2015 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

The Mubadala Real Estate team had a business requirement to firmly position Al Maryah Island (AMI) as the new Central Business District (CBD) of Abu Dhabi. The challenge - how to bring the island alive and put AMI on the global map was provided a solution - an event based campaign focused around New Year’s Eve, integrating both traditional and nontraditional channels by collaborating with partners to extend our reach while minimizing our spend. ‘In with the new’ largely associated with the arrival of a new year perfectly positioned this integrated campaign with a strong call to action to visit the island for NYE. Furthermore, it positioned AMI as the new alternative to ‘older’ destinations in Abu Dhabi. With a vision to extend this sentiment beyond the planned evening, this has now helped reinforce AMI as the new CBD offering mixed-use senses (work, play, stay, dine, etc) beyond just NYE.

Success of the Campaign

The campaign reached over 3 million people across various traditional and non-traditional channels, fueled social media engagement, and was featured in over 63 news articles in both English and Arabic. With over 30K visitors to the event landing page, and Sky News Arabia’s live broadcast on the night, both client and visitors felt the campaign was a great success by firmly cementing AMI as the new CBD. In addition, the campaign’s ongoing success culminated on December 31 with an attendance of over 8,000 visitors, exceeding the original target of 5,000. Even better, they were exactly the people we are seeking to attract to the island in the future: 892 people who enjoyed memorable New Year’s Eve meals at the hotel’s fine dining venues, and thousands of shopping enthusiasts, who are now spreading the word and have started coming back to Al Maryah Island with their friends and families.

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

By using traditional bought media (TV, Online, Outdoor, print and radio), a strategic partnership with Sky News Arabia, online event listings, PR and FOC channels through Mubadala Group companies (databases and in mall advertising), the campaign was designed to reach the local community and used NYE as an opportunity to drive them to the island and encourage repeat visits. The campaign first launched in early December with OOH (hoardings, flags and in mall advertising) on island as well as neighboring Reem Island, and broadcasted live interviews and pre-event TVC’s throughout the GCC. Event listings, PR, radio, online and social media plateaued in late December catching any late decision makers. The event itself commenced at 7pm on NYE with live entertainment, broadcasts of international count down’s from around the world, an iconic AMI countdown (10m tall hourglass) and a spectacular fireworks display at midnight all broadcasted on Sky News Arabia.