majority of the UAE's residents are expats, many born and raised in the UAE, with their own memories of places growing up and their own stories to tell. We wanted to connect with people of all nationalities, and remind them that just like them, our story also began in the UAE. We wanted to celebrate the people who had made it their home.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

We asked everyone to start instagramming their favourite places and people in their city, while hashtagging #webuiltthiscity, and built a portal that automatically streamed those images. We recorded our own UAE tribute song, made it available for all to download, and shot a music video. We also produced a short film, interviewing a mix of nationalities, asking them what inspired them most about their city. It all came together with a big National Day street party that included an art installation made up of 41 selected "building blocks", a pop-up 'baqala' (neighbourhood grocery store) and a pop-up Emirati cafe.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

The #webuiltthiscity campaign ran for one month, cost a total of USD 9,660 and received free media coverage worth over USD 208,000 in print alone. By making everyone a stakeholder in the campaign, we grew our Instagram followers by 70%, our YouTube hits by 507%, and our weekly viral Facebook reach by 11,234%. We successfully created a fun platform for social engagement that gave a creative voice to our existing audience, while enabling us to reach out to a new one. Most importantly, we got to celebrate the UAE, and all the special people who call it home.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

We needed a social media platform that would inspire and empower and an activation that would resonate with our audience. Instagram, the fastest growing social media platform in the UAE, is the perfect tool for people to get creative and share their stories and moments through pictures. The song, art installation, pop-up Emirati cafes and street party gave us a chance to bring locals and expats together, united with our shared sense of nostalgia and belonging, to celebrate the UAE and the parts, however big or small, that we each had to play in its success.