2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

THE HAJJ NOTES

BrandSAUDI TELECOM COMPANY
Product/ServiceHAJJ CAMPAIGN
EntrantWUNDERMAN THOMPSON Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA
CategoryUse of Social & Digital Platforms
Idea Creation WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA
Media Placement UM MENA Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA
Production DÈJÁVU Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

In 2019, stc re-defined itself as much more than just a telecom operator with its new brand idea “enriching lives”. Since then, stc embodied this brand idea and used its resources as a tech giant in the region to enrich lives on many fronts. From their numerous CSR initiatives to helping Saudi achieve it’s SDGs to being a regional pioneer in 5G, stc has proven itself as a “life enricher” time and time again. The Walak Methluha platform falls right within stc’s brand idea by enabling everyone to participate in Hajj, achieving something intangible but priceless through tech.

Background

2020 is a year that seems as though it was designed to keep people away from each other. With all the “lock-downs” and the international flight bans, many people were deprived from their usual travels. All major celebrations and gatherings were brought to a halt. For Muslims around the world, it meant not being able to participate in Hajj, a main pillar of Islam that many spend their entire lives preparing for. Eventually, Hajj would only be held for 1000 pilgrims. stc had grown accustomed to helping Saudi Arabia conduct a successful Hajj season year after year, providing their network and on ground services to over 3 Million pilgrims yearly. Despite the low number of pilgrims in 2020, stc was determined to do the same.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

We needed to enable everyone to connect to Hajj from a distance, from wherever they were in the world. So we found an insight: It’s common for Muslims who can’t go to hajj to sent their prayers on little notes with their loved ones to be read on their behalf in Mecca. We saw an opportunity to scale this practice. Instead of it being a one on one practice, it would become a group practice where all those wanting to send prayers could write them, and all those fortunate to attend Hajj could read them on their behalf

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

stc has always serviced the Hajj pilgrims, not only through their network services, but also on-ground. They sent of volunteers to greet pilgrims, hand out water, care for the elderly and assist them. Although the amount of people allowed to visit Makkah was limited, stc still wanted to provide their services to all Muslims as they did yearly, but how could they do that from afar? We realized that every year, people send their prayers with their loved ones on notes to be prayed on their behalf in front of Haram. So we decided to create a platform that showcased our insight through its design and enabled all prayers to reach Makkah. Enter “ولك مثلها”. The name of the initiative ولك مثلها – same to you– comes from a Hadith that teaches that angels always reply ‘Amen, and may you receive the like’ whenever one prays for an absent brother.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

The news that Hajj was only going to be held for 1000 pilgrims in 2020 arrived only one month before Hajj was due. The ideation, design and web-development all had to be done within that timeframe. We needed to bring our insight to life. Every year thousands of Muslims sent their prayers on little notes with their Pilgrim friends and relatives to be read in front of the Kaabah. So we created an online platform allowing Muslims worldwide to share their prayers on digital notes. Those were then displayed on a virtual wall where they were picked and read by the few pilgrims in front of the Holy Kaabah. Senders were notified once their prayers were chosen and delivered. The platform went live on stc’s content platform and was pushed on their SM accounts as promoted posts.

List the results (30% of vote)

The Walak Methluha platform went live within a very tight timeframe. From the moment the changes in Hajj were announced, we only had one month for ideation, approvals and development and the platform went live only a couple of days prior to Hajj. The platform generated: • 23,954 Total number of Unique website visits is 23,954 ** • 61,028 Clicks directed to the landing page ** • 39.2% Converted from clicks to website visits ** • 0.55% Converted to adding a prayer ** Now that the platform experienced a "soft-launch" in 2019 and awareness is raised regarding what it is and how it works, we are planning on promoting it with a wider reach in the coming years to drive more traffic to it and enable people to connect to Hajj on a sustained platform. ** stc Data

Credits

Name Company Role
Chafic Haddad Wunderman Thompson KSA Chief Creative Officer MENA
Rayyan Aoun Wunderman Thompson KSA Executive Creative Director
Amr Wagih Mergawi Wunderman Thompson KSA Creative Director
Noor Wafa Wunderman Thompson KSA Senior Copywriter
Dia Alomari Wunderman Thompson KSA Art Director
Manuel Kurkjian Wunderman Thompson KSA Senior Copywriter
Tarek Hasan Wunderman Thompson KSA Animator
Joe Aboudaher Wunderman Thompson KSA Head of TV Production
Wael Almadani Wunderman Thompson KSA TV Producer
Alaa Soued Wunderman Thompson KSA Senior Account Manager
Ribal Siroufim Wunderman Thompson KSA Account Manager
Faisal Almalki Saudi Telecom Company Brand Expert
Alhusayn Hamidaddin Saudi Telecom Company Marcom Director
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