2016 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

MYLAND MYMUSIC challenge was to deliver a truly regional music project. The concept: to travel five key countries, capturing sights and sounds from each to create a credible Arabic song and music video that would appeal to the entire region. This had never been done before; a pan-regional branded music video. We needed a team that would mix classical Arabic music with modern influences with world-class film production and execution to create credible, relevant and popular content. The team was made up of iconic Arabic composer John Marie Riachi, leading KSA DJ Producer Omar Basaad and a film team led by Emirati Director Ali Mostafa. The team toured KSA, Oman, UAE, Lebanon and Egypt. In each country they dug deep, uncovering the real musical roots of the local culture. Thousands of sounds were captured; chanting fisherman in Oman, the choir of Lebanon performing in the mountain’s caves, the calling camel herder in KSA, the Egyptian coffee pot maker and the Khaleeji singers and sounds of the creek in Dubai. The tour was filled with surprises, none more so than in Muscat, Oman, where upon visiting an Oud factory, the team stumbled upon one of the staff who's voice would eventually become the lead vocal on the final song. In every country, short form teasers featuring the talent and their escapades appeared across the MY LAND MY MUSIC platform and various social channels, stimulating interest and excitement in the final song and video. The final song was entitled Sahara Al Arab and was expertly composed and arranged by Jean Marie supported by an orchestra. Omar Basaad created a remix. A long form documentary showing the entire process with key interviews was also created.

We created accessible, engaging and sharable content by visually bringing the project to life through visual stories, which depicted the fascinating musical creation process behind ‘Sahara Al Arab’ 1. Sahara Al Arab #1 Arabic radio in Egypt, Lebanon and KSA 2. Sahara Al Arab top 10 on regional iTunes charts 3. 1,316,300 views of the music video on the official Land Rover MENA YouTube channel 4. 3.2 million+ views on the official Land Rover MENA Facebook channel 5. 3,662,752 impressions on the official Land Rover MENA Twitter channel 6. 2.2 million people on the Land Rover MENA Facebook page 7. 29,800+ likes and 8,799 shares on the Land Rover MENA Facebook page 8. Awareness amongst GCC males: 58% of the coverage in Arabic made up of 61% print, 34% online and 5% broadcast 9. TV interviews with: ET Bel Arabi, Sky News Arabia, Al Arabiya, Al Iktissad Waal Aamal and Al Sada 10. Sahara Al Arab distributed globally to over 350 digital stores by Sony Music