2019 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

We wanted to concentrate on expats with the campaign. They are heavy users of data, with video/voice calls back home and all the exchanged content between their family and friends, it made sense to concentrate on them. Used couches around the kingdom are usually used by expats as well, which allowed us to reach out to our target audience and inform them about our service within their comfort zone. Word limit reached

Background.

STC offers a free WiFi network around the country for their customers to use. This service takes pressure off the the networks when people use it. However, people weren’t using it enough, so we needed an innovative and disruptive way to get people to know about the availability of the WiFi network and more importantly, use it.

Describe the creative idea.

WiFi Couches Couches, are often thrown out on the street when people have no more use for them, to provide seats for those walking past to sit down. We decided to hijack these couches that are left outside around the kingdom to communicate STC’s wifi offering. While sitting on the couches, people could use our free WiFi network. Combining comfort and convenience to get our message across.

Describe the strategy.

Considering the vast coverage of our WiFi network, our target audience was quite wide, including both Saudi & expat population. We needed to be disruptive- By hijacking the sofas, We raised awareness of the wifi service and created a comfortable environment for them to relax and use the internet.

Describe the execution.

The first step was to find as many used couches on the street as possible. Nearly every neighborhood has one. After that we placed attractive and noticeable posters in different languages such English, Arabic and Urdu (considering our class B and C target audience) to highlight those areas as WiFi free so people can sit on the couches and use the Wifi connection.

List the results.

The campaign resulted in an increase of 137 percent in WiFi usage around the kingdom.