Insight
Entertainment is a necessity of life. But for the millions of Blue Collar workers, who toil night and day to build the nation, entertainment is a luxury.
About 42.5% of the UAE workforce (Source: Wikipedia) consists of South Asian workers who have been subjected to a range of human Rights abuses including inadequate pay. Their lives are filled with suffering, deprivation and alienation. As a result, they seek mental escapes to evade the burden of their daily lives.
They crave entertainment and are certified Bollywood fanatics. Bollywood movies are a perfect escape from their monotonous lifestyle. But a ticket to watch their beloved Bollywood movie is a luxury they simply can’t afford. For the majority of these workers, their last trip to the cinema was before coming to the UAE.
That is an injustice in itself. And Emirates NDB couldn’t let that happen. It needed to find a way to bring the joy of Bollywood to the lives of these blue collar workers. And just make a little difference to their lives for the better.
Strategy
If the Blue collar workers can’t afford to go the cinema, why not bring Bollywood to them in their own backyard – the labour camps? And this is when Bollywood on Wheels was born.
Bringing the cinema to the labour camp was no easy task. Emirates NBD partnered with a labour camp on the “other” side of town, where most wouldn’t dare venture into. Sourcing out the ideal labour camp was a challenge in itself, as majority of them are overcrowded, with lack of space to recreate the cinema experience in their own backyard.
Starcom Mediavest Group finally found a labour camp with the requisite space and negotiated with the authorities to create something unthinkable.
Execution
On the festive occasion of Eid, SMG turned a humble labour camp into an open-air cinema- a memorable experience for a 1000 unsuspecting blue collar workers. It showed them ‘Sholay’ – the timeless Bollywood classic and to enhance the big screen experience we gave people pop-corn and ice-cones Bollywood style.
It also wanted a long-term sustainable solution to entertainment in the labour camps. So the agency created ‘Bade Parde Wali Phillum’ (Rural Hindi slang for a big screen movie) – a portable cinema console designed solely for labour camps and gifted it to the labour camp for them to hold regular movie nights.
The all-encompassing standalone device provides an ‘anytime anywhere’ access to cinema. The console was a retro inspired device fusing new with the old. It included a projector, retro styled speakers and ran on a USB. SMG knew that blue collar workers live in small dormitory style rooms so the console was built on a ‘space friendly’ ultra-short throw projection system. The minimalistic design was a reflection of the ‘no-frills’ low-tech needs of blue-collar workers.
Results
Approximately 1,000 blue collar workers (400 more than estimated) attended the screening. (Source: Supplier Estimates).
The campaign delivered earned media value of $600K and 700K views on YouTube & Facebook. (Source: Agency Estimates + Social Tracker)
The initiative became talking point thanks to the coverage in local media and raised awareness of the less known cause. Many charities, corporates (Zee Cinema/Inara) and even Bollywood celebrities have come forward to support Emirates NBD towards this initiative. The initiative has now spread to 5 other labour camps.