The World's Tallest Donation Box is relevant for submission into the Direct category as it incorporated a range of direct marketing techniques in order to drive donors to the campaign's microsite, encouraging financial and in-kind donations through the initiative's online payment gateway. This included, but was not limited to, promotion through SMS, Email, websites, social media and newspapers.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when millions were losing their jobs, those that needed our help most were forgotten and left to suffer. As charitable donations plummeted globally, the billions that would normally have been donated to the needy; had simply dried up and millions were unable to receive the support they required to live. In the UAE, those most affected by this backlash were the hundreds of thousands of low-wage workers, whose income is vital in putting food on the table. We answered an ordinary food donation brief from an NGO, where our challenge became to encourage donations at a time where charity had never been closer to home. The reality was that the world had stopped donating. We created a unique donation mechanic, unlike anything seen before, with an objective to capture people’s attention and, ultimately, turn a charitable cause into worldwide entertainment.

The idea was both simple and elegant. What if we could light up the smiles of those most affected by COVID-19 (those on low incomes, who’d lost their jobs and couldn’t afford to feed their families) by individually lighting up (and selling off) each of the 1.2 million lights that illuminate the façade of the Burj Khalifa? ‘The World’s Tallest Donation Box’ achieved exactly this. We invited the public to purchase and illuminate all 1.2 million LEDs on the world’s tallest building for as little as AED 10 (USD 3) each.

In order to encourage financial and in-kind donations, the initiative reached out to institutions, companies and the general public to purchase lights for as little as AED 10 each, from the campaigns specially-developed microsite, to provide vital food aid to those directly or indirectly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak across the country. This was achieved using a multi-faceted approach to digital and offline marketing, including the use of influencers, social media, TV and radio promotion. For every light purchased through the campaign’s microsite, one of the Burj Khalifa’s 1.2 million pixels was lit up and a meal was provided to someone in need.

The World's Tallest Donation Box was a multi-faceted and highly-innovative digital campaign that leveraged the power of modern technology, cross-channel marketing techniques and a unique online donation mechanic to provide 1.2 million meals to those most affected during the global pandemic, while utilising the Burj Khalifa's light display in a way never seen before. Over seven days, strategic digital and offline promotion, including the use of social media, influencer marketing, TV and radio, drove doners to the initiative's specially-developed microsite, which displayed the 1.2 million pixels for sale – each representing a light and a meal. Once donors had selected and purchased their lights, the site's back-end pushed updates to the Burj Khalifa's display servers in real-time, which lit the world's tallest building's lights in a gleaming display of hope and solidarity.

The campaign was expected to reach its target within one month of launching. In just seven days, all 1.2 million lights were sold, thanks to the generous donations from people of 110 nations and many global brands including Amazon, McDonalds, Unilever, Atlantis Resorts, VISA, West Zone, Tristar Group, Chalhoub Group. What started as a tall ask, quickly became a shining example of human generosity, with USD 3.3 million raised in food aid and just over 1.2 million meals donated. The initiative was covered over 400 times by news outlets, worldwide, and reached a staggering 4.3 billion people.

USD 3.3 million raised in 7 days

1.2 million lights illuminated

1.2 million meals donated

166 countries reached

110 donor countries

4.3 billion media reach

1000+ online articles

400+ TV News stories worldwide

500 + Radio

175 million video views

3 million+ website visits in 7 days

USD 6.7 million in free marketing