‘Life Saving Signs’ created self-check signs that didn’t otherwise exist in sign language, in order to raise breast cancer awareness amongst millions of hearing and speech impaired women in the Middle East. For the first time, a campaign that spoke to a community of 4.7 million women who were otherwise marginalized was created.

Never before had a campaign with such a small target audience achieved such a big impact, receiving praise and acclaim from the Government of the UAE across national media and by the most influential female personalities on social media.

40% of women in the UAE have never had a mammogram screening.

In the Middle East, while the topic of breast cancer is discussed through media campaigns, most women are culturally not comfortable discussing this subject. To target a community with a communication disability is an even more sensitive issue. Especially when 300 universally used sign languages, each covering 140,000 words, don’t include signs for ‘cancerous’ or ‘lumps’.

As the largest financial institution in the middle east, for Emirates NBD to take it upon themselves to create new life-saving signs to educate this isolated section of women, needed approvals to show that there was no monetary gain by communicating to such a vulnerable section of society.

Pink October sees organizations launching a flood of CSR-related breast cancer awareness campaigns. Yet, most of these go unnoticed and are not impactful, especially for women who are hearing and speech impaired. Emirates NBD, the largest bank in the middle east, has always used its CSR initiatives to empower the community at both a macro and micro level. So, when breast cancer awareness month was around the corner, the bank was clear in its stand of creating a campaign that spoke to everyone. Especially the 4.7 million women across the region that face hearing and speech impairments, who depend on a language that doesn’t include signs for ‘cancerous’ and ‘lumps’. The ‘TogetherLimitless’ program was at the forefront of the Bank’s commitment to creating an inclusive campaign that broke the barriers of disability. We decided to make this the most exclusive campaign ever, targeting millions of otherwise marginalized women.

We created the world’s first signs for ‘cancerous’ and ‘lumps’, that didn’t otherwise exist in sign language. We then launched ‘Life Saving Signs’, a breast cancer awareness campaign that helped the hearing and speech impaired women to self-check. Completely executed in sign language, it was the first-ever silent campaign released on sound-first apps like TikTok and Instagram. Our campaign was heard loud and clear across media outlets and social media as key influencers with significant female followings took to their channels to praise and further spread the campaign’s reach.

In the region, 4.7 million women are hearing or speech impaired. Yet there are no breast cancer awareness campaigns targeting them. We partnered with sign language experts to analyze 300 universally used sign languages, each covering 140,000 words, and found that signs for ‘cancerous’ and ‘lumps’ didn’t exist. In a region where discussing breast cancer is already taboo, the lack of signs made the topic almost impossible to discuss for impaired women. Emirates NBD, the largest banking institution in the middle east, prides itself on inclusivity and through its ‘TogetherLimitless’ program is committed to building a disability inclusive society. So, when Pink October arrived, while most corporates launched numerous campaigns that excluded this community, Emirates NBD launched one that talked to those who couldn’t. By creating the first-ever life saving signs that didn’t otherwise exist in sign language.

It was the first-ever silent campaign that was released across sound-first apps – completely breaking the format and catching everyone’s attention.

The ‘Life Saving Signs’ campaign was launched organically on Emirates NBD’s Instagram and

TikTok accounts at the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness month – 1st October 2023. It went viral overnight with the most popular influencers reposting it on their channels, and national media outlets covering the campaign within just 24 hours of its release.

With a budget of only US$ 45,000, the campaign gained over 7.3 million social media impressions, a 100% increase in positive brand association and most importantly a huge jump of 47% in mammogram checks with the community.

The campaign achieved maximum success on a very limited budget as compared to other campaigns. Furthermore, by reaching millions of women across the region, it highlighted Emirates NBD as a brand that believed in building an inclusive community.

Impressions: +7.3m

Positive brand sentiment: +100%

Increase in mammogram check-ups within the community: +47%