To remind millions across the UAE that the solution to Vitamin D-deficiency was as simple as getting a little more sunshine and that it’s free and didn’t need a prescription, we didn’t want to tell them.

We wanted to show them. Using the sun to our advantage, we compelled people to step out in the sun to physically view the change; as a result, it pushed them to step into and soak in the sunlight for a few minutes.

We created a print ad that gave a primarily Vitamin D-deficient population across the UAE some much needed Vitamin D, by getting them to step out into the sun for a few minutes and see the transformational impact that time in the sun and exposure to natural sunlight can have on their health.

And turned magazine covers into a treatment for Vitamin D deficiency.

Over the summer months, we created a series of magazine covers with photochromic ink across UAE’s leading editorials that literally moved people out into the sun. The photochromic-inked covers at first glance were blank; being light sensitive, these covers could only be read once people stepped outside into the sun.

So, we invited people to actually expose their magazine covers to sunlight. with an intriguing call to action: “To find out what an estimated 7.5 million people in the UAE are missing, expose this cover to sunlight.” Once the readers stepped outside with the magazines, the ink revealed Daman’s message: “Vitamin D is essential for good health. Just 20 minutes every day in the sun gives you all you need to keep your bones and muscles healthy.”

And they understood that like the photochromic covers worked under exposure of sun, our bodies got the Vitamin D needed when in sunlight.

We reached 77% of UAE’s population (vs. the target of 75%) through our idea and engaged 27% of the total audience reached (vs. the target of 25%) through our content.

In just one month, we witnessed the impact of the idea with an instant drop in costs of tests to the UAE economy, as people understood the importance of stepping out into the sun through the influence of our messaging and education.

Vitamin D tests were costing the UAE economy $39 million annually. Within the first month of the launch of this campaign, costs reduced by $2.8 million (vs. the target of 1 million), saving a significant % of the yearly costs for the economy – a significant achievement for Daman in just one month.

With this idea, we proved that even the most traditional and conventional medium (one is said to have faded away in its relevance to digitally-connected audiences) can be used unconventionally and made meaningful.

With the innovative printing technology, the print ad not only made people act, it delivered on business results too.

No mass media publication used this impactful technique before. We also couldn’t simply place an inside page ad as the ink would be absorbed. So, we went for the front cover of leading business and lifestyle magazines.

As it uses print media distinctively, it's relevant for Media Lions.

90% of the Vitamin D that one needs can be obtained from the sun. The exposure of the human skin to sunlight is the most natural and most effective natural source of Vitamin D. But the reality is that it is also the most neglected source of Vitamin D across most people in the UAE. And it just gets tougher during the long summer when people aren’t really receptive to stepping out into the sun for long. The truth is just 20 minutes of exposure a day (spread over the course of a day) is enough to get enough Vitamin D to keep one healthy.

We needed to get people to EMBRACE THE HABIT OF STEPPING OUT INTO THE SUN; giving people across UAE some much needed Vitamin D, by getting them to step out into the sun for a few minutes and SEE THE TRANSFORMATIONAL IMPACT of that time.

We all need Vitamin D to keep our bones and muscles healthy. Trouble is we don’t get enough Vitamin D from the foods we eat. But, thankfully there’s a natural supplement: THE SUN.

Yet, in the UAE, the 6th sunniest country, with an average of 10 hours of bright sunshine a day, an estimated 80% of the population - 7.5 million people - are Vitamin D-deficient.

Given that the summer months in particular are very hot and discouraging for people stepping outdoor, this posed a somewhat formidable challenge as we sought to get people to step out into the sun. We needed to create an attention-earning, engaging and educational idea for Daman (UAE's leading health insurer), that would make people realize that they didn’t need to go for expensive and unnecessary Vitamin D tests; instead what they really needed to do was to step out and soak in the sun.