2016 Winners & Shortlists

Creative Execution

A film shot by a Filipino director, set in one of the community’s most popular hangouts in the UAE, the Satwa Basketball Court. Amplifying the story is an original ‘Tagalish’ hip-hop track produced by The Recipe’s Lucky Schild and featuring the vocals of Filipino rapper Twisted Martinez. The film launched on facebook and youtube, and aired on the most popular Filipino satellite channel. Social media demand led to the soundtrack being released on soundcloud.com. The song was also being remixed by popular artists in Dubai, becoming a regular club request. A special media idea was also employed, with the knowledge that at the UAE’s numerous retail outlets, malls and restaurants, the sound system is controlled by the predominantly Filipino staff.

Within two months, “Tropa For Life” became one of the UAE’s most requested songs on the radio. Fans can also request the song at some of the country’s most popular Filipino karaoke venues. There are approximately 800,000 Filipinos in the UAE. Within 3 days of launching, the online film generated 417,000 views, 4,600 likes and over 1,700 shares on facebook alone. The daily target for product acquisition was 1,000. During the entire first month of the campaign, daily acquisition was over 2,000 (200% the intended target).

With expatriates forming 84% of its population, the UAE is a melting pot of cultures. Commonly, people of different nationalities work together during the week then join their respective communities on the weekend. Filipinos are the exception. They get together not just on the weekend, but even at work, at lunch, dinner, coffee break, be it summer or winter. This “wolf-pack” mentality is linked to the “tropa” (Tagalog for “troop”) culture, which makes Filipinos stick together not only because it gives them a sense of being close to home but also because a tropa will always be your closest friends for life.