2019 Winners & Shortlists

Background.

Volunteerism is on a decline in most parts of the world. In the UAE, only 27 of the population are aware of community service opportunities as opposed 46 in countries like the UK. Only 3.7% of the population actively get involved. As a leading local bank, Emirates NBD understands the direct impact volunteering can have on socio-economic growth. Being official partners of EXPO 2020 and Impact 2030, the bank has to actively shoulder the responsibility of giving volunteer rates a boost in the region. The objective was threefold. 1) To increase awareness and trigger a change in the mindset 2) Bridge the gap between opportunity and intent 3) Clock more volunteering hours.

Describe the creative idea.

We started with the insight that altruism is, in fact, a part of the human DNA. The campaign title “Give in to giving” alludes to the idea that we all have a natural urge to help. On World Kindness Day, we launched a short animation film to enlist new volunteers. It tells the story of a resolutely unhelpful individual who has an epiphany when a little old lady needing to cross the road insists on his help. His experience of giving brings about such a glow that his cold heart thaws and he’s transformed into sunny soul.

Describe the strategy.

As collaborating partners of Impact 2030, (UN led private sector coalition for volunteering) we had substantial amount of data on volunteering trends in the UAE and around the world. Locally, we employed social listening and partners like volunteers.ae were brought on board to guide our efforts further. Primary target was residents living in the UAE. Secondary target was private sector organizations and educational institutions. We also wanted to bring about a larger change in mindset, irrespective of age/sex/background/nationality, since volunteering thrives on widespread participation. The hero film was launched on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, directed people to our website where they could register as volunteers. The website also provided important information about volunteering in the UAE. Targeted content on Instagram announced upcoming events based one personal interests. An anthem was launched on SoundCloud to bring the volunteering community closer and further spread the word.

Describe the execution.

The short film and our website went live a day before World Kindness Day (14th November) to gain topical traction online. The hero content, a short animation helped bring people’s guard down as the quirky and charming characters of the film hit all the right chords. The story was universal and hence shared over and over across social media channels. The film was launched on Emirates NBD’s social media pages including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram. LinkedIn was also an important medium to get corporations on-board. Targeted micro-content on Instagram announced upcoming events and invited people to sign up. The campaign is still live, as the film continues to rack up more views, thereby steering a steady flow of potential volunteers towards the registration pages on our website.

List the results.

Volunteer hours clocked for the term (not including partners) by our Volunteer Programme alone was 36,000, as compared to 20,000 in the previous term. The projected number of hours for this term was around 20,000 as well. Traffic to website increased by 10,000% during the month of launch. Various schools, colleges and businesses in the city have been screening the film on their premises. Innumerable NGOs and celebrities involved in philanthropy around the world also shared the film on their websites and social media pages as an important story to tell. The tremendous response, increased participation and shares online has been heartening and indicative of the fact that the campaign gave people something to think about. Views : +110 Million Shares: +5 Million Treding in more than 20 countries Earned Media Value: +2 Million Dollars