After four years of differentiating and asserting stc’s network leadership, increasing network strength perception from 52% (in 2017) to 89% (in 2020), we now faced a new challenge. With the introduction of new 5G technology, stc was under renewed pressure and met once again a level playing field. As the country’s leading telco operator, stc faced increasing competition over its claim to have the widest coverage: As The market was inundated with messages from competitors (Mobily & Zain) claiming to have the newest, widest and strongest network.

Our key objective within this changing dynamic was to maintain perception of our network strength at 89% and not lose the efforts and investment that we had made in establishing our leadership.

Introducing Sarha, the world’s first data-capturing, content-creating camel, giving access to unseen parts of Saudi Arabia using stc’s network. The camel, our iconic chronicler, roamed the deserts for 7 days, enabling 11 Class A photographers around the world to capture remotely real-time photos and upload them live to the platform using stc's network. Not only were they able to take RAW photos in real-time, but they were also able to have full control over the camera rig system – including panning the motorized tripod and all the camera settings from their desk at home. The unique content was then shared with the public to showcase the unseen wonders of Saudi Arabia and demonstrate stc's network's strength.@unveilsaudi captured Sarha’s journey in its beautiful details through enhanced data visualizations that detailed the the remoteness of the area, the context of the photographs, and the amount of internet data Sarha consumed in real-time.

Our strategy involved collecting data components of a remote photo shoot to visualize the strength and coverage of the stc network. We built custom software to connect world-renowned photographers to the desert locations from their homes across thousands of miles in a way that conveyed weather and UV information in real time, so they could create their perfect shots. Simultaneously, we were collecting technographic data from the camera and the network so we could understand and craft visuals to explain the context behind each photo. And given that our camel Sarha was the star of the show, we adapted fitness tracking hardware and software to collect information about her distance traveled, number of steps, elevation, etc, so we could include this unique data set in our consumer-facing campaign.

We invited 11 photographers from around the world to see Saudi Arabia through Sarha’s eyes, our content-creating camel, connected live to capture images from the comfort of their own home. She would provide them with live feed and data so they could optimize their photography and shoot RAW high-definition images in real-time, buffered and uploaded at high network’s high speeds. The photographers were able to control all the camera settings, and as a result, epic photos and never-seen-before content was uploaded onto Sarha’s digital platforms. We used the content to tease people all over the kingdom that “never before seen content” was coming soon. We revealed using the rare photos across digital and social media. Sarha also shared live data through a dashboard all visualized and published on her Instagram for people to follow her journey details day-by-day: eg. photography details, context of photographs and internet data consumed in real-time.

We not only maintained perception of our network strength of 89% but increased it by 2%. Resulting in 400,000 incremental customers.*

As network strength is a key driver of brand equity, our brand equity index following the campaign was 6.6 compared to 4.3 for Mobily and 2.0 for Zain increased from 6.5 for stc, 4.5 for mobily, 2.1 for Zain.

Furthermore, our film received 4,479,812 Total views and 307,248,640 total impressions: Conversations around Sarha resulted in 1602 posts and 1620 mentions.

All together this culminated in $2 million in PR value.

The content and data resonated with Saudis, reminding them of the beauty of their country and its unexplored wonders. It also opened the world's eyes to hidden gems, capturing the hearts of animal lovers and tech gurus around the world. Sarha also became the talk of the town, getting a full documentary feature from Al-Arabiya, Saudi's biggest TV station.