Eight awards in the film category, a MENA first for a telecom company

Dubai, UAE, 15 March 2015 

du, the Middle Easts fastest-growing telecommunications company, won eight impressive accolades at the 2015 Dubai Lynx Awards for its disruptive du Tuesday campaign.

This is the first time that a telecommunications brand within the MENA region has won so many awards in the film category for the second consecutive year. It is also the first time that a sequel has won bigger than the original campaign. It is also the first time that all 20 shortlists (out of total 27 entries) has won at the awards ceremony.

In an effort to inspire loyalty between users, du leveraged on peoples passion for movies and partnered with cinemas to launch du Tuesday, whereby customers walk away with two movie tickets, for the price of one, on Tuesdays at VOX Cinemas across the UAE.

As a next step and building on their insights into customer preference, du decided to delight customers by offering them a shared experience and encouraging customers to take someone along with them on du Tuesdays. Through their agency Leo Burnett, du developed a series of entertaining communication collateral (films/posters/outdoors) to engage with movie lovers.

du won three awards in the gold section under the categories of direction, casting and cinematography; four silver awards under the categories for script, art direction, cinematography and editing and a bronze for sound design of their campaigns.

du Tuesdays campaign films used cutting-edge creativity and a humorous tone to shed light on the importance of indulging in a shared movie experience. The adverts were created by Leo Burnett Dubai, directed by Ali Ali and Maged Nassar.

Hala Badri, Executive Vice President of Brand and Communications, du, said: At du, we value our customers and their feedback. As a telecommunications company, we are not limited to only providing connectivity. We believe in enriching the quality of lives of our customers and building a human bond with them. The du Tuesdays platform is ideal as it allows us to communicate with our customers in exciting, original and relevant ways that are designed to deliver a compelling brand experience. Winning a prestigious award like this for the second consecutive year renews our faith in the continued success of this platform.

Through the du Tuesday campaign, all eligible du prepaid and post-paid mobile customers can enjoy a complimentary second ticket for all films showing at VOX Cinemas in the UAE. All they have to do is buy one, to get one free! Customers can get their free tickets either by buying tickets through VOX Cinemas website, www.voxcinemas.com/du using a du SMS coupon code, or by showing an SMS coupon code at the cinema box office on a Tuesday.

Moreover, the du Tuesday initiative includes exciting competitions that allow customers to have fun and enjoy unique experiences such as walking on the red carpet at the latest international cinema movie premiers, just like celebrities do. To find out how they can win tickets to these exclusive events, customers can visit the du social media pages, including Facebook (www.facebook.com/du) and Twitter (@dutweets).

Last year, the du Tuesday campaign swept the 2014 Dubai Lynx Awards, winning eight trophies, and the MENA Cristal Festival Awards 2014, winning in three categories. It also won the UAE's first-ever Gold Lion at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2014. Continuing its award-winning streak, the campaign struck gold in two categories at the London International Awards and bagged a bronze at the Mena Effie Awards.

-Ends-

About du
We started operating in 2007, offering mobile and fixed telephony, broadband connectivity and IPTV services. Today, we serve more than 7.5 million individual customers and over 80,000 businesses in the

UAE. We also provide carrier services for businesses and satellite up/downlink services for TV broadcasters. We won the Gallup Great Workplace Award.

Our recruitment strategy aims to provide fulfilling opportunities for quality talent in a cosmopolitan working environment where more than 60 nationalities work 35% of which are Emiratis. We are the first telecom company in the world to release a Sustainability Report based on GRI-G4 comprehensive guidelines. Among our other laurels, we also have the credit of being the first in the UAE to be awarded with prestigious LEED Platinum certification for 2 of our green retail outlet.

du is 39.5 percent owned by Emirates Investment Authority, 20.08 percent by Mubadala Development Company PJSC, 19.5 percent by Emirates Communications and Technology LLC and the remaining by public shareholders. Listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), the company trades under the name du.

For further information, please contact:

Maryam Al Balooshi
PR Lead(Corporate)
Brand & Communications
du
Mobile: +971 55 953 0523
Email: maryam.albalooshi@du.ae

Reka Sepsy
LeoComm PR
Tel: +971 4 367 6154 
Mobile: +971 55 220 68 20
Fax: +971 4 367 2615
Email: reka.sepsy@leocommpr.com

Press Release 2015