Louvre Abu Dhabi, the first ever universal museum in the Middle East and holding the name of the iconic ‘Louvre’, was set to open in Abu Dhabi in November 2017.

We wanted the world to know about it and to visit it. A big responsibility with the whole ‘Louvre’ name at stake. To put it bluntly, it was terrifying, and we were rightly terrified. Collaborating with the Louvre was mistaken for France selling culture and Abu Dhabi importing one, media was critical and skeptical. Louvre Abu Dhabi was expected to be just a replica of the Louvre. And it was opening in a place where people are, at best, indifferent to museums.

Accordingly, our job was to tell the museum’s story in a way that (1) shifts global perceptions from negative to positive, (2) differentiates it from the ‘Louvre’ in Paris, and (3) drives interest within the local audience.

The film reflects Louvre Abu Dhabi's ethos: how we are connected, despite our differences, our beliefs, time or where we live in the world.

The film shows different people from different walks of life, across the planet, doing whatever it is they do, but the execution itself uses icons from both the museum and in everyday life to provide visual connections from one scene to another.

These connections, which run throughout the film are represented through shapes, angles and lines, ultimately showing off the museum's dome.

We started with an anonymous ‘Why Are You You?’ asked through 3D installations across UAE, outdoors, digital and social media. On social media, global artists shared their answers and lead people to a microsite to submit theirs.

A branded manifesto film revealed ‘because we are mirrors of each others’ and ended with ‘See Humanity In A New Light’. It played on YouTube, cinemas and radio, CNN and The Louvre pyramid.

Brand statements like ‘We Don’t Need To Read From The Same Book To Be On The Same Page’ followed to convey the museum's philosophy. These featured on outdoors, digital and social, airports and global press.

Once the brand philosophy delivered, we conveyed how visitors can experience it in the museum. Through digital and social posts, print and outdoors, we showed culturally-opposing artworks having a tolerant dialogue - Christian and Muslim artworks exchanging ‘We Live By The Same light' for example.