What is NEOM doesn’t only use media as a placement vehicle but uses media interaction at the heart of the campaign story.

Our core media channel is Google search and we used media and SEO to direct people to third parties, instead of our owned platforms so they could learn about NEOM from the publishers and platforms they trust.

Research showed awareness of NEOM had been trending upwards but understanding and credibility scored badly at 10 and 12% respectively.

This created a new objective for the Masterbrand; A need for our B2B and B2C target audiences to clearly understand what NEOM is and that it’s a credible opportunity.

To achieve this, we explored the power of media in our modern world.

This world is dominated and driven by screens. Media isn’t a supporting act, it’s the main character.

Where the exponential rise of second screening, this natural practice that’s become common place across all our target audiences was a media opportunity that we sought to leverage and became fit for purpose for this campaign’s situation and objectives.

Based on research, we knew people second-screen like it's second nature. Given the right prompt, this behaviour would be a rich territory to sit at the heart of our strategy and creative.

What is NEOM fuels the myths, misperception, and confusion about NEOM to spark intrigue and encourage our audience to search for credible answers. Paid media and SEO turned the Google search results page for “What is NEOM” into our campaign hub and in turn lead them to content with facts delivered by reputable third parties and NEOM itself.

Behavioural science showed that it’s more effective to change people’s actions than their minds. Simply telling people what NEOM is and trying to convince them of our credibility wouldn’t work. We had to get them to find the facts themselves.

Negative content dominates online, drowning out credible information. We needed to bring the truth to the front page. And today’s front page is the Google results page.

Our call to action became search “What is NEOM”

Our media planning was built on the premise that the Google search page would be our campaign hub. It was critical for the media strategy to drive this laser-focused search behaviour, and work across paid, owned and, importantly, earned. Especially with our complicated audience matrix comprising B2B, B2C, Global and Local segments.

Our media strategy doesn’t simply drive search of “What is NEOM”, it also delivers credible and relevant information to the right audience.

The hero film depicts a global conversation about NEOM, told through dialogue, linking scenes featuring a diverse cast of characters in situations around the world. This allowed for microfilm cut-downs that extend impact for social and digital-led channels.

We interviewed people to see what they thought NEOM is and created video and animated content with the most entertaining answers. Other executions feature real misconceptions uncovered through research.

The core media integration in every execution is the use of Google’s search bar with our CTA, nudging people in every channel, to search “What is NEOM”.

Launched on the 20th of Feb 2023 and ongoing, the scale of this campaign is deep and wide, “What is NEOM” is a format to answer every aspect of the extensive parts that make up the whole of NEOM.

Content implementation is growing, as we expand this device for every target audience, contextualizing NEOM for them.

Searches of “What is NEOM” were 27x higher after the campaign launch.

Those exposed to the campaign are 4x more likely to know what NEOM is.

Positive sentiment towards NEOM increased by 26 points, more than 3x NEOM’s benchmark.

In short, People searched “What is NEOM”, learned what it is, and think it’s more credible than ever before.

Google is a channel built for people to find answers to questions. Our audience had a simple question: “What is NEOM?”, and we directed them to ask it on Google.

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