In a clear acknowledgement of its creative capabilities, du has been honoured with two awards at the prestigious MENA Cristal Awards 2011, the sixth edition of the Middle East’s first-ever advertising festival. The company was honoured with an impressive Gold (Cristal) award in the Corporate Category for its Ramadan “Time” TV commercial – featuring world-renowned Emirati artist Ahmed Bukhatir - and a Silver (Finalist) award in the Outdoor category for its Real Business Broadband DMC ambient execution “Eye”. 

“Through a unified and strategic approach to advertising and communication, we aim to communicate our brand’s young, friendly and innovative image and identity, and we are pleased to see that these efforts are being recognised across the region. We are deeply honoured to receive these awards, and very proud of our ‘Time’ and ‘Eye’ campaigns, along with our many other shortlisted achievements, which clearly demonstrate that we are succeeding in reaching out to people and - true to our philosophy of adding life to life - providing our customers with a unique and inspiring experience of our brand,” commented Hala Badri, EVP Brand and Communications, du.

du was shortlisted for seven awards across four categories including the Smart Business Plan "Building", "Park", "Airport" campaigns in the Daily Press Category, the Smart Business Plan "Building" and Real Business Broadband “Eye” in the Outdoor Category, Business Mobile Broadband “Dubai” in the Magazine Category and the Ramadan TV commercial, “Time”, in the Corporate Category.

“I was honoured to be a part of creating this fantastic TV commercial with du and am very proud of this phenomenal achievement. The aim of this campaign was to help people get the most out of their spiritual journey and bring them closer to their loved ones during Ramadan through the powerful medium of music and prayer. This award truly bears testament to our success in uniting friends and family and providing them with a source of inspiration and comfort during this important religious time,” said Ahmed Bukhatir.

The company recently welcomed Ahmed Bukhatir as its new brand ambassador, in a collaboration that will provide du customers with access to the popular Al Munshed’s spiritual works. Ahmed Bukhatir has been one of the pioneers of Nasheed, an Islamic art in which an artist sings without any musical instrument. The content on offer included music downloads of all 10 Nasheeds from Bukhatir’s seventh album, ‘Moments with Allah’, including the popular new Nasheed, ‘Moth Arafto Allah Rabbi’, meaning ‘Since I came to know my God’.

The MENA Cristal Festival was founded in 2005 with the aim of introducing a new and ambitious competition for advertising in all North African and Middle Eastern countries. It rewards the best advertising creations with the famous Cristal trophy, in the same fashion as the Cristal Festival in Switzerland on which it is modelled. This event gathers all the communications actors in the world: advertising agencies, advertisers, producers, directors, media, survey companies and TV producers, among others, and the aim of the festival is to associate creativity and business, and to promote Arabic advertising creativity.