• Situation

Globally over millions of taxi drivers are in operation every day. This commonplace job in every city of every country is a thankless career where nobody even knows who they are. They fulfil their functional purpose. So much so that they are called names that aren’t even names – ‘Sir’, ‘Boss’, ‘My friend’, ‘Taxi Driver’.

• Brief

RTA, Dubai’s transport authority, wanted to recognize their taxi drivers as heroes that keep the city moving. During the pandemic, when the entire city stood still, taxi drivers were a saving grace to the people of Dubai.

• Objectives

We wanted to ensure that the taxi drivers of Dubai felt truly appreciated and, moreover, recognized.

We needed to find a way that gave our city heroes something that would encourage them; something that had long-term value; and something they, as well as yellow-cab taxis all over the world never really had – their name.

Our idea was to replace 4 monotonous letters on the top of taxi cabs (TAXI) with the name of the driver behind the wheel. This small change with a big heart ushered in a sense of inclusion, humanizing their job, garnering respect, and reaffirming purpose to their essential career.

While taxi drivers went above and beyond to serve the people of Dubai during the pandemic, they weren't recognised for their acts of heroism - nobody knew their name.

The aim was to get people to know who their heroes were. So rather than telling people to recognise their taxi driver, we gave people the ultimate tool to know exactly who was driving their cab. We replaced taxi light boxes (on top of cabs) with the driver's name.

Our campaign was created for everyone. Taxi customers in Dubai range from highschool students, to office-goers, to tourists, and those who enjoy Dubai's eclectic entertainment life. But the real target audience was an online population - growing in humanity and respect for frontline and essential workers.

Our main assets were patrolling the streets, with their name on top of the taxi, but also lived

The idea was implemented on several yellow-cab taxis in the city. Each one would have the TAXI lightbox replaced with the drivers’ names.

The lightbox became a medium that communicated the idea on every corner, highway and neighbourhood block in the city.

The campaign was launched through a social media video, and took on a viral wave, where key influencers across the city, including members of Dubai’s ruling family’ began sharing the initiative. This was instantly picked up by every major news publication, tv channel, radio station and by thousands of citizens that echoed the positivity of the campaign.

Following such a response, RTA proceeded to replace over 2000 taxi tops on its cabs.

69.7 million Earned Media Impressions (ZERO spend)

91% increase in Roads & Transport Authority Approval Ratings

73% increase in taxi rides

Over 2000 changed Taxi Tops (replaced with driver name)