2022 Winners & Shortlists

Background

The market was flooded with messages from competitors claiming to have the newest, widest, and strongest network, especially after the introduction of 5G. stc, who actually has the biggest network and widest coverage in Saudi Arabia, needed to defend this rightful claim.

Describe the strategy

How could we continue to convince an entire nation, that we had the best coverage? Especially when 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.​ Key insight:​ We explored the realities of network coverage. As we thought about how far the network could reach within the Kingdom - We were reminded how vast, rich in culture and largely undiscovered the Saudi Kingdom is – with much of it un known even 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 where no human has gone before.

Describe the execution

With nearly half of the country uninhabited, unseen, and unreachable by most, except the desert camel, we introduced Sarha, the world’s first content-creating camel. Sarha had a Camera rigged on its back with a strong stc connection taking photographers around the world on a journey of discovering the unexplored side of Saudi. Photographers connected 24/7 through a custom-made control center designed and developed to allow full control of the camera settings to capture high-definition images in real-time, and upload them live through high-network speed for Saudis and the world to see. As a result, epic photos and never-seen-before content were uploaded onto Sarha’s online platform. Sarha also shared data through a dashboard visualized and published for people to follow day-by-day. A "Shot by Sarha" gallery was displayed outdoors, and in a coffee-table book. We also introduced a snap chat lens, giving everyone a view from Sarha’s perspective.

List the results

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 culminating in $2million 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.