2022 Winners & Shortlists

Summary of the work

CONTEXT: A mission beyond science Although it is the first, The Emirates Mars Mission is not planned as a one-off feat in space exploration. The objectives of the Emirates Mars Mission go beyond the scientific ones, revolving around building capabilities, human knowledge and inspiring future Arab generations to pursue space science. We were 3 months into the global pandemic, uncertainty had become the norm and a state of despair overshadowed the entire region. TARGET AUDIENCE: The young, restless & pressured The Arab youth. The largest demographic segment for most countries in the Middle East. On one hand, they are ambitious, resilient and dream of a better future. On the other hand, they face many societal & financial pressures. The life of the youth in the region was particularly disrupted by the pandemic with 87% of them strongly concerned about employment opportunities. They needed something to spark hope for a better future. For nine years in a row, the UAE has remained the country that Arab youth would most like to live in and have their own countries emulate. CHALLENGE: Finding hope amidst despair At a time when the youth and the region reeled under intense uncertainty, how can we spread a message of optimism and instill hope? STRATEGIC INSIGHT: Using language to drive excitement in being an Arab Although a diverse population, one of the symbols of cultural unity amongst the Arabs is the Arabic language. Once known as the language of science, continuous negative portrayal in media has associated Arabic with fear and oppression. Once a core element of their identity, today only 5% of the youth consider it as central to their identity. To trigger a sense of hope, we needed to unite the youth & this drew our attention to the launch countdown. Countdowns are expression of shared excitement. However, space missions had only been executed by a few countries around the world and people are used to seeing the countdowns in languages like English, Russian or Mandarin. The strategic opportunity was to make the launch of the first ever Arab Mars mission a turning point in history. CREATIVE IDEA: Elevate the launch countdown to a rallying cry #FirstArabicCountdown – to launch the first-ever Arab space mission to Mars, with the first-ever countdown in Arabic. We created a multi-channel campaign that elevated the launch countdown to a rallying cry and invited everyone to share their own version of #FirstArabicCountdown. THE OUTCOME: Sparked a movement At a time, when the whole world was grappling with a pandemic, we gave people an opportunity to not just witness the landmark event but become a part of it and feel connected to it. We drew people’s attention to an issue that had become a blind spot. This led to more and more people wanting to jump on the bandwagon to celebrate the first launch countdown in Arabic. Over 40 million people created their own #FirstArabicCountdown, making the youth see Arabic & the future in a positive light.