2018 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

'Arabs of New York' shined our headlights on the Arabs living in New York City celebrating what it truly means to dare greatly and thrive in one of the world’s toughest cities. We wanted to show that despite the negative representation of Arabs in the media, the majority of them play an integral part in the city that never sleeps. We have used New York which is the current headquarter of Cadillac as a key component of the story because we wanted to associate the brand with New York because of its tolerance, diversity, and creativity.

Creative Execution

The campaign started on digital, social media & PR before extending to TV (September - December 2017). The campaign ended with a photography exhibition in February 2018. Digital budget:180,000$ TV Budget:110,000$ Social Media was used to engage consumers and start a conversation about immigration & the stories of these Arab individuals who left their homes to pursue their dreams in the Big Apple. We selected different faces who each came from different backgrounds: from Mohammad Feirouz, an Emirati amongst the most regularly accredited composers known, to Alaa Balkhy, a Saudi Fashion designer – these different personalities allowed us to appeal to different types of audiences. TV allowed us to associate ourselves with NY by choosing late night show program sponsorships. During the final phase of the campaign, we commissioned a NY based photographer to shoot portraits of Arabs in NY. The powerful portraits were exposed during GPP Photo Week.

Despite a low media budget we had great results •The brand has increased 12 points on brand measure of positive opinion after witnessing a steady decline for the past 2 years. •14.2 Million users reached across Facebook, Twitter & Instagram •Over 2.8K tweets have been posted by the users, expressing their opinion •3.5 Million engagements achieved on Facebook & Instagram despite the buying models being reach & views •On Twitter, CPE is 30% lower than the benchmark •Overall sentiment for this campaign was positive on all platforms. It managed to create a discussion within the community & creatie the association between the brand and NY

Our campaign was designed to influence both the public and specific groups that were important for the brand. Also, it had both awareness and engagement objectives. Having said that, we needed to be present on different mediums that can reach and engage our different audiences.

Given the fact that Cadillac moved its headquarters from Detroit to NY in an effort to become engrained in this innovative and multicultural city, it was the perfect opportunity for us to associate the brand with New York, knowing that it has a positive perception vs. the rest of the US. Also, we wanted to bring 'Dare Greatly' to life by tapping into one of the most controversial subjects relevant to the Arab region at a time where brands in the region were shying away from the conversation. When buying a car, people are influenced by social pressure, hence we needed to reach not only our buying audience but the public. Therefore we selected TV & PR to drive awareness, and social to drive conversation and engagement knowing the topic could trigger emotional reactions and opinions.