2016 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

The Muslim faith is a peaceful one. But due to the disingenuous and violent actions of maverick groups and politicans, the global conversation concerning the Muslim faith has been tainted. The vast majority of Muslim followers want the outside world to realise that isn’t a world they are a part of. They’ve seen other religions embrace the power of social media and the positive conversations happening around it and wonder, “Why not us?” That tenacity saw the creation of a grass-roots campaign to change the perception of the faith through social interaction. And we wanted to help.

Results and Effectiveness

The promoted trend saw 15 million impressions with a 7.2% engagement rate. STC’s Twitter profile even became the fastest growing brand in Saudi Arabia. STC is usually categorised as a company people are forced to deal with rather than want to deal with. But after the #Mecca_Live event, STC recorded a 100% positive reaction to its involvement in the campaign. Not only was the campaign a first for Snapchat in that it was a religious movement, but it could not have reached the popularity it did without STC’s support.

Creative Execution

STC threw its support behind the campaign to bring the Mecca pilgrimage to the world – a pilgrimage that many Suadis see as a moral obligation. The hashtag “#Mecca_Live” had already been created by social media influencers to help encourage and consolidate content surrounding the event, but it had not yet reached critical mass. STC enlisted influencers to tweet on behalf of STC and the #Mecca_Live event and retweet STC’s messaging. STC also created a website with specialized tweets in Arabic and English that crystallized the general sentiment of the upcoming event.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The pilgrimage to Mecca is a hugely important tenant of the Muslim faith. For many Saudis they view the trip as a moral obligation. Many Saudis are also increasingly become some of the most prolific users of social media in the world. In Saudi Arabia, a range of social rules and constructs make personal contact and public behaviour more complicated than in other nations. As a consequence, social media rates are higher than many other countries. An organic movement lobbying Snapchat to cover the pilgrimage to Mecca during Ramadan began. STC wanted to encourage this conversation.