2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for PR?

The brand has successfully secured media coverage and space via its strong ties with third parties across outdoor, digital, social tv, radio and print.

Background

It is mid-March of 2020 and the pandemic has just hit. The brand is leading with prompt responsiveness and effective guidance. A general lockdown is announced and a curfew is set in place. Only frontliners and permit-holders are allowed to be outdoors. Street traffic across the Kingdom is at a bare minimum. We needed to thank people for staying home and urge them to keep doing so.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

With almost no traffic on roads in all cities, outdoor media spaces have temporarily become obsolete. The brand turned this into an opportunity to display the message which defies its own purpose. The concept worked and the outdoor message quickly earned media attention, PR and Social.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

2019 was a major milestone in the Saudi entertainment scene where the country hosted some of the world's largest events and concerts. It had a momentum like no other that drove audiences to go out and experience a vast range of new occasions, locally referred to as Riyadh and Jeddah Seasons for instance. The campaign struck with a completely opposing call to action: Stay Home.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

The campaign exposure on all Outdoor media was a result of a long-term partnership between the brand and AlArabia OOH, Saudi's leading outdoor media company with thousands of faces around the country. The work was appeared on billboard network around Saudi Arabia at a mix of conventional space and digital screens. All were utilized to display the ad. The street billboards were in the size of 4 x 3m (w x h) and other billboard adaptations were also used which are all larger at formats than 1200 x 1800mm. The main headline of the ad was "Thank you for everyone who did not see this ad", where id the sub-line was "Stay Home".

List the results (30% of vote)

This campaign was launched on Outdoor Media with a total budget spent of 0.00 SAR.The concept worked and the outdoor message quickly earned media attention, PR and Social. The work was featured soon-after across print, radio and TV - as PR coverage - also for absolutely no spend. That resulted in +400 faces, +50 outlets, +500k reach.The hype on social media was completed earned at no cost. Audience: Mass public and all segment across the nation.