In the UAE, special needs children face 5 main challenges: (1) integration, (2) education, (3) development of their competencies & skills, (4) limited engagement of private sector, and (5) training & capacity building.
There is a severe shortage of building facilities with only 42 daycare/therapy and learning centers in the UAE; and only 16 are actually active. And being NGOs, they do not have budgets to create brand awareness.
Hence, the cost of schooling special needs children is 3 times higher than the average, and funding does not come by easily.
So as the leading bank in the Middle East, Emirates NBD is endorsing their cause, and in association with Manzil – a leading centre for special needs, the bank wanted to drive funding towards their development and progress.
Special needs children are talented individuals – who express themselves through art – and can be able members of the community. But in our society these are only looked at with pity.
We needed to start the movement by showing all of the UAE that these children are capable of being independent contributing members of society, and change everyone’s perspective using the one strong talent the children had: Their paintings became their branded content.
Results
We invited affluent people in the UAE to a special art exhibition called PERSPECTIVES showcasing exclusively curated work created by upcoming, talented artists. We conducted a live auction in conjunction with a leading auction house, where the affluent art patrons could own those works of art. We then gave them the opportunity to meet the talented artists.
What they didn't know was that the artists were in fact, special needs children. An online video shared the idea and the story with the UAE and the world.
And for the first time ever in the region, children who are looked at with pity were now seen as able, contributing members of the community. We gave them the medium to being recognized as an important and equal part of our society. And gave their families confidence in their future.
We partnered with UAE’s leading art galleries such as ProArt, Christie’s, Cuadro.
We sent direct and eDM invitations to their members for the exhibition, and to Private, Upper Affluent and Mass Affluent customers of Emirates NBD.
We launched an exhibition in a premier district in Dubai where we displayed the paintings created by the special needs children.
We created a branded video for Emirates NBD and Manzil which captured people’s experiences and surprise, that was seeded online across owned, earned and shared platforms generating considerable PR, word of mouth and conversations around Perspectives and the integration of special needs children.
(1) Not only did we change UAE’s perspectives but we also raised $100,000 and counting, in funds for Manzil – our partner centre for special needs children.
(2) Leading art galleries supported the cause.
(3) Social media video galleries further spread the word.
(4) Earned media: Self-pride. And $250,000 in PR and social currency generated widespread awareness.
(5) The video of the interactions was seeded online across owned, earned and shared platforms generating conversations around Perspectives and the integration of special needs children.
(6) Perspectives has helped Emirates NBD launch the PRIDE initiative to integrate and empower special needs children.
Credits
Name
Company
Role
Tahaab Rais
FP7/DXB
Head Of Strategic Planning And Insights
Josephine Younes
FP7/DXB
Associate Creative Director
Nayaab Rais
FP7/DXB
Associate Creative Director
Tahaab Rais
FP7/DXB
Creative Strategy
Josephine Younes
FP7/DXB
Art Director
Nayaab Rais
FP7/DXB
Copywriter
Vicky Kriplani
FP7/DXB
Account Director
Spiro Malak
FP7/DXB
General Manager Business Unit
Layan El Hafi
FP7/DXB
Account Manager
Erna Redzepagic
FP7/DXB
Account Executive
Sameer Ketkar
FP7/DXB
Senior Designer
Erol Salcinovic
FP7/DXB
Design Director
Khaled Hamza/Sreenivasan Kuniyil
FP7/DXB
Creative Services
Kashif Ahmed/Amit Borawake
FP7/DXB
Studio Artist/Retouch Artist
Chelle Dauban
FP7/DXB
Events Activations Manager
Elena Cruz/Abeer Khalfan Obaid Khalfan
Emirates NBD
Head Of Group Brand Management And Csr/Csr Program Manager