We created the identity and brand marketing for Dubai’s first full-length feature film ‘City of Life’ as well as it’s official site but in today’s day and age, we knew it wasn’t enough. Instead of going through traditional media, we decided to take the conversation online and garner support for the film through social networks.

VIRAL BY DESIGN

Behind-the-scene snapshots and video clips were leaked anonymously, which subsequently spread virally through the local online community with over 80,000 views on Youtube alone. Fans and followers were actively informed of any updates, with the film keeping them on their toes, as a result of which we had an engaged audience by the time the film released. Result: The film was a smashing hit in the UAE with constant buzz about it during it’s release, so much so that the film title trended on Twitter and the film went on to become the longest running release in the country.

DEMAND INITIATIVE

However, a local film meant little and our true success depended on taking the film to cinemas in other countries which required international distributors to take a local film seriously. For this, we created the ‘Demand It” platform that connected fans directly with distributors. This platform built a voting platform that democratized the distribution process by engaging real people; not just numbers on a chart which required only 2 clicks for fans to demand the film showing by a voting process. This data, updated real-time, was then used to hold discussions with distributors globally with specific data on demographics that lead to distribution deals of the movie across several countries and still counting.

THE NUMBERS

480,000 total ‘Demand It’ votes
165,000 Youtube Channel Views