How do you reinforce the reputation of the world's largest airline for Islamic pilgrimage travelers globally?

You do something no airline has done, that's meaningful to travellers, earning a disproportionate share of earned media.

ProtecTasbih exemplified Saudia Airline's innovation, social responsibility, and cultural sensitivity.

It cleverly addresses a pilgrimage need - protection from infection - while staying deeply rooted in traditional practice.

It sends a powerful message about the brand's commitment to supporting its customers' health and spiritual practices, showcasing adaptability in response to global health concerns.

It strengthened brand reputation and generated positive media attention, delivering an effective impact.

Hajj & Umrah are mandatory Islamic pilgrimages that witness millions of Muslims traveling to Mecca from around the world. With over 2 million pilgrims gathered in one place, Islamic pilgrimages are the biggest and densest human gatherings in the world.

This means disease and infection spread extremely easily. Over 60% of pilgrims fall ill due to contact, according to the WHO. And elderly pilgrims see a 40% risk of death due to infection according to the Journal of Infection & Public Health.

Dubbed the ‘Hajj Cough’, this global phenomenon is a worldwide public health challenge, and is known to be an inevitable illness if hygiene practices are not taken seriously.

Due to Islamic law, products containing alcohol, artificial fragrance, or animal products cannot be used or carried in pilgrimage, meaning there is a dire need for innovative all-natural solutions for sanitization.

Muslim pilgrims carry with them prayer beads, also known as "tasbih". They use these prayer beads to count 99 prayers - with each tasbih carrying either 33 or 99 beads.

Saudia Airlines is the world’s leading carrier for pilgrimage travel to Saudi Arabia.

Following its revamped brand positioning, the airlines needed to showcase its care for the wellbeing of its passengers along with its innovative, future-forward solutions.

The Islamic pilgrimages of Hajj & Umrah are the world’s largest human gatherings. With over 2 million people from around the world gathered in extremely close proximity, infection spreads easily.

According to the W.H.O., 60% of pilgrims who journey to Hajj or Umrah in Mecca fall sick due to contact, and then return home spreading the ‘Hajj Cough’.

Moreover, elderly pilgrims have a 40% increased risk of death from this respiratory infection.

After having identified this tension point and opportunity, Saudia sought to innovate solutions to place health & safety in the hands of pilgrims worldwide.

ProtecTasbih is the world’s first sanitizing prayer beads.

We had to create the product from scratch using a new compound. Alcohol is what’s commonly used for antibacterial and sanitizing products. But owing to religious reasons, we couldn't use anything using any alcohol. So, we had to look at natural potential solutions. Further research brought us to tea tree oil.

Tea tree oil is found to be effective against a broad spectrum of bacteria because it disrupts the cell membrane of the bacteria itself.

Once we chose tea tree oil as the sanitizing element, we had to integrate it into a semi-solid compound.

And then, we developed a way of creating a solid bead, covered in this softer compound, by developing a new molding technique.

The semi-solid compound is designed to last two weeks; the duration of a pilgrimage. And its inner shell was then re-usable, leading to zero waste.

We chose to use the one thing pilgrims carry on them to Mecca - an item that is common to most pilgrims across the world: Prayer beads.

Muslim pilgrims carry with them prayer beads, also known as "tasbih". They use these prayer beads to count 99 prayers - with each tasbih carrying either 33 or 99 beads.

We went global with promoting it as Muslim travellers would come from everywhere.

The product was designed for PR. Its new and innovative healthcare product novelty attracted media and news channels.

Seeding the product with Muslim influencers and inviting them to visit drove exponential content expansion on social platforms.

ProtecTasbihs were also promoted via interactive vending machines at airports and via a moving narrative film on in-flight screens targeting all Mecca-bound pilgrims. They were distributed to travellers in-flight, as they arrived in Mecca, and were handed out across the city of Mecca too.

An important element: The product itself. We had created a new and innovative healthcare product for all Saudia guests to have a healthier and sanitary pilgrimage journey. And we used the one thing pilgrims carry on them that is common across the world: Prayer beads. Every time pilgrims flick a bead to pray, they would sanitize their hands. This product was our hero when it came to promoting to news and media.

The right scale: PR was key to supporting the advertising efforts, in making this product known. Its new and innovative healthcare product novelty attracted media and news channels.

Influencing influencers: We targeted Muslim influencers worldwide, seeing the product for them to try out, and also, invited them to visit Mecca with the product in tow, and drove exponential content expansion on social platforms.

More content: We continued feeding media with more content such as a moving narrative film.

The ProtecTasbih innovation witnessed global responses, with opinion leaders and religious leaders praising the breakthrough. It was hailed as a revolution in Hajj healthcare, with each bead fighting a global public health problem.

Organic social media coverage across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa highlighted the importance of using ProtecTasbih and the importance of maintaining hygiene during pilgrimage.

Saudia Airlines made the design & formulation of the beads open-source so that any organization could produce their own life-saving beads—putting the power of protection in the world’s hands.

100,000+ pilgrims positively impacted.

$2.9 million in earned media.

1.5 million pilgrims reached on-ground.

#1 trending topic in the Middle East.

Trending topic in 35 countries.

+62% brand love for SAUDIA.

+35% increase in pilgrimage travellers.