Between raising awareness and thanking the frontline heroes among us, many brands, advertisers and governmental institutions have stepped up bravely during March and April 2020 to decorate the billboards of Dubai with various safety campaigns as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR). Some were informative, others were emotional, while the rest seized the day to get a win-win situation while winning the fight against COVID-19. Brand Dubai puts family first on a creative OOH campaign With dramatic emotional visuals, the creative arm of the government of Dubai, Brand Dubai has been spotted on Dubai’s billboards to be one of the brands that felt the urge and responsibility to make people aware of the epidemic we’re living around, stressing on the emotional appeal of the Emirati people that has always put their family first. The visuals have an eyes-closed family wearing surgical masks on a dark background to fit the current situation, while the ad copy says “ عشاني، #خللك_في_البيت” translating it to “For my sake, #STAYHOME” on a hoarding, lampposts and a uni-pole in Sheikh Zayed Road, the heart and soul of Dubai. The eye-catchy visuals are designed by Maitha Demithan, a Dubai-based artist with a proven record of art displayed in various exhibitions, including her solo show Mutajadid (Tashkeel, 2014), which included experimental installations and new media pieces, as well as in Documentation (Tashkeel, 2009), where her first scanned self-portraits appeared and Across the Gulf (Brisbane Biennial, 2009). Other group shows include Emerge (Venice, 2011), Emirati Vision (Berlin, 2009) and ‘Biladi’ at the UAE Pavilion, EXPO 2010 Shanghai. Dubai Calendar cancels its plans to make sure you stay safe Even the one-stop-shop app for tickets and events that kept the people of Dubai up-to-date for years is asking everyone to cancel their plans for the current time for them to “ابق أمنًا” and “خلك في البيت” according to the ad copy that translates to “Stay safe”, “#Stayhome”. Operated by Dubai Tourism, Dubai Calendar felt the importance of their CSR towards their community by releasing their campaign in Sheikh Zayed Road on digital-out-of-home media to change in between the Arabic and English messages constantly. NBD releases protection pledges on the billboards of Dubai In collaboration with their media partner Hills Advertising, the National Bank of Dubai (NBD) has released an outdoor campaign to encourage the people of Emirates to pledge for a brighter future. The ad copy is the hero of this campaign, listing “Pledge to stay at home”,”Pledge to wash hands”, “Pledge to support physical distining”, “Pledge not to spread rumors”, “Pledge not to hoard” localized all in the Arabic language as well, with a master slogan “معًا نتغلب” which translates to “Together we will conquer”. The big media plan was seen on several bridge billboards in Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai Marine, Al Khail Street, Deira Airport Street, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road. Dubai Chamber, Dubai Police, and Crisis and Disaster Management Team thank everybody for their commitment The three pillars of protection, awareness, and management; Dubai Chamber, Dubai Police and Crisis and Disaster Management Team have joined forces to release on an outdoor advertising campaign on the billboards of Dubai to thank everybody for their commitment, besides, providing them with the proper hashtags to follow up with the outbreak of COVID-19; “#stay_informed_stay_safe”, to localize it in the Arabic language into “#الوعي_اهم_وقاية”. Regarding the visuals, it portray different people from different nationalities of the world and under each person a CTA in their own language, asking them to “Wear a mask” referring to the protecting surgical mask. The campaign was seen on uni-poles in Sheikh Zayed Road and Dubai Al Ain Road. Dubai Parks uses the billboards of Dubai to raise awareness against COVID-19 Using both English and standard Arabic parallel to each other, the temporarily-suspended recreational park Dubai Parks is raising awareness, sending messages and thanking those who are keeping us safe all at one outdoor advertising campaign, seeing in Sheikh Zayed Road, using digital out-of-home media (DOOH). The various ad copies included “Together against covid-19”, Stay home stay safe”, “Thanks to all the frontline heroes”. Sharjah Govt Media Bureau proves UAE is Greater Than Corona Setting their social media accounts on the bottom for any further information, Sharjah Government Media Bureau has released a message of confidence and solidarity on a uni-pole in Dubai Al Ain Road to prove to everybody that the Emirati people are “@GreaterThanCorona”, illustrating a 2D design to make people aware that we are نتباعد لنظل معًا which translates to “Apart to stay together”. A win-win situation: Get free delivery from KFC & stay home, stay safe The international fast-food chain would never miss the opportunity to save the day and participate in making people more aware on the billboards of Dubai, not to forget using transactional marketing to get themselves in a win-win situation, where you “Stay Safe” and get “Free delivery only at KFC.me” as part of their ongoing effort to encourage their audience to order through their website. The luring visuals were divided into two parts; a mouth-drooling part with the KFC box, while the other part had different people from different segmentations staying at home, all seen on lampposts across Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Barsha, Hessa Street, and Al Khail Street in Dubai, UAE. All these outdoor advertising campaigns were localized in both Arabic and English to widen their targeted segmentation, placed in prime locations to get the most possible visibility and well-planned creatively to catch the eyes easily, making sure that each and everyone is aware of the epidemic we are facing now, being patient with the temporary suspension of our lives to get back to the roads even stronger, witnessing all the OOH campaigns we loved and enjoyed one more time.
