Hand in hand: Expo 2020 Dubai launches first global marketing campaign since bid win
· Theme uses hands to show how human collaboration leads to change
· Global campaign to include TV, digital, OOH, print and cinema visuals
· Team of 127, including performing artists, worked on the major project
Expo 2020 Dubai has used the universal symbol of hands to emphasise the power of human collaboration in its first international marketing campaign since winning the World Expo bid in 2013.
Launched 1000 days before the Expo doors open on 20 October 2020, the ‘Hands Campaign’ uses bold colours and the dexterity of dozens of hands to create the illusion of easily-recognisable objects such as the Burj Khalifa, a lightbulb, Earth and wind turbines.
Each scene or image illustrates Expo 2020’s theme, ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, by showing that when we work collaboratively we can produce even greater results. It forms one of the first components of Expo 2020’s ‘To Better, Together’ marketing strategy.
Tareq Ghosheh, Vice President — Marketing and Communication at Expo 2020 Dubai, said the campaign would help to raise awareness further of the first World Expo in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region throughout the GCC and major international markets.
Tareq Ghosheh said: “A World Expo is not only about showcasing the latest innovations; it is also a unique platform to bring together people from all over the world, and all walks of life, to encourage creativity, innovation and collaboration.
“This campaign sets the stage for where we’ll be going in future campaigns. We don’t want people just to turn up to the event; we want people to join the journey up to 2020.”
The production of the campaign also epitomises Expo 2020’s theme of collaboration, with 127 people, from performing artists to creatives, working on the project.
Havas London collaborated with duos Dom&Nic and Metz+Racine to produce the video and print campaign, respectively.
Mark Whelan, Group Chief Creative Officer at Havas UK, said: “I’ve visited the site and seen the plans, and Expo 2020 Dubai is going to be out of this world, with people from around the world joining forces to make it amazing. We wanted to create a film with a story of people coming together filled with positive energy to reflect what it is all about.”
The TV commercial seamlessly follows dozens of hands of all sizes, colours, ages and shapes through a clever, fun and mesmerising story. Along the way, the hands come together to create the illusion of a light bulb switching on or the Burj Khalifa rising from the ground, for example. The production involved building a live, specially-constructed set, with incredibly nimble people moving in line with an intricate choreography.
The vibrant still images — created in real life rather than digitally, to emphasise the human aspect — required similar detailed choreography and were shot using a makeshift stage to create a 3D backdrop.
Despite the detail of the production, the campaign itself is simple in its message.
It includes TV, digital, OOH, print, cinema and social. There will be extensive coverage across the UAE and the GCC, with selected activity in major international markets such as the US, UK and India.
Expo 2020 Dubai will run for six months from 20 October, 2020 to 10 April, 2021 and is expected to receive 25 million visits, with 70 percent due to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion in the history of World Expos. More than 180 countries are expected to participate.
Visit: www.expo2020dubai.ae
Follow: Twitter: @expo2020dubai | Facebook: @Expo2020Dubai | Instagram: expo2020dubai
Credits:
Project name: Expo 2020 Dubai UAE — ‘Hands’
Creative agency: Havas London (with Havas Dubai)
Client: Tareq Ghosheh — VP of Communication, Expo 2020 Dubai UAE; Anthony Ward — Director of Marketing, Expo 2020 Dubai UAE
ECD: Mark Whelan
Creative Director: Matt Swinburne
Creatives: Dan Scott and Anna Rose Kerr
Account team: Gareth Davies (Managing Partner); Tom Ring (Senior Account Director); Sophie Fletcher (Account Manager)
Agency producer (film): Susie Innes
Assistant agency producer (film): Adrianne Godfrey
Agency producer (print): Hatty Middleton
Art Buyer: Claire Lillis
CSO: Mark Sinnock
Global Strategy Director: Kristin Cowper
Media agency: Mindshare
Photographer: Metz & Racine
Film Production company: Outsider
Producer: John Madsen
Director: dom&nic
DoP: Alex Barber
Choreographer: Supple Nam
Editor: Ed Cheeseman at Final Cut
Post-production: The Mill
Music: Shervin Shaeri at Mutant Jukebox
Audio post-production: Dave Cooper at Scramble
