2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Background

Saudi Arabia has become more open and inclusive. Yet one group is still not talked about – persons with disabilities. Affecting nearly 10% of people in the Kingdom, disability is considered a social taboo and is not openly discussed – leading to a lack of education, awareness, employment, accessibility, and, ultimately, leading to a feeling of social exclusion. Mobily, one of the country’s biggest telco brands, tasked us with connecting the Kingdom during Saudi National Day through promoting a message of social inclusion. So, to bring persons with disabilities into Saudi’s social conversation, we started a conversation. Launched 7 days before National Day on Twitter - the country’s most popular platform for social discussion – our film made a statement that, without persons with disabilities, our Kingdom was Incomplete – resulting in over 12m views, 2.6m engagements, a 99% positive campaign sentiment, and a reach of over 26 million.

Describe the strategy

While KSA’s Vision 2030 aims to facilitate persons with disabilities on a governmental level, social awareness and understanding of disability is lacking amongst the general population. A social taboo; people do not talk about disability in Saudi Arabia, let alone address its widespread social issues.This lack of social understanding has resulted in nearly 10% of the population feeling some sense of social exclusion from society – ultimately leading to a lack of employment opportunities, education, understanding, and accessibility. Twitter – holding the highest penetration of any social platform in KSA (42% of accounts active daily) – was the perfect digital stage for a discussion around a socially taboo topic and provided anonymity for users wanting to speak, but who might be wary of cultural sensitivities or reactions. Our approach was simple; start a conversation and let the people of KSA talk about making Saudi Arabia an inclusive Kingdom for everyone.

Describe the execution

A film featuring a Saudi orchestra performing a rendition of an “incomplete” National Anthem – with missing sections of the anthem’s melody and isolated stage chairs representing the social exclusion of persons with disabilities. Following the conversation across Twitter, we released a follow-up film 2 days before National Day. A “completed” anthem that saw the missing portions of our “incomplete” anthem filled by musicians with disabilities; celebrating the peoples’ social conversation to help make Saudi Arabia #EveryonesKingdom. In parallel, we launched an internal initiative – Inclusive Conversations. Short films featuring conversations between Saudis with disabilities and Saudis without, with the aim of normalizing Mobily’s disability in the workplace for employees and customers alike. #EveryonesKingdom reached 26 million people across the Saudi Arabia using Twitter and YouTube Mastheads, a custom-branded emoji hashtag, and a first view trend for a period of just 24 hours.

List the results

In just 7 days, our campaign amassed: • 12 million video views across Twitter & Youtube • 2.6 million Engagements • 127 million Impressions • 41,000 branded emoji hashtag uses • +50% video viewthrough rate • 31,000 clickthroughs to URL • 99% positive campaign sentiment (Twitter Campaign Report 2019) #EveryonesKingdom earned extensive free online media coverage in a country where editorial content is only granted through paid advertising - with 18 organically earned articles in less than 7 days, giving our campaign a reach of more than 26 million.