Perspectives
Emirates NBD
Issue 37 | December 2015
Agency
FP7/DXB Part of McCann Worldgroup
Creative Team
Associate Creative Directors Josephine Younes Nayaab Rais Creative Strategist, Copywriter Tahaab Rais Art Director Josephine Younes Copywriter Nayaab Rais
Production Team
Production Consultant Mint Production House Filmpudding Post-Production Serena Director Nizar Sfair Director of Photography Riki Butland
Other Credits
Head of Insights & Strategic Planning Tahaab Rais General Manager, Business Unit Spiro Malak Account Director Vicky Kriplani Account Manager Layan El Hafi Account Executive Erna Redzepagic Event production co-ordinator Khaled Hamza Event production manager Sreenivasan Kuniyil Events Activations Manager Chelle Dauban
Date
June 2015
Background
The Middle East had an unacceptably high number of special needs children, who were not accepted in society because of social stigma. As a result, schooling them cost three times more than average. Hence, many of their parents could not afford quality education.
As the region's biggest bank, catering to the special needs of its individual customers, Emirates NBD wanted to change people's perspectives on special needs children, not through arousing pity but through admiration.
Idea
Emirates NBD partnered with Al Manzil, a centre for special needs people in the UAE, to put the children's own unique talents at the centre of the campaign.
An art exhibition called 'Perspectives' was mounted in a premium district of Dubai, where the artworks created by the children were displayed. Each painting was showcased beautifully, with the name of the artist and a poetic story about the image.
Patrons of the arts and affluent customers of the bank were invited to the exhibition through DM and eDM.
At the event, the paintings were all sold in an auction. The new owners were asked, would they like to meet the artist?
What they didn't know was that the artist was a special needs child.
Their surprise at discovering the special talents of the special needs children was turned into a branded video, which was seeded online.
In addition, every painting sold generated funds for the Al Manzil centre. Other paintings were uploaded to an online gallery and these were available to buy as well.
Results
The video gained endorsement from special needs and leading worldwide platforms, including featuring on UN's Autism Awareness Day, actively influencing over 1.2 million people, earning 50 million+ impressions and reaching 40+ countries worldwide.
The idea generated regional and international word of mouth amounting to an earned media value of over $450,000 (for a project cost of under $70,000) delivering an earned media ROI of 557%.
The Emirates NBD brand also witnessed high brand index scores: 40 points - nearly double that of its next competitors (ADCB and NBAD) at around 20 points, in the period following the launch of the branded video. Emirates NBD, as a brand, also generated scores of nearly 100% for positive sentiment.
Volunteer interest towards special needs increased by 24%. And 11% more parents were encouraged to register their special needs children in to schools.
The money raised contributed to the education and development of 40 children.
Our Thoughts
The thing about branded content is it has to have heart or no-one will watch it. There are a hundred thousand videos out there of companies talking about their social responsibility projects, which get barely a hundred views. It’s because they tell the stories of what the company is doing. Not why. This is a massively emotional video (https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=SGExmlENkrY) in response to a massively ambitious objective, to change behaviours.
The reward for the brand is in the massively improved awareness and brand affinity scores. Proof it pays to be good.