2022 Winners & Shortlists

MEET SARHA

Bronze Lynx
BrandSTC
Product/Service5G NETWORK
EntrantWUNDERMAN THOMPSON Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA
CategoryStrategic Transformation
Idea Creation WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA
PR WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA
Production INTO REFLECTION Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA

Why is this work relevant for Creative Strategy?

The past four years stc has been on a journey to demonstrate its networkstrength through the Unveil platform. With the introduction of 5G, we needed todefend this claim and evolve the unveil platform further. With nearly half of thecountry uninhabited, unseen, and unreachable by most, except for the desertcamel, we introduced Sarha, the world’s first content-creating camel. Ourrelentless powerhouse pushed stc’s network to its limits and unveiled the nation’sunseen wonders, whether through content uploaded online or displayed on citystreets. We not only maintained perception of our network strength but increasedit by 2%

Background

To most people in 2016, Saudi Arabia was one big unexplored desert. Withcompetition challenging stc’s claim of having the largest network coverage, weintroduced ‘Unveil Saudi’, a long-term platform offering a nation-wide, real-timedemonstration of network power. Photographers traveled to remote areas andbroadcast never-before-seen content, testing our network reach, and uncovering abreathtaking country. Unveil Saudi became a permanent platformpromoting internal tourism before tourism was even a hot topic. After four years of differentiating and asserting our network leadership, increasingstc’s network strength perception from 52% in 2017 to 83% in 2020, With the introduction of new 5G technology, stc was underrenewed pressure: The market wasinundated with messages from competitors claiming to have thenewest, widest network, and strongest network, how could we further build onour unveil platform and continue to demonstrate and reiterate stc’sleadership?

The Interpretation of the Challenge (30% of vote)

With the introduction of 5G, the market was inundated with messages from competitors Mobily & Zain claiming to have thenewest, widest network, and strongest network, how could we further build onour unveil platform and continue to demonstrate and reiterate stc’sleadership in network strength and coverage and continue to engage our audiences with the unveil platform to advocate the network supremacy of stc? Simply we were talking to every Saudi – with over 180% mobile penetration in Saudi, most of our audience was a customer of more than one telco operator. We had to reassure an audience whose loyalty was based on quality of service that our network was the strongest

The Insight / Breakthrough Thinking (30% of vote)

We explored the realities of network coverage. We were reminded how vast, rich inculture and largely undiscovered the Saudi Kingdom is – with much of it unknowneven to Saudis themselves.Much of the country is uninhabited, unseen, and unreachable by most.Except for the desert camel: A Saudi icon that has historically gone whereno human has gone before We brought to life the idea A live demonstration of STC's network power putting the remotest parts of SaudiArabia on the map using a Camel seamlessly across channels and our audience’s journey

The Creative Idea (20% of vote)

We invited photographers from around the world to see Saudi Arabia throughSarha’s eyes, connected 24/7 and capture live images and videos from thecomfort of their own home. She could optimize their photography with high-definition images captured inreal time and uploaded at high network speed. Photographers wereable to control all the camera settings, As a result, epic photos and never seen before content was uploaded onto Sarha’sonline platform, and we used the content to tease people all over the kingdom that “never before seen content” was coming soon. We revealed using the rarephotos across outdoor media and social media. AShot by Sarha” outdoor gallery was displayed in city streets. We also introduced a snap chat lens, givingeveryone a view from Sarha’s perspective.Sarha also shared data through a dashboard all visualized and publishedon her Instagram account for people to follow day-by-day.This culminated in Sarha’s very own exhibition and a photographybook.

The Outcome / Results (20% of vote)

Sarha, the unrelentless powerhouse pushed stc’s network to its limits and unveiled the nation’s unseen wonders, whether through content uploaded online or displayed on city streets, bringing to life the full power and experience of stc’s network. We not only maintained perception of our network strength of 89% but increased it by 2%. Furthermore, our film received 4,479,812 Total views and 307,248,640 total impressions: Conversations around Sarha resulted in 1602 posts and 1620 mentions. All together this culminated in $2 million in PR value. Today, Sarha is still roaming around, inviting photographers worldwide to push the limits of stc’s network and embark on a new journey of discovery.

Credits

Name Company Role
Chafic Haddad Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Chief Creative Officer
Rayyan Aoun Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Executive Creative Director
Firas Ghannam Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Creative Director
Ahmad Shanaa Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Associate Creative Director
Bashar Dababneh Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Art Director
Rawan Bakri Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Junior Art Director
Alanoud AlAssaf Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Copywriter
Jad Haddad Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Business Director
Joseph ElHage Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Senior Account Manager
Sara Chrieh Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Senior Account Executive
Dana Alkutoubi Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Head of Strategy
Joe AbouDaher Wunderman Thompson Riyadh Head of TV Production
Wael Almadani Wunderman Thompson Riyadh TV Producer
Jason Carmel Wunderman Thompson Seattle Chief Data Officer
Shawn Herron Wunderman Thompson Seattle Experience Technology Director
Matt Gilmore Wunderman Thompson Seattle Creative Director
George Ghaya Into Reflection Executive Producer
Joyce Melhem Into Reflection Producer
Hayfa Khaled Into Reflection Producer
Diego Cabezas Into Reflection Director Of Photography
Alaaedine Enzawi Into Reflection Director Of Photography
Mohammed Almanaa UM Media Director
Faisal Othman Alsaad STC Client
Abdullah Alotaibi STC Client
Hashem Aldabas STC Client
Anas Aldukair STC Client
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