Andrea Assi
Nour Haddad
Sahar Nifnaks
Andrea Assi
Nour Haddad
Sahar Nifnaks
​​In order to establish and promote the identity brand of Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways in two periods across the future era, we have to implement cultural branding strategies explored and discussed by Douglas Holt in “How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding” (2004). Holt suggests that too often advertisers rely on the use of traditional mind-share principles and brand attributes when it comes to selling to a customer. However, he reveals an alternative; a cultural branding strategy that focuses on building relevant “identity myths” that are formed through the deep analysis and understanding of ideologies, populist worlds, and consumer anxieties. Holt defines cultural branding as the “set of axioms and strategic principles that guide the building of brands into cultural icons”. This formula of cultural branding principles has led to the mass success of iconic brands.
We will be creating an identity myth chart for the two potential periods in the future era of Etisalat and Du branding. The first step is to identify the appropriate ideologies along with their contradictions for each period. By analyzing the potential social, political, and economical issues that could arise in the future while keeping in mind the understanding from previous research conducted in the past and present era we have developed, we were able to create four myth markets (two myths per period) in order to address the anxieties, desires, and needs.
​​In order to establish and promote the identity brand of Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways in two periods across the future era, we have to implement cultural branding strategies explored and discussed by Douglas Holt in “How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding” (2004). Holt suggests that too often advertisers rely on the use of traditional mind-share principles and brand attributes when it comes to selling to a customer. However, he reveals an alternative; a cultural branding strategy that focuses on building relevant “identity myths” that are formed through the deep analysis and understanding of ideologies, populist worlds, and consumer anxieties. Holt defines cultural branding as the “set of axioms and strategic principles that guide the building of brands into cultural icons”. This formula of cultural branding principles has led to the mass success of iconic brands.
We will be creating an identity myth chart for the two potential periods in the future era of Etisalat and Du branding. The first step is to identify the appropriate ideologies along with their contradictions for each period. By analyzing the potential social, political, and economical issues that could arise in the future while keeping in mind the understanding from previous research conducted in the past and present era we have developed, we were able to create four myth markets (two myths per period) in order to address the anxieties, desires, and needs.
Social Issues
Some social issues that happened during the years of 2011 to 2021. The ongoing social issues include:
The major reason for choosing Cyberbullying as a social issue is because the impact of cyberbullying on individuals will be discussed as till today it's still a major problem that many face with use of media. The digital world of today presents youth and adults with an increasingly dangerous threat of cyberbullying.
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Impact of Cyberbullying on Individuals:
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Internet usage has become more important than ever to young people today. Mobile phones and the internet are considered to be the two biggest communication systems that play a vital role in our daily activities and the development of our identities. Additionally, many of these technologies are being negatively abused. The Internet has become a platform for bullying in which users are victimized, resulting in a lot of confusion on their part. “Cyberbullying can undermine the school climate, interfere with victims’ school functioning, and put some students at risk for serious mental health and safety problems…45% of preteens and 30% of teens are cyberbullies while at school” (Feinberg, T. and Robey, N., 2009). Several definitions of cyberbullying can be made; for example, cyberbullying can be described as using the internet, cell phones, or other devices to send or post text or images with the intent to hurt or embarrass another person. In this situation, a child or teenager is repeatedly harassed, threatened, humiliated, embarrassed, or otherwise targeted. In cyberbullying, bullies may post personal information about victims on websites or under their name to degrade or humiliate them.
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How Etisalat leveraged the social issue of Cyberbullying in their AIMC:
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In 2019, Etisalat started a campaign called Cyberbullying ChatBot where they created #InTheirShoes and #SpotItStopIt where they raise awareness about the impact of cyberbullying in today's world and how till this day we see many victims not having a voice to speak. Due to this cause, a bullying bot was launched by Etisalat to demonstrate to young people and parents what bullying can be like. As shown in the figure, the campaign went to address the situation by showcasing how the letter “L” is being used to call out the girl Lisa (victim) “Loser”. A basic letter can easily steal a child’s joy through cyberbullying. Also, addressing how the girl developed symptoms of anxiety at the age of eight.
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Figure 31: Cyber bullying awareness campaign - Etisalat's video advert
Etisalat Bully Bot:
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In order for Etisalat to tackle this issue, they made users search “Etisalat Bully Bot” on Facebook. By simulating cyberbullying scenarios and offering guidance on how to deal with the issues children face online, as shown in the figure below, the Bot will help parents and children understand the challenges children face online.
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Figure 32: Etisalat's Bully Bot
In this instance, a chatbot displays a cyberbullying experience to parents and shows them how even the most innocent looking emojis such as pizza, cows, and the letter L may be used by bullies to make fun of their victims online. Here are some work that will make people better visualize the meaning behind each word and how a bully can use them to criticize others in a very hurtful way.
Lastly, Etisalat also broadcast this issue on their social media platform (Facebook) by using different video commercials on cyberbullying and having a deep and touching message behind it. Both self-harm and suicidal behaviors are more likely to occur in young people who are targeted by cyberbullying than those who are not.
Figure 33: Etisalat #StopItStopIt posters
How Du leveraged the social issue of Cyberbullying in their AIMC:
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On the other hand, du also tackled this issue by starting a campaign in 2016 and 2018 called “If it were your pain, would you share it?” with the use of the hashtag #PostWisely. The campaign is based on true events where they address 4-real life graphic videos shown from the victims point of view of how they feel under the spotlight. We live in a generation where our time is governed by social media. People today use social media to a new level, sharing information about their lives and daily rituals without realizing the extent of which is too much. du went to explain how immediately online users grab their phones, take pictures and videos of accidents, natural disasters and other unfortunate incidents online. We should always remember that there are two sides to every online video. Before posting, we must remember that someone else at the other end of the camera may be experiencing an unfortunate life situation. According to du “Recent statistics reveal that 2 in 5 people in the UAE are victims of cybercrimes” (du, 2021). However, sharing sensitive details online is rarely thought about by UAE social media users.
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Figure 34: Du #postwisely campaign
Communication Platform:
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Issue Being Addressed: Vehicle crashes are common in the UAE, and we tend to find many footages of accidents being posted all over social media. du made sure to tackle the issue of people filming tragedies instead of taking a step to help. Films speak to social issues such as labor abuse on an indirect level.
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Communication objective: Raising awareness on how social media should be used wisely and that not anything we see needs to be recorded and posted online. Also, persuade the audience of the social media usage in the right way.
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Target Audience: It’s targeting male and females that age between 13 to 50 who tend to overshare their personal information and details of their daily routine or other people's unfortunate life situations.
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Compelling Benefit: As part of du telecom, they decided to take an important step as a brand and encourage people to #PostWisely by developing a campaign based on 4 real-life tragic videos. By doing so, they decided to flip the camera, trapping the viewer through the victims eyes for the audience to see and feel the pain that the victims tend to feel. Most importantly, touch based on the thoughtless people behind the camera that tend to grab their phones and capture the tragedy instead of helping the victim.
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Creative Strategy: As mentioned in the ad “If it were your pain, would you share it?” is the headline which allows the reader to put themselves in the victims shoes and ask themselves if they were in a tragedy would they accept it to be posted online. Furthermore, having two audiences, the digital vultures who watch the negative online content and the voyeurs who grab their phones to capture people's pain rather than helping them. Four images in the center of the poster are glimpse taken from the 4 real-life-tragic videos that they tailored hoping for a change. The first video talks about how housemaids nowadays are being mistreated. Work hours are excessive, living conditions are poor, and wages have been cut or even abused. Maids are abused when employers fail to take care of their welfare. Due to this awful treatment, many housemaids tend to suicide or injury themselves because they feel unwanted and unappreciated in life. In the video, it showcased how the housemaid was trying to suicide and the woman was trying to threaten her by taking a video of what she is doing. The second video talks about how a boy is being bullied by his friends and taking pictures of him. The third video talks about workers in the bus getting into a car accident and losing their lives while other people are busy taking pictures of the incident instead of helping. Lastly, the fourth video talks about a building being on fire and again a person is busy videoing the incident.
Du’s Cyber Safety Awareness Workshop:
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Du uploaded a press release on their website where they talked about how students are educated on cyber safety in the UAE by du. To educate, du held Cyber Safety Awareness Workshops at the AMLED School in Al Quoz and other schools and universities.
With the aim of developing children's critical-thinking skills related to internet usage and helping them identify dangers online, the du Technology, Risk and Security Management Team (TSRM) presented videos and performed engaging activities to elementary school students in grades four and five. According to Walid Kamal, Senior Vice President – Technology Security & Risk Management, du. “At du, we believe children should also know that parents, teachers, and government authorities can all play a big role to ensure cyber safety” (du, 2017). They also discussed topics such as internet safety, cyberbullying, social media, reporting bad behavior, and self-image and identity with students aged eight to twelve years old. Patchin and Hinduja (2006) conducted an online survey involving 384 respondents under the age of 18. Their results indicate that various forms of bullying occur online, including being ignored (60.4%), being disrespected (50%), being called names (29.9%), being threatened (21.4%), being picked on (19.8%), being made fun of (19.3%), and having rumors spread (18.8%).
Figure 35: Du Cyber Safety workshop press release
Geotargeting Communication:
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With the use of geotargeting, du was able to deliver different advertising content to users based on their geographic locations. Du’s mobile content included snapchat filters, and different social posts.
Through geotargeting, each video was being served in locations that links it to the video. For example, a post that talks about bullying in school will be served around schools and universities and the same gets applied to other posts.
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Figure 37: Du Geotargeting campaign
Social media campaign across different locations
Figure 38: Du Social media campaign across many locations
Figure 36: Du educated on Cyber Safety press release