Orient Planet - Innovation in Public Affairs Communications

Company: Orient Planet, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Company Description: Orient Planet is one of the Middle East’s most rapidly growing public relations, marketing and communications consultancies. We specialize in providing powerful and distinctive business communications, drawing on the best talent and quality resources to assist local, regional and international companies in enhancing their corporate reputation and brand equity.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Award for Innovation in Public Affairs Communications

Nomination Title: Management of communication campaign for UAE’s successful election to International Maritime Organization Council

Provide an essay of up to 625 words describing the nominated innovative achievements since July 1 2018:

Summary:

The Federal Transport Authority (FTA) partnered with Orient Planet PR & Marketing Communications to mobilize support for the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) candidacy for a second term of Category B Membership into the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council. The goal was to garner support of other member countries from the region and from around the world by highlighting why the UAE deserves to be re-elected to the Council. This goal was successfully accomplished by raising awareness on the country’s position as an innovative maritime hub and the most competent and able Asian and Arab country in Category B at local, regional and international levels through executing a comprehensive, strategic communications campaign that comprised PR and social media.

The Challenge

The challenge was to raise awareness on the UAE's qualifications to play a pivotal and influential role in the global efforts to promote the international maritime system and to drive the growth of global maritime trade, in order to garner support of other member countries. The need was to draw attention to the UAE’s long-standing efforts and contributions to help IMO achieve its mission for safe, secure and efficient shipping on clean oceans before local, regional and international audiences from other member countries.

Our solution

We identified the most compelling reasons from among the UAE’s wide array of maritime accomplishments and milestones, to be highlighted before the right audiences at the local, regional and international levels. The communication strategy conceived by Orient Planet for FTA focused on effectively highlighting the UAE’s world-class maritime infrastructure; advanced ports; its role in promoting maritime training and education; active participation in addressing global maritime challenges; proactive role in Ministerial sessions of IMO; active engagement with global events in the sector such as the World Maritime Day; and global recognitions received by top-level UAE maritime officials.

Execution of the Communication Plan

Orient Planet worked hand in hand with FTA for the execution of the awareness promotion campaign. An integrated communication strategy was developed in both Arabic and English, which included interviews with journalists from leading publications. The international media campaign, which focused on drawing attention to the wide array of maritime initiatives undertaken by the UAE and its successful contributions to the global maritime industry’s development, generated great response from media outlets from around the world, resulting in 69 international media spots.

The execution of the strategic campaign also comprised local media roundtable sessions and hands-on PR support for the UAE delegation during the IMO meetings. Social media channels were leveraged to raise further awareness on the UAE’s capabilities and strengths as a maritime leader. The campaign kicked off in August 2019, followed by four months of active media engagement.

Outcome

The UAE won Category B Membership into the 40-member IMO Council for a second term, besting the competition that witnessed the participation of 10 leading countries in the field of international maritime trade, on November 29, 2019, in London.

Campaign Evaluation

-The FTA gained a total of 571 combined coverage from local, regional and global media throughout the campaign. (See attached files)
-The campaign successfully secured various commendations and statements of support from relevant sectors in the UAE and the region.
-The FTA and its key role in maritime development in the UAE are receiving more attention and the government’s prominence in local, regional and international media is rising.
-The sector gained further reputation from the UAE community as an important pillar in the economic development of the country.
-The UAE further solidified its position as a major global maritime hub.