2015 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

For a campaign which only cost $25K, the campaign delivered earned media value of $600K as well as 700K views on YouTube & Facebook. (Source : YouTube/Facebook) The initiative became talking point thanks to the coverage in local media and raised awareness of the less known cause. Many charities corporates (Zee Cinema/Inara) and even Bollywood celebrities have come forward to support Emirates NBD on this initiative. The initiative has now spread to 5 other labour camps with more portable cinema consoles being produced.

Creative Execution

We wanted a long-term sustainable solution to entertainment in the labour camps. So we created ‘Bade Parde Wali Phillum’ (Rural Hindi slang for a big screen movie) – a portable cinema console designed solely for labour camps. The all-encompassing standalone device provides an ‘anytime anywhere’ access to cinema. The console was a retro inspired device fusing new with the old. The system included a projector, retro styled speakers and ran on a USB. We knew that blue collar workers live in small dormitory style rooms so the console was built on a ‘space friendly’ ultra-short throw projection system. The minimalistic design was a reflection of the ‘no-frills’ low-tech needs of blue-collar workers. We gifted it to a labour camp for them to hold regular movie nights.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Entertainment is a necessity of life. But for millions of Blue Collar workers, who toil night and day to build the nation, entertainment is a luxury. About 42.5%* of the UAE workforce consists of South Asian workers who have been subjected to a range of Human Rights abuses including inadequate pay. Their lives are filled with suffering, deprivation and alienation. They crave entertainment and are certified Bollywood fanatics. But a ticket to watch their beloved Bollywood movie is a luxury they simply can’t afford. For the majority of these workers, their last trip to the cinema was before coming to the UAE. If our Blue collar workers can’t afford to go the cinema, why not bring cinema to them in their own backyard – the labour camps? And this is exactly what Emirates NBD did.