2019 Winners & Shortlists

GOOGLE QALAM

BrandGOOGLE
Product/ServiceGOOGLE QALAM
EntrantGOOGLE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryUser Experience (UX)
Idea Creation GOOGLE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Placement GOOGLE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
PR GOOGLE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production STINK STUDIOS London, UNITED KINGDOM

Background.

During Ramadan, people enjoy sharing celebratory messages with family and friends. Ramadan and Eid greeting cards are the top trending searches before, during and after Ramadan as people look for images to download and use as greeting cards. However, people don’t have a wide selection on the web, relying instead on forwarded images that are very hard to personalize, leading to a poor overall experience. Therefore, we launched Qalam from Google (g.co/Qalam) to create an opportunity for our users to make their own beautiful personalized 3D greetings which they can share with family and friends. To create a unique creative experience, we worked closely with 9 calligraphy artists from around the world to curate over 30 bespoke Ramadan and Eid greeting cards using a 3D environment made possible by Tilt Brush, a virtual reality app from Google (www.tiltbrush.com). These cards are featured on Qalam for users to customize.

Describe the creative idea.

To improve the user journey during Ramadan for greeting cards, we launched Qalam, a web platform that allows users to create custom 3D Calligraphy cards for Ramadan and Eid to share with family and friends. The web platform was designed to provide users with a seamless and personalized experience which they can enjoy. We introduced 9 world-class artists of Middle Eastern descent with a profound love for calligraphy to the Tilt Brush, which they used to scribe greeting messages in 3D space using virtual reality (g.co/Qalam). By introducing these designs on the web platform, we demonstrated local relevance to millions of users celebrating Ramadan. We created a launch film to introduce Qalam with eL Seed, a calligraphy artist who creates remarkable canvases all over the Middle East (https://goo.gl/DPZRZK). The film's objective was to show users the Qalam experience, and how they can customize their own Ramadan message.

Describe the strategy.

Ramadan Kareem image sharing is one of the big needs for Muslims during Ramadan. We designed Qalam to contribute to the local celebration of art and culture and provide users with the ability to celebrate Ramadan and share greeting cards. On Qalam, users are able to find beautiful 3D Calligraphy greeting messages done by renowned artists using virtual reality. They are able to select their favorite design, color scheme and personalize the greeting message. Users are able to engage on the platform by sharing the card directly to Facebook and Twitter or by downloading the image to their device and sharing it on other platforms. The platform was designed to provide users with a relevant and seamless experience By introducing Qalam to help users navigate Ramadan using technology, we demonstrated local relevance to millions of users active on this moment and connected Muslims with shared interests across the globe.

Describe the execution.

The initiative has three key components: Online Platform: Qalam was launched and marketed globally during Ramadan as a web platform where users can explore and customize 3D greeting messages. Qalam brings together art and technology in the form of calligraphy designed with virtual reality; allowing users to experience creativity within a digital space. The web app is live and continues to receive traffic during other celebratory occasions in the MENA region. Launch Video: We created a launch film to introduce users to Qalam app and show them the technology and calligraphy artists who were involved in bringing the creative experience to life. (https://goo.gl/DPZRZK). Short Film: To emphasize the role of The film features one of our calligraphy artists on her journey to share her 3D art with her Calligraphy teacher. The film shows how technology is preserving the traditional arts and presents them in a different light.

List the results.

Over the period covering Ramadan and 6 months after, we were able to drive 11.4M page views on the Google Qalam web app. More than 2.7M users visited the site, creating over 1M artworks were created, that later were shared across different platforms. Furthermore, the launch film generated over 16M views.

Credits

Name Company Role
Najeeb Jarrar Google Marketing Manager
Chaza Merchak Google Marketing Manager
Rosie Andrews Google Producer
Bradley Griffiths Google Technology Director
Jimmy Tidey Google Technical Director
Andre Le Masurier Google Creative Director
Lou Trethewey Google Production Manager
Maryam Zarrinjouei Google Marketing Manager
Links
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