#PostWisely
du Communications
Issue 48 | September 2018
Agency
Leo Burnett Dubai
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Bechara Mouzannar Regional Executive Creative Director Andre´ Nassar Creative Director Rafael Augusto Senior Copywriter Anton Marais CD Copywriter John Smeddle Arabic Copywriter Shadi Kermasho Heads of Art Bruno Bomediano, Rodrigo Rodrigues Digital ACD Dio´ Wenderly
Production Team
Head of TV Production Shereen Mustafa TV Producer Elham Abi Rached Director Ali Mostafa Production House Big Kahuna
Other Credits
Executive Regional Managing Director Kamal Dimachkie Business Head Haytham Dayeh Account Management Mahmoud Jaber, Omar Kishk, Hisham El Saadway Digital Planner Danielle Jamal Client EVP Abdulwahed Juma Director Corporate Communications Humaida Alkhalsan Manager Corporate Communications du Projects Rabab AlAbbas Senior Executive Corporate Communications Projects Naema AlShehhi
Date
February 2018
Background
du, a telecom brand in the UAE, perceived its function in society to be more than a product and service provider. One of the problems associated with the service they did provide was the fact that in consuming ever more content online, people grew more distant from the reality of what it was they were consuming.
Idea
The feeling that social media was taking away people’s humanity was not new. Screens allowed people to feel they were engaged when, in fact, they were completely disengaged. A ‘like’ or a ‘share’ did not turn people into participants.
du wanted people to question the content they were watching and begin to care about the real people they saw in hurtful and even tragic videos posted online.
The idea was to create a series of short films in which the camera was flipped to show some of the pain and grief of the participants. True stories were recreated but this time the spotlight was on the thoughtless people who captured the event on their smartphones rather than stepping in to help. The important question was asked: If it were your pain, would you share it?
Results
In terms of reach, the campaign delivered reach of 3.2 million against a target of 1.5 million. Video View-Through Rate was 30% against the industry benchmark of 24%. Video Completion Rate was 56% against the industry benchmark of 35%.
Positive sentiment for the campaign achieved a new benchmark high of 87%.
Earned media was valued at AED 2.5 million (about £550,000 GBP).
New online regulations have been introduced in the region to safeguard the public from harmful material.
#PostWisely became a platform for future campaigns and a movement that could impact future interactions with technology.
Our Thoughts
Fascinating how so many brands now have to issue warnings about their products. Booze brands run ads asking us to drink wisely, some telco brands urge us to switch off our mobiles occasionally and here’s an ISP telling us that their broadband services can desensitise us to the real world. Which they do. There are literally thousands of car smash videos on YouTube (they seem to have a lot of crashes in Russia) but these aren’t Hollywood stunts. They are real people being hurt or killed. Every ‘hilarious’ compilation video of people slipping and tripping shows people having accidents that will put them in hospital. Ha ha. For me, this is responsible marketing. Good for du. Better they attempt to regulate themselves before Governments start to legislate.