2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Cultural / Context information for the jury

There is a metaphorical barrier that affluent people feel towards money transfer services in the UAE, owing to the fact core users of these services in the UAE are lower income expats sending remittances to support family in their home country. More affluent people simply don’t perceive it as a service for them. Yet Western Union is a service for all. And much cheaper than international online banking transfers. Seemingly, a no brainer. Affluent audiences in high end residential and office communities are separated from the outside world by physical entrance barriers to their communities. There was a perfect synergy between the physical barrier and symbolism of the mental barrier. With a clever creative, we bridged the two using a physical space that lent itself perfectly to the message.

Please tell us about the social behaviour and / or cultural insights that inspired your campaign

Money transfer services are especially useful in an expat market such as the UAE, where over 80% of the population are expat workers; 55% of whom earn less than $1000 a month These workers – often from less affluent South and South-East Asian countries working as manual labour – rely on money transfer services to send savings back home to support extended family. As per Western Union's data & research, this usage pattern is unique to expat markets such as the Middle East, and perpetuates the myth in the region that Western Union is primarily a service for low value remittances to developing countries. Yet the reality is that whilst these transfers represent high volume, the value opportunity lies in higher margin, higher value transfers from more affluent residents to the rest of the world. This is the user group that Western Union was hoping to break into.