2015 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

The United Arab Emirates is rather open when it comes to Branded Entertainment. Brands are currently producing and distributing content through normal media channels without any major restrictions outside of normal advertising standards. In this case, the content was an experiential event that took place in Dubai surrounding the Dubai World Cup. We had to follow city zoning codes, but otherwise no restrictions when it came to the client’s branding.

Results

Imagine one of the biggest parties in the world happening right next door! Now, imagine having to sit it out to watch your kids. Let’s face it the Dubai World Cup isn’t really about the horses. Designer clothes, fancy cars, extravagant hats and a steady flow of champagne make it the biggest party of the year. It’s a full day event that revelers just don’t want to miss out on. But families with kids don’t exactly fit the picture. Dubai Racing Channel wanted to drive awareness of the channel and boost viewership. We developed a flanking strategy, honing in on families. Our idea was to create a family-friendly version of the Dubai World Cup. If our audience couldn’t go to the races, we would bring the races to them – for FREE! We built a two-day viewing venue at Jumeirah Beach, one of Dubai’s most popular pedestrian walkways, where we broadcast the race live on a larger than life screen. Everyone was welcome and we included other family-friendly activities related to horse racing. - Want to wear an extravagant hat? Dress up with fancy look alike designer brands? And have your photo taken? Be our guests! An exclusive photo-booth with a variety of Dubai World Cup backdrops was at everyone’s disposal. Everyone wanted in. Soon social media was flooded with images of families enjoying the event. - Young kids were overjoyed when they discovered free pony rides along the beach. - Racing geeks were drawn to information centers where they could learn more about the horses, jockeys and various stables. To promote the event and get families involved, we started a digital campaign the week before using the hashtag #DRWorldCup.

We promoted the event with a digital campaign one week prior targeting families letting them know we were holding a family-friendly version of the Dubai World Cup event for free. We used social media to make audiences aware before and during the event using the hashtag #DRWorldCup. As the hashtag and event details started trending, more people were drawn to the live event.

Even though our campaign ran for only a week, Dubai Racing Channel was able to meet and exceed its viewership objectives: - With the help of families, we doubled the viewership of the Dubai World Cup versus the previous year Our Twitter campaign took off: - As a promoted trend, the campaign attracted more than 5,000 followers, almost three times the normal number - The hashtag #DRWorldCup rivaled those of official hashtags in terms of volume of mentions - The engagement rate on Twitter also far exceeded the average, attracting 3.27% vs. the benchmark of 1.5%. On the day of the event we boasted a full house. And more than 1,200 people flocked to the photo booth, taking and sharing hundreds of photos on their social media feeds. But our biggest achievement was that we delivered a World Cup that included everyone.