2019 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

Dubai Font's "A Story of Tolerance" used creativity to make a typeface relevant to everyone. We put a font at the heart of a social issue, and connected the Government of Dubai to consumers in an innovative way. We wrote, printed and distributed a physical book which, depending on which direction it is read, tells two very different stories of diversity and inclusion. We read the book to children and captured their reactions, highlighting that a lack of tolerance is not innate - we learn it as we grow. We asked the public to #DeSide and decide to be tolerant.

Background

Dubai Font, commissioned by The Executive Council of Dubai (TEC), was designed to give the world a new tool to communicate with and unite people through the power of expression. After an initial flurry of awareness around its launch in 2017, momentum had slowed and in 2018, we started working with TEC to develop a comms strategy to reinvigorate interest. But how do you continue to get people excited about a typeface? Our overarching strategy for the brand is to extend the font's appeal beyond just the written word, leveraging its core values in communication and linking it to broader cultural issues. In November 2018, the UAE would host its first Tolerance Summit on International Tolerance Day. Designed as a tool to unite people through the power of expression, we saw an opportunity to make Dubai Font relevant, propelling it to the heart of conversation around diversity and inclusion.

Describe the creative idea.

Using the power of words, we created a campaign to show tolerance is something we are all born with. The idea centres on a book. Our protagonist hates his school and takes us on a journey of different languages spoken and different foods eaten. He thinks the kids at his school are different and doesn't want to make friends. That same book, when read backwards, tells a very different story of a boy who embraces 'different'. He loves his school and knows we are stronger together. To show intolerance is not innate, but a concept we learn, we read our book in both directions to a group of children and captured their reactions. "We all have different strengths and that's what makes use stronger" "It doesn't matter where we are from, what matters is that we love each other"

Describe the strategy.

Based on the World Migration Report for 2017, Dubai is among the top 3 most diverse cities in the world; a city where more than 80% of the population was born outside the country, it should set an example of co-existence. But, there are always exceptions and we had to remind the entire UAE community of the importance of tolerance and help teach future generations at the same time. Tackling issues around diversity, naturally our campaign needed mass appeal and the group of children that featured in our video reflected the UAE's multicultural population, with nationalities including Emirati, Australian, Indian, French, Lebanese and Egyptian. We published our content in three languages - Arabic, English and French.

Describe the execution

Our campaign video went live across Dubai Font platforms on November 16, International Tolerance Day, launching with a key call to action asking people to #DeSide and decide to be more tolerant. The video and story behind it was also seeded to media in the UAE. Pages of the book were teased out across social in 3 languages, with instructions to read our grid forwards, and then backwards. Hard copies of the book were sent to influencers with children to encourage them to join the conversation. The local community shared their own stories of tolerance which we republished. Hard copies were also distributed to delegates at the Tolerance Summit itself.

List the results.

Our digital campaign grabbed attention, with our video generating more than 1 million views and almost 6.5 million impressions. We secured PR cut-through in a cluttered space, launching on International Tolerance Day itself, with 27 clippings secured. Five articles appeared in tier one print, including Al Bayan, Al Khaleej and Emarat Al Youm. A further 22 stories were published online featuring the video, across Khaleej Times, Al Watan, Al Fajr and Jeddah Today. PR coverage constituted a total circulation of almost 10 million.