Hajj is the biggest gathering in the world where more than 2 million people get together from 200 countries. It is the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, taking place in the last month of the Islamic year. All Muslims are expected to make at least once during their lifetime if they can afford it (Muslims save and plan for it for months/years) as it is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

However, overcrowding at a single venue also increases the main fears of pilgrims: Stampede when holy places are overcrowded, instability of surrounding construction sites and the fast spread of diseases and viruses. These fears increase when the pilgrims perform Hajj for the first time as they are not familiar with the steps of the pilgrimage.

Staying healthy and illness-free is extremely important during Hajj – and Dettol as a brand wanted a huge role to play in enabling this.

Assuming the role of protector, Dettol mapped out all direct contact points from the start of their journey, until the end. We successfully collaborated (the first time for any brand) with the Saudi Ministry of Health and the most used Hajj mobile App – ‘Salam’.

The Ministry notified us of outbreaks across the city and in turn, Dettol alerted the pilgrims through geo-targeted messages.

Every time a pilgrim had a hygiene concern, Dettol, through Salam, provided precautionary advice in the form of tips, reminders and branded content and MERS trackers.

Advisory SMEes were also sent prior to and during their Hajj and Umrah journey.

Panning out the city of Mecca and the Hajj Airport, strategically placed outdoor signs lined their path, reiterating our message.

Dettol quickly became the name for health during the Hajj pilgrimage.

During Hajj, traffic to the Dettol partner 'Salam' mobile application increased by 1419% (vs. previous week) with a total of over 2 M impressions after the first 4 weeks

alone!

Social Media Deliveries: The total reach of unique users for the campaign was almost 2 Million - 38% of TG (benchmark @ 26%-30%.)

Total Reach of 5.5+ million impressions over delivered by 14% vs. projected KPIs with the top performing post reaching almost 430,000 people.

In terms of sales, Dettol Hand Sanitizer ran out of stock in the whole of Mecca during Hajj.

Clearly, we weren’t the only ones who believed that prevention is better than cure.