2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

IMAGINE A #WORLDWITHOUTPHOTOGRAPHY

BrandXPOSURE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL
Product/ServiceXPOSURE FESTIVAL 2019
EntrantNATIONAL NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS Sharjah, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryNot-for-profit / Charity / Government
Idea Creation NATIONAL NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS Sharjah, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Placement NATIONAL NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS Sharjah, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
PR NATIONAL NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS Sharjah, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production NATIONAL NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS Sharjah, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Background

We have been born in a world where photos are accessible to everyone. Photography is our reference to moments captured; it is our medium to store the emotions associated with these moments, and it proves universal truths about the world. The number of photographers worldwide cannot be gauged. Yet, based on approximate estimations, photographers of the world are around 75.3 billion. So, it was time to speak about photography from a whole new perspective. By tapping on a different form of demand versus supply - we need photography, therefore, we ask for it - we wanted to introduce Xposure internationally by launching a fully-fledged campaign that touches on these intimate feelings. Our objective was to raise awareness around the festival, by highlighting the importance of photography itself. We also wanted to reach photographers worldwide and open a scaled conversation about the importance of photography.

Describe the strategy

There are approximately 75.3 Billion photographers in the world, and the global digital photography market is expected to reach USD 149 Billion, in 2026. Photos appeal to us all; two out of three people are picture-driven. That's why visually-infused platforms capture our attention that fast. In fact, online views are 77% more effective when photos accompany social posts; even articles get 94% more views when they feature images. If we think about #worldwithoutphotography, we realize that it includes digital platforms as well, such as search engines and websites. That's how we established relevance with the platform. We started by a blank post on all social platforms that read 'This is Not a Blank Space. This is a photo.' We approached influencers by going into Xposure's database and contacted over 50,000 worldwide photographers, via a newsletter, asking them to share the post to propel the engagement on the campaign.

Describe the execution

We started by publishing the blank post, all the while running ads, an email campaign, and GDN. The digital execution commenced in September 11, 2019, and carried on until the last day of the event, which fell on September 25, 2019. We placed our banners and ads on photography-related websites and those highly visited by photographers, including NatGeo, highly viewed webpages, photography equipment websites, apps heavily used by photographers, such as WeTransfer, and finally, YouTube. Given Xposure Photography Festival's large scale, we targeted Europe, the USA, South America, Mexico, Canada, MENA, Pakistan, India, Turkey, Japan, Russia, and China.

List the results

On the digital side of the campaign, the results were as follows; Website clicks 9,684, overall Reach: 18M; 76,662 shares on the hashtag #worldwithoutphotography, from 16 countries; more than 625K views of the campaign's TVC. The 360 campaign has successfully gained more than 20M online impressions and 18M online reach through social media platforms only. The campaign was shared by influencers, photographers, and the public to reach more than 5,000 Instagram participation and increased Xposure’s Instagram fan-base with an approximate of 5,000 followers. The 65% increase in footfall indicates the success of our pre-event efforts in spreading awareness and increasing intent to attend the event.

Credits

Name Company Role
Youssef Al Taweel NNCPR CEO
Fadia Daouk NNCPR PR Director
Mohamed Nader NNCPR Creative Director
Sami Al Taweel NNCPR Head of Media Relations
Mohammad Okily NNCPR Art Director
Rawan Al Shalaldeh NNCPR Head of Social Media Team
Khaled Yaseen NNCPR Content Director
Swati Sengupta NNCPR English Editor
Muhammad Abuarab NNCPR Head of Arabic Editors
Abeer Al Mouaqqet NNCPR Public Relations Executive
Nadine Kahaleh NNCPR Creative Copywriter and Script Writer
Sherine Thabet NNCPR Creative Copywriter
Joanna Eid NNCPR Account Manager
Ahmed Barakat NNCPR Graphic Designer
Lahcen Amouaj NNCPR Film Maker
Nour Khalid NNCPR Graphic Designer
Lubna Al Otaibi NNCPR Media Relations
Natalie Habib NNCPR Media Relations Co-ordinator
Jad AlAsaad NNCPR Arabic Editor
Mohamed Refaat NNCPR Digital Advertiser
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