Brand | UAE GOVERNMENT MEDIA OFFICE |
Product/Service | IT'S POSSIBLE DOCU-SERIES |
Entrant | VIRTUE WORLDWIDE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES |
Category | Social Video |
Idea Creation
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VIRTUE WORLDWIDE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
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Production
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WHAT IF CREATIVE STUDIO Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
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Background
Even though the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a young country, having celebrated their 50th birthday in 2021, it already has been established and recognized as a land of opportunities. This is evident through its ability to attract talent from all over the world for different industries (over 190 nationalities). However, whenever people move to the UAE they think of it only as a transitional period – where the average expat tends to stay in the UAE for 3 years on average before travelling back home or to another country.
The objective was to cement the UAEs positive perception as a place of opportunities, but to also showcase those opportunities across the 7 Emirates and launch the nation brand. How? Through the various policies put in place and highlighting everything the country has achieved over the past 50 years in governance, innovation, trade, investment, tourism, humanitarianism and heritage.
Describe the strategy
Our problem was not that people did not see the UAE as a country of opportunity. Our problem was because the country was only seen from one narrow perspective, it became a place for transitional-quick-money.
Therefore, instead of putting the spotlight on the policies enabled by the government (and ending up with a dry and boring government monologue), we decided to put the spotlight on what people have been able to achieve with these policies. This was the only way to tell a more meaningful story, one that shows that the UAE is not a country of easy-money, but a country that rewards passion and effort.
We moved away from topics like governance, innovation, trade, investment, tourism, humanitarianism and heritage and humanised the authentic culture of the country by focusing on stories of opportunity in art, food, science, music, performance arts, language and sports.
Describe the execution
To create It’s Possible, we started by doing extensive research and scouting to find real people with interesting, complex and rich stories. People that were authentic and raw, that were able to act as the voices that broke through the tempered glass and help the audience personify the nation. Resulting in 29 stories captured in 29 films.
Once we found those stories, we had to look for the best way of reaching a broad global audience. Instead of going down the traditional paid media route, we partnered with VICE, to be able to distribute the content through their channels to over 400 million users globally.
Beyond that, we created a co-branded microsite that would host all the films, as well as editorial articles that would take the stories even further.
List the results
In a short span of time we harnessed over 89.4 million impressions and more than 41.1 million views from all over the world. The audience found the content so engaging that we achieved a 55.36% VTR, which is 79% higher than the benchmark.
Credits
Ciaran Bonass |
Virtue Worldwide |
Executive Creative Director |
Sarah Berro |
Virtue Worldwide |
Senior Creative Director |
Elie Nasr |
Virtue Worldwide |
Senior Creative |
Carl Jreissati |
Virtue Worldwide |
Head of Account Management |
Ali Fathalla |
Virtue Worldwide |
Account Director |
Mahmoud Hassan |
Virtue Worldwide |
Account Director |
Alvaro Bretel |
Virtue Worldwide |
Head of Strategy |
Dina Alsharif |
Virtue Worldwide |
Strategist |
Gloria Abou Diwan |
Virtue Worldwide |
Head of Production |
Nagham Abboud |
Virtue Worldwide |
Senior Producer |
Dennis Kareta |
Virtue Worldwide |
Producer |
Moe Najati |
WHAT IF Creative Studios |
Director |
Nasrallah Saad |
WHAT IF Creative Studios |
Executive Producer |
Hugo Narciso |
WHAT IF Creative Studios |
Executive Producer |
Robert Babekuhl |
WHAT IF Creative Studios |
Director Of Photography |
Links
Supporting Webpage