The Most Relaxed Cat in the World campaign from Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) is a stark departure from the typical DMO (Destination Marketing Organization) tourism promotions which typically highlights sweeping landscapes and experiences. It is also very different from celebrity led promotions (i.e. Kevin Hart for Yas Island and recently Lionel Messi for Saudi Tourism).

Instead RAKTDA took a calculated risk by bringing its community on side by paying tribute to a beloved RAK community cat named Leo (@thezenkitty), and promoting the emirate through a feline character known as ‘The Most Relaxed Cat in the World’.

Ras Al Khaimah is the northern most emirate in the UAE and is the fourth largest of the seven emirates. While its sister emirates (states) Dubai and Abu Dhabi have enjoyed popularity as thriving and vastly developing emirates, Ras Al Khaimah (RAK for short) has positioned itself as the Nature Emirate with its distinct eco-system of mountain, desert and sea.

As an emirate with less than 500 000 inhabitants, the community has always played a leading role in RAK life and the tourism board has succeeded throughout the years in promoting the destination (full pandemic tourism recovery from 2021 onwards, highest ever visitor numbers, green/sustainability accreditation, etc…). As such, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA), didn’t have to march to the same beat when it came to its marketing strategy. It had to ensure that any and every campaign resonated with its source markets, transcending culture and norms, and making the destination desirable for leisure travel. How would a campaign be creative enough but also make sense to a travel intender from Kazakhstan (second biggest market to RAK) as it did in India or the UK and Germany?

Realizing that Ras Al Khaimah couldn’t be everything to everyone, we focused on what our travelers wanted from us – relaxation in nature. And while relaxation and leisure were traditionally promoted through pristine beach shots, couples languishing by the pool and happy families on an excursion, we decided to take a completely different direction altogether.

• Situation: Develop a brand campaign for Ras Al Khaimah that would resonate with travel audiences and establish a recognizable presence when promoting the destination.

• Brief: Create a campaign that stood out from the stereotypical sea of sameness when it comes to destination campaigns, genuinely connecting with our audience in an enduring (and endearing way) and ultimately driving recall for Ras Al Khaimah. Additionally, how could we connect the community more with our tourism marketing efforts. Afterall, the UNWTO has stated that ‘when tourism grows, everybody wins’, especially the community.

The agency (Interesting Times) was also charged with a smaller budget when compared to other DMOs in the UAE.

• Objectives: Drive awareness and familiarity to tourism in Ras Al Khaimah with a cut-through-the-noise campaign and a multi-channel approach across 5 key markets, spur on virality wherever possible through best-in-class creative and an engaging gamification element.

We needed to create and execute a tourism brand campaign that cuts through the noise and stands out from our competitors.

Our target was awareness building across our primary and secondary markets that travel to RAK – five in total from the UAE, UK, Germany, India and Poland.

The Desired Outcome: Ultimately, our campaigns should lay the groundwork to attract over 3.5M visitors by 2030. In 2023, the emirate welcomed 1.22M visitors.

This campaign needed to help generate brand awareness in our key source markets. The creative should be impactful enough to ensure that we're always top of mind for potential travelers, focusing on pillars that we know (through our brand health research) they value – leisure, nature, relaxation. While DMO marketing leads to awareness and consideration within the marketing funnel, we are not transactional, so all our efforts also needed to support our trade/B2B partnerships in these markets too.

We started with a two-day brand workshop in June 2023 with our creative and PR agencies, and key members from RAKTDA.

It revealed that RAK had low to moderate brand awareness in key markets and using a ‘catch all’ campaign message wasn’t conducive.

Three creative directions were presented based on relaxation as the main theme. Two featured the destination as the typically, idyllic vacation while the third showcased the theme of relaxation in the form of a cat.

According to Adweek, campaigns that use mascots are 37% better positioned for greater market share. To make sure the direction resonated with our audience, we launched a YouGov survey in five markets, testing all creative routes.

The cat won.

We received blessing from our inspiration’s hooman family, who were honoured that we paid tribute to Leo. We then found the best CGI specialist in FABLEfx to bring our character to life.

We focused on showcasing relaxation in a non traditional manner through a mascot serving as a whimsical brand ambassador. When the concept of having a cat as the star of our campaign was proposed, it seamlessly aligned with our vision. A cat epitomizes the essence of an indulgent holiday that is full of relaxation.

This direction answered our ask for uniqueness, potential cut-through-the-noise creative, while effectively capturing the audience’s attention. Throughout the iterations of this campaign – the cat at a resort pool, beach and even the world’s longest zipline, we clearly communicated the idea of an indulgent holiday in Ras Al Khaimah.

The cat character based on Leo, a social media phenomenon in the community, only added to the affinity of the character and campaign. It also allowed for easy application in other areas of the campaign; namely, an online game which was highly addictive

Much like Leo, our Most Relaxed Cat in the World was a big hit. The campaign received significant attention from leading media outlets such as Skift, Campaign Middle East, PR Week and The National. Our digital media campaign achieved remarkable results, with over 290 million impressions, a view-through rate (VTR) of 98.8% on TikTok surpassing the platform benchmark of 90%, and a 1.93% click-through rate on META, exceeding the industry benchmark of 0.7%.

The cat character proved its influencer status on our social channels too, receiving 2.5 times more impressions than non-cat posts and 75% more post interactions compared to non-cat content. Even our B2B partners embraced the concept, incorporating the cat into their marketing collaterals including outdoor activations in London and Manchester. Overall, the campaign has made a significant impact across various channels, engaging both consumers and industry partners alike.

Despite having smaller budgets compared to our DMO competitors, we decided to go completely left field with our creative. Opting for innovation, we introduced a CGI character to embody the puuurrrrfect RAK vacation experience.

The campaign started with a backstory video on how our cat came to be rescued from RAK Animal Welfare Centre and travelled the world only to enjoy the relaxation and vibes of Ras Al Khaimah. We continued through a series of short, 30 second, video vignettes of our beloved cat with his hooman family at the beach, by the pool and even on a zipline ride.

We strategized to ensure precise targeting and optimized our media spend. Meanwhile our competitors engaged in expansive outdoor campaigns, heavy promoted shopping festivals, and launched high profile brand campaign starring celebrities. Despite this ‘noise’, our endearing feline character managed to leave an indelible scratch’ on our audience’s hearts and minds.