The Middle East has often been characterized by highly centralized power that favors the wealthy and powerful. With the region also characterized by the economic and political instability, Community Social Responsibility becomes all the more important for the brands to build emotional affinity with people. Community Social Responsibility is today’s Corporate Social Responsibility. A brand doing something good for their community is a key driver to win people’s share of hearts and minds, especially given the prevalent environment.

As a result, a lot of brands in the region have become more conscious about how they are perceived as enablers of community and social goodness and how they make a real positive difference. And they have engaged more actively in CSR programs to improve their community goodwill.

But unlike bigger brands and bigger NGOs, newer and relatively smaller NGOs do not have budgets to increase the awareness for the causes they support, nor to create a widespread difference for the causes they endorse.

And they have no branded content to make their brand and their cause more talked about.

SmartLife, an NGO for Dubai's blue-collared labourers, needed branded content vs. traditional advertising, to garner more awareness and support for its cause.

Labour camps became Educational camps.

Transport buses became School buses.

Construction sites became Learning sites.

Mundane routines became Inspiring journeys.

Flashcards, an interactive Karaoke song, Print ads in vernacular media, Bus shelter ads around labour camps extended their learning.

We shared a number that they could give a missed call on. We called them back to enroll them.

To support the outdoor engagement, we created a social media app on Facebook, inviting Hindi-speaking people and typography fans to create and contribute their own words too.

A special edition designer book with the words was sold in bookstores to raise funds.

Project Akshar (Alphabets) is transforming their lives of labour into lives of learning:

(1) 5000+ students have graduated thus far in 12 months.

(2) 28% have cleared job interviews for white-collar jobs.

(3) 12% launched businesses back home.

(4) 23% got promoted to white-collar jobs from existing blue-collar jobs in the same companies.

(5) 37% got higher salaries; including certain workers moving from 800 AED ($220) per month to 8000 AED ($2200) per month in just 12 months!

(6) The project has been invited to be a part of the Dubai Government’s ‘Happy Dubai’ initiative.

(7) All costs were pro bono ($0) courtesy our partners.

(8) SmartLife generated unprecedented earned media for its brand worth $430,000 across TV, Press, Radio and Social Media regionally and worldwide. Among many others, the project was endorsed by Timeout, Dubai One, The National, Gulf News, XPRESS, Expatwoman.com, Dubai Municipality, Emirates 24/7, GEMS Winchester School, City 7, Dubai Media Inc, Manorama News, Manoramaonline.com, Khaleej Times, Gulf Madhyamam daily as well as Contagious, Best ads, Euro News, Act Responsible, Ad Forum, Ebola Industries, Digital Synopsis, Creative Criminals, Little Black Book and Communicate.

(9) Won the Grand Prix for Good and 8 Golds at Dubai Lynx 2015.