2014 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

There are over a million blue-collar workers in UAE, building the dreams of the country and its people. Brick by brick, nail by nail, they are also silently working towards their own dreams of giving their children a better education and hence, a better life. But we discovered that even though they labour tirelessly, with some of them hammering in up to 200,000 nails a month, their monthly salaries (as low as 200-300 USD) might never be enough. SmartLife Foundation (an NGO for UAE’s blue-collar workers) wanted to help build their dreams collaborating with the people of the UAE.

Creative Execution

To help build the dreams of those very blue-collar workers who build ours, we wanted to use the same nails they hammered in everyday. In an immersive manner, we wanted to give people a chance to feel a fraction of the workers' efforts and give back, one nail at a time. With the 17,793 designated markers and the act of buying a nail (hence, contributing to the cause) and hammering a nail (thus, empathizing with their lives), we created a meaningful distribution of the kindness through the people of UAE as well as its tourists.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

We created SAPNA (Dream). A canvas with designated markers designed by Pointillist artists that was installed on a wooden wall in Dubai, during the Dubai Shopping Festival. Through direct and 1-to-1 connection points, we invited people to buy a nail for a minimum of 10 AED (~$2.7) and hammer it onto our designated 17,793 markers. In an immersive and involving manner, SAPNA made giving an enriching experience. And as the nails filled up the wall, the dream came to life, forming am image of a child being gifted a graduation hat.

Results

For an absolute $0 cost (production, location, media, volunteers - pro bono), the SAPNA wall became the first crowd-sourced nail art piece for charity, attracting over 55 different nationalities, and popular Arab celebrities and influencers. People's shared photographs which gave us over a 100,000 free social ads combined with the unexpected coverage across TV, Print and Radio, have generated an earned (free) media value of over $400,000 and rising. In just 9 days, all 17,793 nails were bought, giving 20 blue-collar workers’ children a quality education all the way up to graduation; something their parents had only dreamt about.