2017 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

To remind people of the sanctity of the Holy Month of Ramadan, we created Digital Fasting, incorporating technology into the list of behaviours that Muslims are asked to abstain from during sunlight hours in this month.

Creative Execution

We found a volunteer – not an influencer but a busy social media character – to attempt Digital Fasting for the month. We policed and documented online this attempt, careful to record the struggle, the acceptance and the ultimate enlightenment that the process initiated. Our volunteer was able to go online after sunset to share his thoughts and receive the thoughts of those who were following him, which ranged from those inspired enough to follow his example, those who tried it out for an hour or so every day and those who were spiritually humbled by the idea, but felt unable to do without technology.

-Overall Media Impressions: 40.400.000 -Social Impressions: 23.329.665 -Social Engagement (actions): 2.930.992 -Total Social Media Reach: 17.636.551 -Total Social Media Views: 5.015.294 -Organic Social media snaps generating more than 5k views -Earned media worth more than $500 k -4 broadcast interviews – 24 Articles 887,026 OTS (OTS: Print Circulation figures X 4 = Media Reach. Please note online, social, and broadcast impression is not included into this)

The focal point of the campaign – which initiated the social media conversation – was the 6 webisodes that followed our volunteer’s month-long digital fast. This is not news, it’s entertainment. du’s pivotal role was to support the volunteer and therefore own the moral high-ground of digital fasting.

As If data consumption wasn’t already the third highest in the world for the rest of the year, it spikes during Ramadan. Yet the community, young and old, are devout in their faith and practice fasting with great discipline. To remove the use of communication technology, particularly the social media Channel, represents a whole new test of faith, yet is true to the tradion of Ramadan. There may be physical resistance to the idea, but the devout heart cannot help but embrace it.