Client

‘Yasalam’, a spectacular series of free events and activities across Abu Dhabi, was one of the most diverse and ambitious city-wide entertainment programmes ever implemented by a Formula 1™ host city.

The Yasalam programme, developed by Flash Entertainment in 2009 as part the inaugural F1 event in Abu Dhabi, was tasked with transforming the city by building a dynamic range of entertainment that engaged the community and excited people.

It included superstar appearances and seminars at universities through to live concerts and movie nights on the Corniche Beach and the exciting line-up of after-race concerts from Beyonce, Jamiroquai, Kings of Leon and Aerosmith.

Objective

There was one objective in mind – to generate excitement and engage the community on a scale never seen before in Abu Dhabi. Of particular importance was the focus in communicating effectively with Emirati and Arab nationals to ensure they felt a part of – and were proudly embracing – Yasalam at every level.

Solution

Four Communications developed a three-pronged approach, which focused on the launch, pre/during event PR programme of activities and an extensive social media campaign that generated a sense of tremendous anticipation and excitement ahead of the country’s biggest ever sporting event.

Results

The results of Yasalam were significant and saw Abu Dhabi and the wider Middle East region not only embrace it in every way but also understand its significance to the community.

Some of the main achievements included more than 550 stories across news, entertainment, lifestyle and broadcast media. Importantly, there was also a genuine understanding and wide-spread support from the Arabic media who provided in-depth and meaningful coverage the ‘three pillars’ with particular success achieved with the Emirati artists and Arabic performers.

A quarter of media coverage appeared in Pan Arab media with Yasalam being mentioned 71 per cent of the time in reports (62 per cent of coverage also included the ‘celebration of the nation’ message).

The programme won a Sabre award for excellence.