Prior to the pandemic, video communication platforms were inaccessible to citizens in the UAE. The COVID-19 pandemic created a shift in the industry and facilitated accessibility to VoIP. With video communications becoming available for everyone it was our aim to influence the continued used of Zoom post-COVID.
Blizzard partnered with Active DMC to strengthen its relationship with the gaming community in the Middle East, promote its key gaming titles such as World of Warcraft®, Hearthstone®, Overwatch®, the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo®franchises, and the multi-franchise Heroes of the Storm® and further increase its market share.
To showcase how Xerox’s new products and solutions were here to future proof the workplace – specifically when it comes to working millennials with a campaign targeted towards the people responsible for employing them and organizing their workspaces.
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), the chartered body for health and safety professionals around the world, came to Active DMC with a challenge: they needed to create awareness for the risk of using asbestos in constructing buildings.
Pharmakeia, an innovative and first of its kind wellness luxury concept, was opening its first venue in Doha, Qatar. It was imperative for the brand messaging to avoid all types of “pharmacy” references and to position Pharmakeia’s brand as one of its kind luxury go to retail for all wellness and beauty needs
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) has been working closely with NETSCOUT Arbor’s team in the Middle East since January 2018 to develop and implement social media campaign that will help them…
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Digital · Marketing · Communications
Prior to the pandemic, video communication platforms were inaccessible to citizens in the UAE. The COVID-19 pandemic created a shift in the industry and facilitated accessibility to VoIP. With video communications becoming available for everyone it was our aim to influence the continued used of Zoom post-COVID.
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) worked closely with Zoom Video Communication to deliver on campaign objectives by:
Rainmaking, global startup facilitator and innovator, the brain behind internationally acclaimed Startupbootcamp, in collaboration with the
Dubai Smart City Accelerator.
Rainmaking worked with Active DMC to promote its top technology startups and secure further funding from across private and institutional investors.
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) designed the communications campaign to focus on creatively introducing key startups to top media
influencers, start a dialogue and build strong brand stories whilst at the same time promote Rainmaking and the role it plays in the development of the
UAE’s startup ecosystem.
A snapshot of the initiatives that Active DMC recommended for the successful delivery of this campaign included:
1. Video introductions of key startup concepts
2. Face to face meetings between startup founders and key media influencers that were design to start the conversation opposed to
simply securing media coverage
3. Broadcast and top tier media interviews for Rainmaking and Dubai Smart City Accelerator spokespeople focusing on the bigger picture
and companies’ strategies in the UAE.
4m+ media impressions across print and online media outlets
4 broadcast media interviews.
8 Golden tier media features including Dubai TV, Forbes Middle East, Arabian Business and AI Bayan newspaper.
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) was commissioned by RealWear to launch their Head Mounted Tablet (rugged tablet for industrial use)
that is absolutely hands free and is voice activated. This launch had to take place during the GITEX Technology Week 2019.
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) recommended the following approach:
1. On-site interviews with Tier 1 media during the show focusing on the HMT-1 applications across oil & gas and construction industries.
2. Product demonstrations that will allow journalists experience all the features of the HMT-1 and better understand its unique voice recognition features.
Interviews with such leading titles as Gulf News, AME Info, Petrochemicals Middle East and Teknotel.
Over 6m impressions
100% Tier 1 media opportunities
Mattel, a global learning, development and play company that inspires the next generation of kids to shape a brighter tomorrow.
Mattel has a portfolio of iconic consumer brands, including American Girl®, Barbie®, Fisher-Price®, Hot Wheels® and Thomas & Friends™.
The objective of the one-year communications campaign was to position the brand as a leader in children toys in the UAE and KSA.
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) developed an integrated communications strategy that encompassed:
1. Traditional PR activities which included news announcements, product placements, media alerts and thought leadership pieces.
2. Influencer campaigns by engaging with key influential bloggers through gifts, competitions and product review agreements.
1B+ impressions
295 online outlets including influencers featured Mattel or a subsidiary brand
16 influencer engagements featuring product reviews, placements or digital competitions.
SentinelOne, innovative and rapidly growing cybersecurity startup, entered the Middle East market for the first time in theend of 2019.
While competing with well established cybersecurity brands, SentinelOne, the first AI powered endpoint cybersecurity platform,
was looking at increasing its share of voice in the region and gaining opinion leadership position amongst potential enterprise clients.
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) worked on leveraging SentinelOne’s subject matter content, introducing key regional
spokespeople to target media while discussing the importance of stronger endpoint security infrastructures for enterprise clients:
1. Regionalised blogs and opinion articles
2. Interviews focused on SentinelOne’s innovations and regional presence
3. Personalised and targeted media relations campaigns – “COVID19 WFH care packages” and “Eid Greetings gifts”.
4. Text over video footage videos for social media
186% share of voice increase in 6 months from the start of the campaign
67% Tier 1 Coverage achieved throughout the campaign
75% of all the coverage secured across target media.
Blizzard partnered with Active DMC to strengthen its relationship with the gaming community in the Middle East, promote its key gaming titles such as World of Warcraft®, Hearthstone®, Overwatch®, the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo®franchises, and the multi-franchise Heroes of the Storm® and further increase its market share.
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) worked closely with Blizzard Entertainment to deliver on campaign objectives by:
Bringing technology into the fitness narrative. Because of their expertise in bringing technology stories to life, Active DMC was tasked in launching Les Mills’ premiere group fitness class, THE TRIP, a completely immersive cycling class. The global fitness brand’s aim was not only to bring awareness to the studio and increase participation, but also garner interest from other gym owners and stakeholders in the region to bring the technology into their facilities.
We positioned a new leader. The team at Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) knew that THE TRIP was an experience you need to see and believe. Active DMC held an exclusive invite-only preview, using an integrated marketing approach, focusing not only on media, but also influencers and key regional partners. In addition to sold out classes within the first few weeks of opening, the studio now receives regular visitors from important government ministries – including the Dubai Sports Council – as well as large employer groups and prospective gym owners.
263M+ earned media impressions
30M+ accounts reached on social media networks
65 unique pieces of coverage
Minimal brand awareness in the Middle East region
No original content in Arabic
Social media advertising budget: USD 150 for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn combined
Urgency to expand NECP’s client base in the region
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) has recommended to run a multifaceted marketing communications campaign that covered:
1. Traditional media relations
2. Industry events
3. Social media campaign with the emphasis on Arabic content and organic reach
4. Lead Generation campaign
25K+ organic reach on Facebook during 4 months campaign with USD30 invested in FB Ads
118K+ organic impressions across Twitter and LinkedIn combined from Sept to Dec 2016
100+ leads generated via campaign focused on CIOs, CTOs and C-suite decision makers across finance and technology industries
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) was tasked with driving media attention towards the World CEO Forum event that was taking place in Dubai in October 2018 and manage media intractions of they key VIP speaker, Heather Mills, a British media personality, businesswoman, and activist.
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications recommended the following approach leveraging 2 key activities:
1. World CEO Forum press office management that included pre-event news announcement, media interviews with the event organizers and VIP forum delegates as well as on-site media office management.
2. Heather Mills media interviews that included interactions with the top daily, lifestyle and business/investment media titles as she was also discussing the vegan food production potential in the Middle East and globally apart from what the World CEO Forum brings to the businesses and decision makers based in the region.
13 tier 1 media interviews have been secured before and during the event
105+ million impressions was the total reach achieved via various media activities. Such leading publications as Gulf News, The National, Al Dhafra TV, AL Bayan, Al Khaleej, Gulf Business and Wealth Arabia covered the event.
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) was commissioned to:
Publicize the campaign through traditional and social media in order to increase awareness and inbound sales leads
Position Maximo as a thought leader in the enterprise asset management landscape
Gain followers and increase engagement and leads on social media platforms
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) recommended an integrated approach Maximo Middle East User Group Conference in two phases:
1. Traditional PR - We drove a successful media relations campaign ahead and during the event with influential trade and business media.
2. Social media campaign - We developed a social media campaign around #MaximoUGC that achieved 100% organic growth in engagements on all platform.
Traditional media:
7 media interviews with top-tier media
20 tier 1 media hits (dailies, TV, trade and tech publications)
15M+ impressions
Social media:
105% followers increased organically on LinkedIn
1,807% organic growth in reach on Facebook
1,800+ organic impressions in three months on Instagram
30K+ organic impressions in three months on Twitter
“We had so many inbound sales leads following the conference, that we weren’t able to take on any more!” - Gaby Matar, Group Managing Partner, eSolutions Maximo
Active DMC has been successfully supporting Prototype Interactive, digital marketing Agency based in Dubai, for the past three years with strategic media relations and reputation management, thought leadership campaigns and creative media events. More recently, the companydecided to raise its profile as a leading developer of applications, including web and mobile apps. The Agency’s task was to develop a creative media campaign that would leverage the company’s new business interests with the regional trend moving fast towards app development and usage.
The timing was perfect. The UAE has registered the highest mobile phone subscribers in the world at a whopping 74% in 2013. In addition, mobility is highly supported by the Dubai Government with its many initiatives including mobile apps development, mobile payment gateways and the creation of dedicated mobile portals and mobile SMS gateways.
The challenge for Active DMC lied in identifying the right time, based on the regional trends to pitch the right angles to the right media, with the right creative input. Although there is a ‘regional buzz’ on the subject, no journalist likes to tell the same story over and over again!
Delivery
Active DMC quickly identified the media titles which would respond to the topic of mobile apps and whose audience was a perfect fit for Prototype Interactive’s objectives.
Active DMC was able to deliver to the Client’s needs by:
Proposing creative headlines with play-on-word: i.e. “App-solutely digital”, “Positive App-titude”
Identifying relevant market trends and regional statistics
Recommending a wide variety of story angles, according to the media outlet targeted
Sourcing top-end media opportunities
The results were great as the Agency was able to source top-end media opportunities in some of the leading publications in the UAE and the region:
Dailies – Gulf News
Onlines – Zawya
Business – Gulf Business
Men’s lifestyle – U Men
Vertical – Hospitality Business ME
Marketing – Trends
Quote:
“With Active’s undeniable pro-activeness and knowledge of the regional media and trends, I had no doubt they would manage the campaign successfully. They exceeded our expectations, delivering valuable opportunities with some of the best publications in the region, even sourcing a couple of two-page spreads which was definitely impressive. Keep up the good work!” – Alex Rauser, CEO of Prototype Interactive
Skydive Dubai was looking to raise its profile as a global progressive centre in skydiving and chose Active PR as their communications partner to realize this objective. The first activity the Agency was briefed on was an upcoming world record-breaking event, XCF, scheduled for the 5th of April 2014. Project XCF, Extreme Canopy Flight, was Skydive Dubai’s vision of making skydiving history by setting new limits for human flight by breaking the Guinness World Record for the smallest parachute jump. With the support of Emirates Aero Sports Federation and Skydive Dubai, Project XCF’s training and record attempts are going to take place at Skydive Dubai the Palm Dropzone in Dubai.
The Agency was tasked with driving an impactful and far reaching media campaign – targeting a diverse media landscape and geographies (local, regional and international) – to raise Skydive Dubai’s profile and the ‘centre’ where amazing fetes are achieved and world-wide records are broken.
Time – The time frame in which the Agency received the brief to execute the PR plan was tight. The Agency achieved organizing this event within a timeframe of two weeks.
Weather conditions – Due to the unexpected strong weather conditions, the jump we and the media were waiting for by Ernesto Gainza was pending. We had to manage the media during the event as they were waiting to shoot footage/photos and speak to the jumper, Ernesto, who was supposed to jump at 5PM, but didn’t do so until after 6PM that day. Due to the delay we had to act fast to provide the media with the content they needed to meet their deadlines for the morning papers.
Managing the media – Soon after the announcement of the event, the volume of media requests received that had to be handled by the Agency was high.
Crisis communications – Due to high risks involved with Ernesto’s jump, which could possibly end up in him failing the jump and losing consciousness, we had to factor in that we had to manage and liaise with the media on site.
Delivery
Strong media attendance at the event
Solid set of interviews conducted with daily, monthly and broadcast media
Targeted & creative media outreach to communicate the energy and excitement in the lead up to the event
Consulted with Client on key messaging and approach/delivery
Responsive to all media requests during and post event
The communication objectives were met and far exceeded by the Agency.
In addition to the objectives being met, Skydive Dubai’s target reach was achieved as well – with the XCF Guinness Record breaking news receiving worldwide coverage & interest.
Pre-event
8 local pre-event interviews with dailies, weeklies, monthlies and broadcast (Radio)
1 International online interview
During the event
3 interviews with local dailies
2 international broadcast interviews
13 media attended the event at Skydive Dubai
Post-event
2 interviews with an online and a monthly publication
1 broadcast live interview
Coverage
90 pieces of coverage and clippings were secured
On 5th April 2014, coverage spread all over the world as soon as Ernesto (record holder for jumping with the smallest 35” parachute ever) was handed over his plaque from the Guinness Book of World Record chairman. The news had far-reaching impact: Brazil, France, Germany, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, The Netherlands, the UAE, the UK, the USA, and Venezuela.
Quote:
“Active DMC’s pro-activity and professionalism ensured excellent delivery and international success for the XCF event. Active PR delivered on key media opportunities with tier one dailies, monthlies and broadcast, both radio and TV, regionally and international. Not only did Active PR manage to raise awareness surrounding the XCF event locally but got the word to spread internationally as well, engaging media throughout Europe and ensuring great positioning coverage in print and broadcast. We look forward to working with them again on upcoming Skydive Dubai big news and exciting campaigns,” said Javad Khoramifar, Head of Marketing Services at Skydive Dubai.
Skydive Dubai constantly strives to push the boundaries of extreme sports and this time was no exception. Active PR was briefed on a highly confidential jump that was to take place off the Burj Khalifa. The highest base jump in the world off the highest building in the world. Skydive Dubai and Active PR worked together to promote Skydive Dubai as an innovator and leader in progressive sports while simultaneously promoting Dubai as one of the world’s top destinations.
Fred Fugen and Vince Reffet, a French base jumping duo, was set to write history with a base jump from the highest man-made building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in downtown Dubai. The project was under strict embargo until the big reveal to the media, Wednesday 23rd April 2014.
Skydive Dubai wanted to reveal the highest base jump through a YouTube video documenting Fred & Vince’s jump breaking a world record. The footage was one of the first to be shot in 4K, a new standard of high-definition. This feature was one of the main reasons a lot of the media, local and international showed great interest in this breaking news story. One of their main objectives was to have this YouTube video go viral locally as well as internationally.
Active PR’s scope was to drive an aggressive PR communication campaign by targeting a wide and diverse set of national and international media. The big reveal was scheduled for Wednesday, April 23rd 2014. The Agency was briefed by the Client on the 7th of April, culminating in 12 working days in total until the news was scheduled to break.
Time - The time frame in which the Agency received the brief to execute the plan was 12 working days, which was a great challenge for the Agency to prepare all activities until the big reveal. During this 12 day period, the plan went through a number of revisions due to scheduled activities going through last minute changes, this meant that the deadlines we had to work against were even tighter.
Embargo – Due to the platform being built on top of the Burj Khalifa, there were lots of speculations from the media, with several publications making assumptions around a new world record ahead of the release date. However, we had to make sure that the news would break on the same day by all media outlets without being leaked. We could only go ahead once the Guinness Book of World Record auditor had confirmed the record had been officially broken.
Managing media requests from all over the world – Soon after sending out the news announcement of the base jump along with the video being uploaded onto Skydive Dubai’s YouTube channel, media requests came streaming in from all over the world. We had to make sure to attend to all media requests, in a timely manner. Managing all the media required 24/7 availability, including weekends as we had to be responsive across different time zones and ensure we would not miss out on any opportunities.
Footage rights – The Agency was carefully briefed by the Client concerning the terms and conditions related to sharing of the video footage. There were 2 types of footage, the YouTube link which had to be embedded into every website and it could not be downloaded, changed or edited and the raw footage which was not allowed to be shared with any media unless they signed the use of footage agreement. Furthermore, the media had to agree and ensure that the use of any footage was accredited to Skydive Dubai and Dubai Films.
Delivery
9 interviews were conducted with local dailies, weeklies, broadcast; TV and radio, and international media. Throughout the entire campaign the Agency was required to respond and close continuous interview requests, which kept coming through one month post the news being announced.
As initially agreed with the Client prior to the launch of the campaign, we ensured to set clear and concise key messaging, which was to highlight and guarantee Skydive Dubai was mentioned in each piece of coverage in addition to focusing on the innovative and creative angles of Dubai as an Emirate. As a result, Skydive Dubai was mentioned in every piece of coverage and Dubai as an Emirate was portrayed as forward thinking.
Soon after breaking the news, the Agency received & dealt with over 50 media requests within the first 24 hours from all over the world.
The communication objectives were met and were far exceeded by the Agency:
Raising Skydive Dubai’s profile internationally – The PR campaign launched Skydive Dubai as the world’s best and most progressive skydiving center.
Throughout the campaign, Dubai was portrayed as a city that aims to constantly push boundaries, a city of the future, at the forefront of breaking world records.
In addition to the objectives being met, Skydive Dubai’s target reach was surpassed – with the base jump Guinness World Record breaking news receiving worldwide coverage & interest.
Total number interviews conducted: 9
Including: CNN live, Discovery Channel Canada, Virgin Radio and Dubai One – Studio One
Coverage in tier 1 International broadcast media including CNN live (online), BBC Worldwide (UK), Fox News and Bloomberg to name a few
Coverage
174 pieces of coverage and clippings were secured (local and international)
A viral YouTube video – the video went viral within 2 hours of being posted online, hitting 7 million views and still counting. Active PR contributed in the video going viral as it was our responsibility to ensure it was shared with all the relevant media, who in turn embedded the link on their websites. We have been able to get the desired media traction through pitching it as a video that not only documented a world record being broken, but also being shot with the latest technology in filming extreme sports with 4K cameras.
On 23rd April 2014, the news had spread all over the world within an hour with the Youtube video being shared by several popular international news outlets via social media such as Mashable, the Daily Mail, The Huffington Post, The Verge, Buzzfeed and Elite Daily add more.
The news successfully traveled world-wide: Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungry, India, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, The Netherlands, UAE, Uganda, UK, USA.
Quote:
“Active DMC did it again, not only did they achieve great coverage, they exceeded our expectations once more. Having previously worked with Active PR on the XCF event we were confident they would be able to successfully deliver valuable coverage locally and more importantly for this campaign internationally. Media outlets throughout Europe and the States, such as Bloomberg, ESPN, Fox News, BBC and CNN all covered the Burj Khalifa base jump and they were managed by Active PR in a very timely manner. We were working on tight deadlines with a number of last minute changes and I was impressed with Active PR’s flexibility and productivity. A big thank you to the Active PR team,” Javad Khoramifar, Head of Marketing Services at Skydive Dubai
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) was commissioned by Alibaba Cloud to drive a communications campaign for the launch of Yvolv, its Joint Venture with Meraas Holding. Yvolv is the first public cloud provider that has its physical data center located in the Middle East region, with its first premises in Dubai.
Active recommended the following approach leveraging 2 key activities:
1.Traditional PR with key media influencers covering the event
2.Digital – live streaming of the event that was broadcast across various social media channels owned by Alibaba Cloud and offered to the relevant online portals in order to maximize the outcome of the launch event
16 tier 1 media outlets covered the event (dailies, TV, newswires, trade and tech publications)
70M+ impressions
78 original articles and pieces of coverage across regional and international media outlets
Pharmakeia, an innovative and first of its kind wellness luxury concept, was opening its first venue in Doha, Qatar. It was imperative for the brand messaging to avoid all types of “pharmacy” references and to position Pharmakeia’s brand as one of its kind luxury go to retail for all wellness and beauty needs
Active developed an integrated communications strategy that encompassed:
1.Messaging workshop to identify key references that will build strong brand image for Pharmakeia as a luxury leader opposed to a pharmacy or drug store
2.Grand opening event with fly-in of media & influencers from across the region
3.Endorsements from regional celebrities
4.Social Media campaign that created noise and awareness around the store opening with key social media influencers driving positive exposure
5.Ongoing traditional and social media campaign
30+ tier 1 media outlets and key social media influencers covered the event
250K+ impressions
70 minutes of SnapChat and InstaStories published by key influencers
74 original articles and pieces of coverage across traditional and digital media
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), the chartered body for health and safety professionals around the world, came to Active DMC with a challenge: they needed to create awareness for the risk of using asbestos in constructing buildings. With construction in the UAE at an all-time high, this “No Time to Lose” campaign was an important step in preventing potential terminal cancers in the region’s construction workers. Jumping on board with this important public health campaign, Active was quick to respond.
Using IOSH’s upcoming annual conference as our hook, our focus was to deliver an integrated communications approach which focused not only on media, but key external partnerships. We recommended that IOSH partner with a strategic government entity, deepening their local relationships and on-the-ground support and further creating an impactful media approach. We decided to target the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), a government organization that protects public health in the Emirate.
Through careful messaging and steadfast follow-up, DHA agreed to take part in our media plan as well as participate in the upcoming conference. Together, our work heightened the need for better asbestos control reaching more than 10 million people in the region. Highlights of the media coverage include, interviews in the major construction trade publication Big Project ME and daily newspaper Al Khaleej. The partnership with DHA further expanded IOSH’s reach and deepened the relationship with an important government entity. Overall, the communications approach helped IOSH achieve its goal of creating awareness of the ‘No time to lose’ campaign in the region backed with a strong government alliance.
To showcase how Xerox’s new products and solutions were here to future proof the workplace – specifically when it comes to working millennials with a campaign targeted towards the people responsible for employing them and organizing their workspaces.
Active (DMC) developed a targeted integrated communications campaign across the region and carried out the official Middle East launch event at GITEX technology week 2017, followed by a roadshow of launches across the MENA region – in the UAE, KSA, Kuwait and Oman. Each roadshow consisted of a mix of digital and traditional PR and media relations, launch events, product reviews and channel-focused demo sessions.
Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) has been working closely with NETSCOUT Arbor’s team in the Middle East since January 2018 to develop and implement social media campaign that will help them:
Active DMC has designed social media program that includes following elements: