2019 Winners & Shortlists

Background.

Dubai Media City (DMC) has 20,000 professionals working with 2000+ offices. It’s the largest and oldest creative community in the UAE and home to multinational and local agencies. While they call it the hub for creativity the brand itself has become unexciting, and somewhat a wall-paper to the tenants. So, the brief was to reconnect with the community in a relevant and engaging manner with a budget of USD6K. Whatever the idea, we would take it across the community and engage the audience.

Describe the creative idea.

The next floor: the creative mind The creative mind is a beautiful place. However, crushing manic deadlines day after-day can take its toll. No wonder then that workplace anxiety affects nearly 2/3rd of businesses in UAE. A large part of the creative community’s day is spent buzzing in and out of agencies, production houses, studios and so on. Most of these offices are located in the towering buildings of the neighborhood. By default they have to take the elevator and that is where DMC stopped the audience in their tracks and spoke to them in a creative language. The boring mundane steel elevators used by the community was transformed from inside and outside and converted into murals which look like they are out of a modern art museum. The design inside the elevator was adapted onto the fence billboard as well.

Describe the strategy.

While the Creative mind is a beautiful place but, manic everyday deadlines can take its toll. In UAE nearly 2/3rds of businesses are affected by increasing workplace anxiety. Constant articles/surveys in Bloomberg (2019),Robert Half (2017) YouGov (2015) reiterate this fact The insight used was derived from the University of Westminster’s widely acknowledged study that states that looking at art reduces concentrations of cortisol i.e. the stress hormone, during a working day. They creative/media fraternity located within DMC spend a large part of their day buzzing in and out for meetings from their offices located in the towering buildings of the neighborhood – by default they use the elevators.

Describe the execution.

A popular local illustrator was selected. An illustrator known for his eccentric, irreverent style and recent collaborations for the top global shoe companies. So his style is what was needed to ‘reconnect’ with a disconnected audience in a relevant manner. DMC and Rami together drew out unique caricatures of DMC (the photographer, the director, the creative director, the business man etc.) and placed that on the outside of the elevators. Whereas inside was a design that showcased what goes out inside the minds of this community. The elevator designs were later applied on a 100mtr outdoor board. Rich with color, characterization of the community and little Easter eggs, the murals captivate the beholder, while punctuating a busy day with infectious grins and smiles.

List the results.

Reached 120K+ people (residing/visiting the community) within 26days. Breakdown: 1. Elevator: a) 400 people occupying the office space were exposed to the branding b) 300 visitors visited the building average visited the building 2. Fence Billboard Branding: a) 3,000 people access the buildings directly opposite the fence billboard b) 2,000 people pass by that road 3. Fence Billboard Amphitheater entrance exposure during events: a) 20,000 people attended the Ref Fest concert b) 30,000 people attended the Jazz Fest concert Social Media: Social Media: • Engagements on social media increased by 30% versus regular activity; • Organic shares from local celebrities like Virgin Radio RJ (Kris Fade/following of 150K+) and CNBC reporter (Rula Tarawneh/following 25K); • organic shares from community influencers like ECD of Leo Burnett (Andre Nassar) and Hum TV; • Community started matching themselves with the characters and posting online; • Positive sentiments increased by 4%.