2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

THIS IS LIVING

BrandDUBAI HOLDING
Product/ServiceMADINAT JUMEIRAH LIVING
EntrantFP7 McCANN Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryTalent: Film, Series & Audio
Idea Creation FP7 McCANN Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Placement MAGNA GLOBAL Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production FILMWORKS Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

It's relevant because we made a provocative entertaining film that threw some serious shade at a leading competitor’s main development that cut through normal, clichéd real estate advertising. The tongue-in-cheek script, delivered by Harvey Specter (Suits actor Gabriel Macht), resonated with our audience. So much so that the film amassed nearly 30 Million combined views on FB, Insta and YouTube. It caused such a stir, that it ended up being discussed on Brent Black’s Virgin Radio show in Dubai. For a real estate ad to make such a dent in the public’s consciousness it’s got to have been pretty entertaining.

Background

In a market dominated by the real estate giant that is Emaar, that prides itself on defining what luxury living is, we wanted to launch a new luxury development to rival the best in the market – Emaar’s Downtown Dubai. While all other brands follow in their footsteps, with clichéd content that only showcases their offerings, we had to figure out a way to stand out. Located right by the sea, adjacent to Burj Al Arab and a natural extension of the highly popular luxury development, Madinat Jumeirah - MJL had a lot to offer. Our brief was to introduce and sell MJL to the public and make it the luxury real estate location of choice to high-net-worth individuals, who would otherwise only consider Emaar’s Downtown.

Describe the creative idea

The idea in a nutshell was to create a stand-out piece of real estate advertising that would knock our leading competitor’s main luxury development, Downtown Dubai into touch - while at the same time promote our latest luxury real estate offering; Madinat Jumeriah Living. Downtown to some may be the epitome of luxurious living but it’s overcrowded, noisy and overtly flashy. MJL on the other hand is luxury without the cacophony of noise and wannabe try-hards. So we recruited the king of understated luxury Gabriel Macht AKA Harvey Spectre from Suits, a man who is known to like the finer things in life and made him reel off the benefits of Downtown while subtly pointing out its many flaws. We then had him deliver the killer line: ‘The best thing about Downtown, is leaving Downtown’ before escaping in his Aston Martin to enjoy and show off the perfection of MJL.

Describe the strategy

It’s not an easy feat to impress high-net-worth individuals or sway their opinions. These people were already sold on Emaar’s representation of Downtown as the epitome of real estate luxury and we needed to make ourselves noticed. Our communication had to be brave, bold and big. Our strategy was to build a comparison narrative that helped bring to life the contrasting experience that living in MJL can enable vs. what Downtown had to offer. We needed to undermine people’s perceptions of Downtown and offer them a better alternative. By juxtaposing MJL’s key selling points versus Downtown’s downsides, MJL would become the real expression of luxury for those who can truly tell the difference.

Describe the execution

The campaign ran from February 3rd 2019-March 15th 2019 on social media platforms including YouTube (pre roll and Masthead), Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn as well as digital platforms such as Programmatic, Bayut, Google Display Network, Google Search, Adshcolars (affiliate), Property Geeks, Property Hubz. In addition to that, our creative was placed on a massive hoarding on Sheikh Zayed Road with our hero and campaign line for 4 months.

Describe the outcome

In 3 months the campaign became the most-watched real estate content ever with nearly 30Million views and a 1.6 million earned media value. The number of leads generated increased by 62% in 3-months vs. targeted 6-months), +35% unit sales (3-months vs. targeted 6 months). Campaign likeability was 95% out of high net worth buyers and It trended across leading construction and media platforms. It even got discussed on Virgin Radio – when has a real estate ad ever been discussed on radio?! And, finally, the purchase intent became 75% out of interested buyers vs. the KPI of 50%; which is 25% above targets.

Credits

Name Company Role
Oliver Robinson FP7McCann Creative Lead
Fouad Abdel Malak FP7McCann Creative Lead
Tahaab Rais FP7 McCann MENAT Strategy
Nadine Kazan FP7McCann, Dubai Account Managment
Salim Mroueh FP7McCann, Dubai Account Management
Shelby Meale FP7McCann Creative
Kartik Aiyar FP7McCann Creative
Nathalie Douleh FP7McCann Design
Mario Atallah FP7McCann Production
Richard Hol Nomads Creative
Adam Fierman Nomads Creative
Links
Video URL