2018 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

We decided to create interest by offering a sneak peek into all that’s being missed. We wanted to disprove false assumptions about museums, and give everyone a reason to care about, and visit, this 21st century museum. Knowing that more than 12,000 people drive the Dubai-Abu Dhabi E11 highway every day, listening to their radios but without much to look at, we decided to use the highway and the radio to provide a surprising first-look into the museum. But we had to use them in a way that would reflect the nature of Louvre Abu Dhabi: contemporary; creative; a new perspective on art and humanity. We developed the first ever radio-guided 'Highway Gallery', or the world-most-innovative museum esplanade. As commuters approached 9-metre-high billboards displaying masterpieces from the museum’s collection, their radios immediately broadcast 30s stories about each artwork, proving just how interesting – and accessible – art really is.

Creative Execution

The museum's Top 10 masterpieces were reproduced in giant frames and placed along the highway. For each artwork, a special FM transmitter powered by solar panels was installed. And in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Municipality, the UAE's top three radio stations allowed us to hijack their frequencies. When drivers approached a billboard, the artwork's FM device synchronized and intercepted their car radios, triggering the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum audio guide. Instantly, a story about the piece would broadcast through their speakers.

The most important goal of the campaign was to prove Louvre Abu Dhabi represents a new kind of museum, a 21st century museum that is accessible and enjoyable for everyone, even a community unexposed to or uninterested in museum culture. Across 100 km of highway leading from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, 900+-square-metres of ad space were covered with art and 800 metres of radio waves were filled with art stories, disrupting and transforming a boring commute through the desert into a beautiful, engaging journey through human creation. Intercity buses, taxis and car rentals also supported the project, further increasing awareness of the museum’s and highway gallery’s modern, universal approach. By the end of the mid-March journey, more than half a million cars will have experienced the beauty and innovation of Louvre Abu Dhabi Highway Gallery.

They say billboards are dead. They say radio is dead. But, they also say an average of 12,000 people commute every day between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. They all pay attention to the landscape, and listen to their radio. A perfect opportunity for local disruption. Coupling creativity with technology, we merged billboards and radio, two ‘outdated’ media –into one innovative experience: 'Louvre Abu Dhabi Highway Gallery'. As commuters drove down the E11, they encountered Louvre Abu Dhabi’s masterpieces like never before: on 9m high billboards outside their windows and through 30s stories of each artwork on their radios.