2019 Winners & Shortlists

Background.

Among the around 7.8 million expatriates that live in the UAE are many low-income semi-skilled workers who have chosen the path to become self-sufficient. Bicycles, the main mode of commute for most, play a significant role in making their everyday work easier and faster. However, the areas they travel within were built around cars with scant cycling infrastructure. The risk increases at night because many cannot afford expensive protective gear like reflective vests and helmets, which are required by law and essential to their safety. This situation was making them literally invisible in the night. Charicycles, Dubai-based upcycling bicycle brand built around the ethos of giving back, took on the challenge to increase awareness for them. In previous years, they initiated collection drives for vests/helmets, which were to be distributed among low-income cyclists. However, spreading the word wasn’t easy without any media budgets, resulting in lukewarm responses and results.

Describe the creative idea.

Stories in the Sand: The tyres that leaves inspiring imprints in the sand. We etched the inspiring stories of low-income cyclists into customised tyres, which left a mark everywhere they went. These real vignettes imprinted in sand can be seen in the streets during the day. Calling people to help them stay visible in the night.

Describe the strategy.

In order to get the audience to empathise with the action and help in gifting vests and helmets to these workers, we focused on their achievements. These phenomenal individuals are not only invisible to drivers when cycling at night, their stories are invisible too. Most of them have had no formal education. They travelled to a foreign country in search of better livelihood and to support their families back home, leaving family, friends and memories behind. We wanted their inspiring stories to be the focus of this drive, in order to raise awareness for the cause as well as their heroism. In our search for the perfect solution, we realised something: the UAE has a large desert with lots of sand everywhere, including most of all its streets. The same streets that these cyclists travel on every day. And this media costs nothing.

Describe the execution.

So we turned their bicycle wheels into storytellers. To use media that’s everywhere and costs nothing: Sand! First, we asked the cyclists to narrate their ambitious stories to us. Then, an artist etched vignettes from these real stories into customised tyres. Everywhere they pedalled, these wheels left inspiring imprints in the sand. The entire initiative was captured in a touching online film and spread across social media, to make these stories travel far and wide. The call to action on sand and in the film drove audiences to the Charicycles website, where they could learn more about their cause, and gift vests and helmets for low-income cyclists. To spread the word further, we also used these wheels with stories to print unique posters that formed a vest-shaped ‘X’ over quotes that reflected these cyclists’ doubts and fears.

List the results.

In just over a week, we have surpassed the vest/helmet numbers from last year’s collection drive. And it’s growing steadily as these stories in the sand continue to travel further each day. All with zero media budget!