2022 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Integrated?

The campaign began with the creation of an Instagram account but over the course of a year grew in ambition and reach. It went on to engage with audiences through films on social media platforms, TV channels, through books, a podcast, an Augmented Reality filter, live game shows, customized content, a special website, billboards and more.

Background

In 2020-21, UAE didn’t just face the Covid-19 pandemic, it also grappled with a cyber pandemic. As life moved online, scammers took advantage of this increased digital adoption. From airline refunds to charitable donations to online shopping to crypto investment platforms to vaccine providers; fraudsters created numerous new phishing scams to attack people when and where they are most vulnerable. Consequently, phishing attacks in UAE increased by a whopping 250%, with 600,000 attacks reported in Q2 alone. To cope with the growing incidence of fraudulent activity, government bodies had launched multiple fraud awareness campaign to educate and protect consumers. However, these conventional campaigns just weren’t cutting through the clutter of entertaining content out there and were failing to grab people’s attention. As UAE’s leading bank, Emirates NBD decided to take a stand against scam. But just another PSA campaign wouldn’t suffice. We needed to entertain in order to educate!

Describe the creative idea

We created a fictional character, James Jefferson, a mysteriously wealthy man who led a lavish life. As James Jefferson’s story unfolded across multiple touchpoints, so did the campaign. On his Instagram, he gained followers by claiming to have written a book titled ‘How to Grow Rich During the Pandemic’ that will make anyone as rich as him. But just as his followers were looking forward to the book launch, we revealed how he made money by assuming fake identities and tricking people. We turned his fraud tricks into anti-fraud learnings. His book into a handy anti-fraud guide. His confession into Fraudster Answers Questions. His tactics into an Insta Live game show and an AR filter. His podcast into cautionary lectures. His website into an awareness hub. We taught people how to spot fraud so that they could stop fraud.

Describe the strategy

The online world is second nature to most people. And due to lockdowns, they were even more reliant on it – whether to maintain contact with friends and family, work from home, or for online shopping. And fraudsters picked up on this. They adopted sophisticated scamming techniques, mimicking this evolving consumer behavior. From fraudulent emails offering government support to those impacted by the pandemic, to scam messages requesting payments for Covid-19 vaccine appointments, to impersonating delivery companies to exploit the rise in online shopping. Their cleverly masked tactics made them impossible to catch by even the most discerning of people. We needed to remind people that it doesn’t take much for a fraudster to fool us. With that thinking in mind, Emirates NBD turned the dry topic of fraud into an entertaining campaign that taught people how to commit fraud so that they could learn how to avoid it.

Describe the execution

The campaign was launched on Feb 13, 2021 and is still ongoing. In the past year, the campaign has evolved to cover hero content, a paperback and ebook, a podcast, an interactive game show, an AR filter, a website.

List the results

The campaign ignited nationwide virality, with 12,293,800 people actively engaging with the campaign. The efforts were organically picked up and shared by prominent media outlets, driving a total earned media value of $2,184,648. Additionally, the campaign had tangible long-term business impact driving a 3.6% uptick in brand recall.