Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) 2013 Takes A Technological Leap With Innovative Social Media Use

In a modern age of instant communication, the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment, an agency of the Department of Economic Development and organizers of Dubai Shopping Festival, is keeping abreast of all technological tools to connect to its diverse audience in Dubai and around the globe in order to engage people more completely in the celebration of DSF 2013 under the slogan “Dubai at its Best”.

The initiative to extensively use social media channels ranging from Facebook and Twitter to YouTube and Instagram is a key part of promoting the DSF and enriching the experience for festival goers by the organizers, the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE). In its drive for constant innovation in the way it guides and shapes the events that Dubai has become famous for, the DEPE has started extensively using these new and innovative tools. The main benefits of the new channels of communication are that they allow the DEPE to listen to its target audience and interact with them directly in order to better understand their issues and what they like and want more of. This, in turn, has enabled the DEPE to constantly fine-tune its delivery and offer its customers the best services and events. 

Speaking about the innovative use of social media that has made such a vast difference to the DEPE’s offerings, Khadija Turki, Senior Manager, Strategic PR and Media Relations at DEPE, said: “It is our endeavour to always make sure that there is something new and creative in the events that we organize. At the DEPE we believe that a willingness to be creative and think outside the box allows you to continuously exceed expectations.

“We have always used innovative and creative methods to communicate with the people and give them our message. We are aware of the deeply important and influential role that social media now plays in the world, especially when it comes to targeting people of different age groups and mainly the youth. It is a way to get people’s direct opinion on matters and at DEPE we have used the various social media tools to conduct our research, which has enabled us to understand the wishes, needs and requirements of our audience better so that we can work to fulfill them.

” The DEPE orchestrated its own presence on several social media channels to reach out to its target audience and give people from far and wide a chance to experience what DSF 2013 is about even if they could not attend the festival. This included efforts such as live streaming of the opening ceremony on Youtube for those who could not be present at Creek Park in Dubai to be part of the spectacular show.

Khadija said these and such other activities would continue even after DSF 2013 is over, as the DEPE will not stop reaching out to its audience and communicate with them, constantly striving to bring the world to Dubai even as it takes Dubai to the world.

While DSF 2013 is in full swing, competitions have been running on the social media website Facebook, where the festival’s page is hosting a competition titled “DSF Cashless Auction”. The aim of the competition is to popularize the DSF Facebook page by getting fans to encourage their friends to “Like” the fan page. Whoever gets the most number of friends to “Like” the page every week will win a prize from Jumbo Electronics. 

Sometimes a picture can speak a thousand words, or at least explain and present an event or activity in great detail. Instagram, the pictorial oriented social networking site is used as a tool for participants to post a picture that they felt best represents DSF and Dubai.

The competition on Instagram will pit amateur shutterbugs against each other to post the best picture they can take during DSF 2013. The top three photographers will get cash awards of AED 3,000, AED 2,000 and AED 1,000 respectively, as well as certificates from DEPE. The prizes will be presented during the DSF Journalism and Photography Awards to be held towards the end of this year’s festival. All the pictures of the competition will also be posted on a wall on the last day of DSF 2013 to coincide with the Journalism and Photography Awards.

Moreover, Twitter and Facebook continue to carry the messages of DSF 2013 to people throughout the festival. Twitter carries daily updates of activities and events, as well as live pictures from their venues around the city. With 10 to 15 key messages and updates daily along with responses to them, the micro-blogging site is enabling the DEPE to get to know its audiences’ opinions in an unprecedentedly direct and candid way. Twitter is also being used to announce the names of the winners of the various DSF promotions and raffles.

Video sharing website YouTube is another tool that is being made full use of in bringing the festival alive to netizens. The DSF 2013 channel on the site streamed the awe-inspiring opening ceremony live and still has the videos for people around the world to view. The DSF YouTube channel also has videos on all the major events of DSF 2013.

With a multi-pronged presence on social media and the virtual world, DSF 2013 is not only a celebration of Dubai, thanks to the DEPE’s efforts, it is also a celebration of Dubai’s innovative spirit and the huge progress made in the information technology field. 

Emirate:  Dubai

Date: Jan 16, 2013

Back