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.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

We introduced SAPNA (Dream). We created a canvas with designated markers designed by Pointillist artists and installed it on a wall in a prominent area in Dubai, during the Dubai Shopping Festival. We then invited people to buy a nail for a minimum of 10 AED (~$2.7) and hammer it onto our designated 17,793 markers. It gave people a chance to feel a fraction of the workers’ efforts and give back one nail at a time. As the nails filled up the wall, they formed a heartwarming image of a child being gifted a graduation hat, bringing dreams to life.

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

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

With SAPNA, we wanted to help build the dreams of those very blue-collar workers who build ours, using the same nails they hammered in everyday. To complete the image on the canvas and reach the target we had set, 17,793 nails had to be bought and hammered in. Through SAPNA's success, we demonstrated that if up to 200,000 nails per month yielded 200-to-300 USD for most of the blue-collar workers, 17,793 nails hammered in by the people in UAE would yield a high quality education all the way up to graduation for the children of the neediest workers.