National Geographic Abu Dhabi wins three golds at PromaxBDA Awards

Recognition for global excellence in broadcast marketing and communication bring three-year old channel’s PromaxBDA Awards total wins to seven golds, one silver and one bronze

Abu Dhabi, UAE, 23 June 2012: National Geographic Abu Dhabi (NGAD) maintained its winning streak at the PromaxBDA Global Excellence Promotion, Marketing and Design Awards, as announced on June 14 in Los Angeles, USA. The channel, which will celebrate its third anniversary on July 1, participated amidst global competition in three categories and won gold in each one of them.

NGAD won in the following categories: Sales Promotion – Collateral/Specialty, for its Wild Cards campaign; Non-Fiction/Reality Programming Campaign Using Integrated Media, also for Wild Cards, and Consumer Promotion Using Integrated Media, for its Earth Day – Use Plastic Wisely campaign.

This brings the total wins achieved by the channel at the Promax Awards to seven golds, one silver and one bronze – a phenomenal achievement in just three years.

“It is an honour and a pleasure to have our efforts recognised at such a prestigious forum. National Geographic Abu Dhabi is committed to developing marketing materials that are as unique and innovative as our channel’s programming is. To have our marketing and promotional campaigns competing and winning at a global level is testament to the fact that some of the world’s finest work comes from this region,” said Athreyan Sundararajan, Head of Marketing and Business Development, National Geographic Abu Dhabi.

He added, “It can be a challenge to create communication material for a factual entertainment channel, as there is an intense need to be creative, appealing and yet direct enough to have the communication register. Both of our campaigns, for ‘Wild Cards’ and ‘Earth Day’, proved to be successful initiatives and receiving global accolades – most importantly those allocated by our peers – makes us feel incredibly proud of our work and inspires us to continue to push the envelope.”

About the award winning campaigns:

Sales Promotion – Collateral/Specialty: Wild Cards
Non-Fiction/Reality Programming Campaign Using Integrated Media: Wild Cards

Wildlife programming is one of National Geographic Abu Dhabi’s hallmarks. The content is aired daily in a wildlife block that runs through the year. To drive viewership and saliency about the daily block, NGAD had to develop a messaging solution that was high on utility and served as a long term reminder of the daily block. Wild Cards – a card game along the lines of Top Trumps – was the solution. The pack of cards consists of 30 animals along with the key characteristics, and the objective of the game is to collect as many cards as possible from your opponent by calling out a particular characteristic of an animal. Each pack features an element of augmented reality on five cards, where users can watch a 3D version of the featured animal via a webcam. There were 20,000 packs distributed through the Arabic edition of National Geographic Magazine, and handed out in schools. Due to popular demand, a Facebook app of the game was developed, allowing a much larger audience in the region.

Consumer Promotion Using Integrated Media: Earth Day – Use Plastic Wisely

NGAD’s theme for Earth Day 2011 was to educated its viewed on the efficient use of plastic. This was inspired by two Earth Day documentaries, ‘Eco Ark’ and ‘Plastiki’, which showcase structures and vehicles put together using waste plastic bottles. To create buzz around the theme, a multimedia campaign was put together including a music video, online app, direct mailer and activation. A team of percussion artists developed a 90 second foot-tapping music video using sounds generated from waste plastic bottles and cans. The video was aired on the channel and circulated on social media. A musical app was developed that allowed the converts to display support to the cause by developing their own 30 second bottle tune, which they could then share with their friends. And finally, the channel toured the offices of its business partners distributing a musical direct mailer comprising of used plastic bottles filled with pebbles and getting them to dance to the theme music.

About National Geographic Abu Dhabi
Launched in July 2009, the free-to-air National Geographic Abu Dhabi invites viewers in the Middle East to re-think the way they see television – and the world – through smart, innovative programming in the Arabic language. Brought to the region by Abu Dhabi Media (ADM) and National Geographic Channels International (NGCI), the channel is dedicated to understanding and protecting the world, with its worldwide reputation of producing credible and authentic content that fits different viewers’ interests. Its programming is smart, factual entertainment weighted in favour of popular science, technology, natural history, archaeology and natural mysteries. www.natgeotv.ae.

About Abu Dhabi Media
Abu Dhabi Media is one of the fastest growing, multi-platform media and entertainment organizations in the Middle East, operating across the broadcast, publishing, and digital media sectors.

The company manages over 20 market-leading brands in two categories: brands that serve the UAE through a defined public service role; and brands that target the wider Arab world with clear commercial objectives. Abu Dhabi Media maintains partnerships with a number of leading companies in the international media space.Abu Dhabi Media also owns and operates subsidiaries in film, outdoor broadcast, and printing.