2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for PR?

PR is not only about a strong story; it's also about capturing imagery. That's the equilibrium, which makes it distinctive and memorable. Without photos, a PR story misses great value. By harnessing earned, owned, and paid media tactics, we succeeded in reaching our target audience as well as in raising awareness around Xposure2019. From photography enthusiasts to acclaimed international photographers, everyone was part of the conversation about a world without photography. The campaign garnered notable success, which was mirrored in the quality of the shared media generated about Xposure 2019's #worldwithout photography campaign.

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 creative idea (20% of vote)

As its name entails, this campaign sets the audience on a journey towards an image-free world. If we can't see the world that once was, we cannot learn our heritage, nor our history. If we cannot revisit our memories, we will fail to remember them as they were. Our 360 campaign leveraged the power of public relations. On the day of the launch, the UAE woke up to find that its top tier newspapers published an edition whose front and back covers were imageless. The headline read 'Imagine A World Without Photography,' and the story explained the rationale around which the campaign was built. The reader was left with a blank space instead of pictures; they featured the following copy 'This is not a blank space. This is a Photo.'

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

The two most readable newspapers in the UAE are Gulf News (English) and Al Khaleej Newspaper (Arabic.) Therefore, we opted to publish the imageless editions in both; breaking by that the expectations of the reader and shocking them with an unusual blank space. By doing so, we wanted to reach photography lovers, acclaimed photographers, government entities, thinkers, artists, and normal individuals. We kicked off the campaign by publishing an imageless edition of Gulf News and Al Khaleej; the newspapers' front and back featured a blank space. While the headline read 'Imagine A World Without Photography,' the body invited the reader to delve into the realms of this world. Instead of pictures, there were blank spaces on which the copy was 'This is Not a Blank Space. This is a Photo.' Two days later, we followed up with a press release that explained the campaign's rationale, its objective, and its audience.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

The PR implementation was tipped with a paid front & back pages taking over two top-tier newspapers, followed by heavy social media, editorial, and influencer support. The overall activation started on September 11, 2019, and lasted until September 22, 2019. The time period included interviews with international photographers such as Ami Vitale, Joe McNally, Gabriel Wickbold, John Moore & Stephen Wilkes; we asked them to imagine a world without photography. The Campaign as mentioned in the results below have covered most of the Arab World and touched down in Asia as well.

List the results (30% of vote)

Total of 67 PR content pieces produced for Xposure, the total number of clippings spread on media touchpoints 2342, circulated in tier 1 & tier 2 newspapers, magazines, website with a total PR Ad value 41,550,762.40, Xposure 2019 witnessed a 65% increase in footfall to a total of 10,490 visitors & sessions attendees