Dubai Cares

Contract

Full-time

Hybrid

Dubai Cares, a philanthropic organization based in the UAE, is committed to transforming the lives of children and youth in developing countries by providing access to quality education, vocational training, and educational technology. Through partnerships with governments, NGOs, and the private sector, the organization supports the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), promoting inclusive and equitable education for all. Dubai Cares also addresses key barriers to education, including poverty, gender inequality, and inadequate infrastructure.

work completed

Marketing Management
Content
Creative

Relevant brands

Dignified Storytelling
Expo2020 Dubai

Marketing Management

Dubai Cares launched an initiative, Dignified Storytelling, which is a global alliance of storytellers who work together to advocate the importance of upholding the dignity of people featured in stories. To create awareness of this concept, a Dignified Storytelling Principles handbook, was launched. This handbook was the product of close consultations between prominent global storytellers from different walks of life who united through this platform to exchange knowledge and best practices. I was brought in to lead the global marketing effort for this initiative.

Events marketing

All niche events held at Expo2020 Dubai were promoted to ensure active community participation and turnout. Different marketing channels were leveraged to engage and attract visitors, liaising with strategic partners and the Expo’s social media team to amplify the initiative and create awareness.

Market research

Extensive market research was carried out to gain insights into industry trends and intelligence that would shape marketing strategy, guide decisions, enhance customer experiences, and improve overall marketing performance.

Social media

All active social media platforms for the Dignified Storytelling brand were managed and updated with daily posts and announcements. Primary platforms included Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Advocacy campaign

An advocacy campaign was launched to champion the Dignified Storytelling movement, encouraging storytellers to embrace and uphold dignity in their narratives. Global storytellers were actively engaged and invited to join a supportive community that empowered them to share their positive experiences, values, and beliefs. These collaborations fostered meaningful connections and inspired mutual growth. During this period of heightened advocacy, there was also a significant increase in signatures to the Dignified Storytelling pledge, reflecting the growing commitment to the movement’s principles.

Partnerships

Partnerships are essential for the success and growth of events, playing a pivotal role in expanding reach and enhancing credibility. A range of strategic partnership agreements were carefully negotiated, refined, and finalized with key stakeholders such as media outlets, knowledge partners, influencers, and other relevant organizations. These collaborations helped amplify promotional efforts, ensuring broader visibility and access to specialized networks. By leveraging the strengths of each partner, these alliances contributed to creating a more impactful and well-rounded stakeholder experience.

Paid campaigns

A multi-channel digital campaign was strategized and implemented, which included paid ads published on social media as well as Google Search and Display. Geo-fencing and other built-in platform tools were utilized for location and demographics specific targeting.

Content

Content marketing was crucial to develop the brand’s tone of voice. Extensive social media collateral was created for daily posts that included custom-made short-form videos, captions, animations, visuals, and banners.

Social media posts

Emails

E-brochures

Google and social media ads

Creative

I designed and created various digital assets. Part of the creative effort was liaised with the initiative’s Finland-based creative agency, Mandag, which was commissioned to design, edit, finalize and launch the Dignified Storytelling Handbook in different languages including English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

To raise awareness of the initiative, promote the pledge and increase its uptake, I conceptualised and created a 60 seconds promotional video that was published on all its social media channels. The work included writing the script for the video, storyboarding and using music and footage to produce the video using Apple’s Final Cut Pro video software.

Achievements and impact

Events impact

I led the marketing of more than 13 events hosted at Expo2020 Dubai with a small team. The events included the high-level Dignified Storytelling Forum and community-driven We, the Women Festival.

Website SEO

By loading the website backend with rich content containing relevant keywords, and directing traffic to the website with regular social ads, I raised the SEO ranking of the website to appear on top of the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Pledge signatures

During my tenure, signatures to the Dignified Storytelling pledge witnessed a sharp rise.