2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

#FIRSTARABICCOUNTDOWN

Short List
BrandTHE UAE GOVERNMENT MEDIA OFFICE
Product/ServiceEMIRATES MARS MISSION
EntrantGOVERNMENT OF UAE MEDIA OFFICE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryNot-for-profit / Charity / Government
Idea Creation TBWA\RAAD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Placement OMD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Additional Company ITP PUBLISHING Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

July 2020 – when the world was witnessing a collective historic moment in the form of a pandemic, the UAE was gearing up for another historic moment – launch of the first Arab space mission to Mars. Instead of being a passive witness to this landmark event, we wanted people to become a part of it. We created the #FirstArabicCountdown, world’s first-ever launch countdown in Arabic and invited everyone to share their version of it. Sparking a movement, it brought together people from across the region & beyond, garnering over 100 million impressions, 32 million views and 8 million engagements.

Background

July 2020, T-16 days before the launch of the Emirates Mars Mission’s Hope Probe: The team of scientists and engineers at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre and the UAE Space Agency was gearing up for the culmination of 5.5 million hours of hard work, to launch the the Arab world's first interplanetary space mission. Meanwhile the people in the region were just coming out of a lockdown and returning to a “new normal” at different rhythms. In this challenging time, we wanted not just to raise awareness for this historic moment, but to give it its true meaning of hope for the region, to show that nothing is impossible, not even the dream of space travel. And we had 2 weeks to do it. Mass awareness & engagement were the key objectives, and hence the KPIs set were: 1. Impressions 2. Views 3. Engagement

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

The Arab world has a rich history of scientific achievements, especially in the field of Astronomy. There was a time when Arabic was the lingua franca of literature, art, poetry and science. But in the recent decades, media & pop-culture have made Arabic a symbol of fear & terror. We saw the first ever Arab space mission to Mars as a turning point in history – the perfect opportunity to not just reignite the pride in the Arab heritage but in the Arabic language itself. This gave birth to our big idea – the #FirstArabicCountdown, the first-ever Arab space mission to Mars, launched by the first-ever Arabic countdown. The countdown marks the final moments of years of collective effort and creates anticipation amongst everyone. We wanted to elevate the launch countdown to a rallying cry that unites people creating a feeling of shared pride, excitement and inspiration for the future.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

“This probe represents hope for millions of young Arabs looking for a better future. There’s no future, no achievement, no life without hope.” – HH Sheikh Mohammed said, on the launch of Hope Probe. Beyond the scientific objectives, the Emirates Mars Mission is a means to inspire the future Arab generations to pursue space science. Understanding this facet of the mission led to three defining aspects of our strategy: One, it wasn’t just about raising people’s awareness of the launch of the Hope probe. Our communication must inspire people & encourage them to get involved and become active citizens & residents. Second, it needed to trigger the rich heritage of the Arab world & galvanize the people from across the region & beyond, not just the UAE. Third, while the communication needed to appeal to people of all age groups, the focus should be on the younger audience.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

Launched with an emotional manifesto film that addressed the pride in every citizen of the Arab world, the campaign invited people to share their #FirstArabicCountdown to the space mission. A ‘Lens of Hope’ that incorporated audio, video and keywords to perform the countdown was produced on Snapchat to further engage the youth audience, allowing people to give the count down the go-ahead. The campaign extended across different media, including social and digital channels, as well as radio. The Countdown aired in prime locations and landmarks, on the Burj Khalifa skyscraper, as well as outdoor displays, buildings and cinemas across the Emirates. A number of local, regional and global influencers, TV and radio anchors and celebrities joined the mission including David Luiz, Jacqueline Fernandez, Gary Vee, Jay Shetty and Ahmad Helmi, encouraging non-Arabic speakers to learn the Arabic countdown and inviting people to tune in

List the results (30% of vote)

1. Impressions: The campaign was able to garner 81million impressions, 30% more than targeted. 2. Views: The campaign video got over 22 million views on YouTube & other social platforms, a whopping 240% higher than estimated. 3. Engagement: The campaign got over 7.5 million engagements on social media with a 23% engagement rate, 92% higher than the benchmark. In addition, we were able to achieve: • 23 million unique reach across platforms • Organically trending hashtag on Twitter • Over 1.6 billion impressions on Twitter • Organic participation from over 50 influencers with a collective follower base of more than 47 million, leading to more than 10 million views & 20 million impressions Our campaign inspired millions of Arabs to see their own language in a new light and in doing so, we made the rest of the world see a different side of Arabic too – a good one!

Credits

Name Company Role
Walid Kanaan TBWA\RAAD Chief Creative Officer
Jennifer Fischer TBWA\RAAD Chief Innovation Officer
Joe Lahham TBWA\RAAD General Manager/MD
Bruno Bomediano TBWA\RAAD Executive Creative Director
Maian Alken TBWA\RAAD Copywriter
Sarah Guessoum TBWA\RAAD Art direction
Rouba Asmar TBWA\RAAD Production
Mohammad Alkawas TBWA\RAAD Designer
Juliana Arboleda TBWA\RAAD Designer
Rijin Kunnath TBWA\RAAD Designer
Lucas Pimenta TBWA\RAAD Motion Designer
Camilo Rojas TBWA\RAAD Motion Designer
Emad Doughan TBWA\RAAD Digital
Yousif Noureldine TBWA\RAAD Social Media Manager
Abhimanyu Kannan TBWA\RAAD Digital Project Manager
Omar El Dehneh TBWA\RAAD Content Creator
Ahmad Aborady TBWA\RAAD Content Creator
Santiago Ramirez TBWA\RAAD Content Creator
Jeed Almojalid TBWA\RAAD Client Servicing
Konstantin Goczol TBWA\RAAD Client Servicing
Bhaskar Bateja TBWA\RAAD Planning
Romy Abdelnour TBWA\RAAD PR & Communications
Khaled AlShehhi The UAE Government Media Office Client
Latifa AlMarzooqi The UAE Government Media Office Client Social Media
Ghaya AlBannay The UAE Government Media Office Client Social Media
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