Gethealthykuwait.com

Jointly owned and led by Kuwait's Diet Care and Taiba Hospital, Gethealthykuwait.com is Kuwait’s biggest independent initiative for personal nutrition and weight management, launched in June 2009. The Gethealthykuwait.com program aims to help individuals and families reduce their exposure to diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular illnesses by promoting a gradual change in their lifestyles through small habit-changing steps. By joining Gethealthykuwait.com (charges apply), members get an all-inclusive 28-day diet plan with three meals a day, delivered straight to their door.

Developed and managed by Bensirri Public Relations in Kuwait, the Gethealthykuwait.com campaign combines offline community activities and promotion with a members' nutrition and diet program website, a media relations program, plus a social media presence on Facebook, Youtube and Twitter. Every week, the Gethealthykuwait.com team reaches out to people in malls, schools, and offices and offers them free tests and consultations. For example, dieticians from Diet Care and Taiba Hospital provided over 100 Zain employees with cholesterol, sugar, and blood tests as well as weight analysis during a recent joint promotion with the telecom firm. Other firms that have supported the Gethealthykuwait.com program include National Bank of Kuwait, Burgan Bank, KNPC and Wataniya Telecom.

New members of Gethealthykuwait.com need to invest in a 28-day diet plan and so are enrolled as members for a standard 28 day period. Total current and expired members of Gethealthykuwait.com to-date have reached more than 600 people, while almost 2,000 people were 'tested' during the first four months of the campaign. New members signing up during the launch campaign were eligible to win a luxury holiday in Bali, Indonesia.

The website's members area, myGHK, lets members track their progress and automatically share their achievments on their Facebook profiles. myGHK also tracks all members' progress in order to offer prizes and incentives. Members who have signed up for Gethealthykuwait.com's 28-day program can also benefit from discounts for lab tests and treatments provided Taiba Hospital including skin and cellulite treatments. More than 600 members have signed up for the Gethealthykuwait.com Facebook page, where photos of campaign activities are posted regularly.

However, perhaps the best way to measure the success of the Gethealthykuwait.com program is in kilograms! During its first four months, members taking part in the 28-day program lost an average of 2.8kg each (based on statistics from 250 people who agreed to be monitored by the program, losing over 700 kilos collectively).

Campaign URLs

Website: gethealthykuwait.com

Facebook: Gethealthykuwait.com

Youtube: GetHealthyKuwait

Twitter: @followGHK

Friends, fans & followers

Gethealthykuwait.com membership: 600 current and past members (16 Nov 09 according to Bensirri PR)

Facebook page: 603 fans (30 Nov 09)

Youtube: 4 subscribers (30 Nov 09)

Twitter: 30 fans (30 Nov 09)

User engagement

Gethealthykuwait.com: 600 members purchased 28-day diet program (16 Nov 09 according to Bensirri PR), 250 people monitored lost an average of 2.8kg each

Facebook page: 78 posts from GHK, 13 posts from fans (30 November 2009), 46 photos from GHK, 80 fan Likes, 44 fan comments

Youtube: 8 GHK videos posted, 1,801 video views, 372 channel views, 4 channel comments

The Barasti Big Deal (Oct-Nov 2009)

Le Meridien Mina Seyahi’s famous Barasti Beach Bar in Dubai launched its “biggest promotion ever” – The Barasti Big Deal - with media partners Dubai 92FM radio and Time Out, plus, African and Eastern (agent for Corona beer in Dubai) and Virgin Atlantic on 2 October 2009.

Le Meridien Mina Seyahi is already well represented across social media, with its long standing Barasti blog ‘The Mina Effect’ and Facebook pages for Barasti, Le Meridien Mina Seyahi and

the Westin Dubai (see Vital Signs 11 August 2009). The focal point of the Barasti Big Deal promotion’s social media attention is barastibigdeal.com, a Ning.com network set-up and branded for the campaign.

With every bottle of Corona beer bought at Barasti during October 2009, participants receive a scratch card which entitles them to enter into a draw to win a ‘Barasti Big Deal T-Shirt’ (starting 2 October 2009) and become 1 of 52 people that enter a competition card game (between 31st October to the 12th November). In tandem, a competition run by Dubai92 FM radio’s popular Breakfast Show enters listeners that register via Dubai92.com in a prize draw to win Barasti Big Deal t-shirts and so win a chance to enter the card game. T-Shirt winners get to drink in Barasti for free for the duration of the promotion. Card game winners compete for a chance to win big ticket prizes such as an all expenses paid 6-day trip to New York; or a holiday for two at The Westin Maldives; or free food and drink at the Barasti Beach Bar for one year.

The barastibigdeal.com Ning networking site has gained 551 members over the past seven weeks, 288 video views and 95 fan photos submitted (see full stats below). However, the #BarastiBigDeal promotion driven by @Catboy_Dubai (Breakfast Show presenter Catboy) and @Dubai92 on Twitter has taken on a life of its own. On Tuesday 27 October 2009, all Twitter users that include #BarastiBigDeal in their tweets (regardless of their country of residence), will become Barasti Big Deal t-shirt winners and get entered in the grand prize draw. #BarastiBigDeal has already been a trending topic in the UAE (according to UAETweets.com) and goal seems to be to attempt to make #BarastiBigDeal a global trending Twitter topic on 27 October 2009. @BarastiBeach was launched on Twitter 24 September, but @minaseyahi has remained the main voice of Barasti for the competition and @BarastiBeach is not linked to on the barastibigdeal.com for some reason.

Whilst Bigbarastidea.com gained 551 members since the beginning of September 2009, @minaseyahi account gained 156 followers on Twitter since August, @BarastiBeach gained 113 since the account opened and The Barasti Beach Bar's Facebook page gained 547 members since August.

Big Barasti Deal campaign ended 19 November 2009.

Updated 27 November 2009.

Campaign URLs

Website: bigbarastideal.com

Website: Dubai92's Barasti Big Deal page

Blog: The Mina Effect (not linked from bigbarastideal.com)

Facebook: The Barasti Beach Bar Facebook group

Twitter: @minaseyahi, @BarastiBeach

Website: Le Meridien Mina Seyahi

Friends, fans & followers

Ning: Barastibigdeal.com 551 members (25 October 2009), 636 members (27 November 2009)

Blog: followers not available for Minaeffect.com

Facebook group: The Barasti Bar 2,385 members (11 Aug 09), 2,932 members (25 Oct 09), 3,222 members (27 Nov 09)

Twitter:  @minaseyahi 473 followers (11 Aug 09), 629 (25 Oct 09), 670 (27 Nov 09)

Twitter:  @BarastiBeach 113 followers (25 Oct 09), 178 followers (27 Nov 09)

User engagement

Barastibigdeal.com (as of 25 October 2009): 35 blog posts (incl. 5 fan blog posts), 8 blog comments, 180 photos (incl. 95 fan photos), 15 videos (incl. 5 fan videos), 288 video views
Barastibigdeal.com (as of 27 November 2009): 43 blog posts (incl. 5 fan blog posts), 8 blog comments, 545 photos (incl. 394 fan photos), 24 videos (incl. 6 fan videos), 1,071 video views

Facebook page: 20 posts on promotion from hotel & staff, 0 posts from members (25 October 2009), No further posts on Barasti Big Deal post 25 October 2009

Minaeffect.com blog: comments are turned off (25 October 2009)

#BarastiBigDeal Twitter hashtag: frequently trending topic on UAETweets.com (October)

Jeddah Chamber of Commerce Elections

Several candidates vying for seats on the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry's board of directors have turned to social media to campaign for the elections, which take place on 17 October 2009. The JCCI expects 26 candidates to stand for election to the trade body's board, which has 40,000 active members making it the largest chamber in the GCC.

The JCCI's new election system, which involves a single voter choosing only one of the 26 candidates, seems to have created unprecedented competition among candidates according to sources quoted by the Arab News newspaper. Twelve members out of a board of 18 will be elected by JCCI members, while the remaining six will be appointed by the Saudi Minister of Commerce and Industry.

The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry itself has had a presence on Facebook since last year and now has a Facebook group with 1,602 members (as of 27 September 2009). The JCCI also has a brand new Twitter account @JeddahChamber registered this month.

So far, Mazen Batterjee, who is currently vice-chairman of chamber, Nasser Al-Farhan, Chairman of Sharakat Al-Khair for Trading Business, and Seifallah Sharbatly, Deputy General Manager of Mohammed Abdallah Sharbatly Co. and CEO of Arabian Agricultural Company (ARATCO) are leveraging Facebook to engage JCCI members. So far, the three candidates combined have connected with more than 1,700 people on Facebook.

Other board members such as Abdullah Marie bin Mahfouz, deputy chairman have used SMS, e-mails and fax messages to engage with the chamber's membership.

Updated 7 October 2009

Campaign URLs
Website: JCCI (Arabic)
Website: JCCI (English)
Facebook: JCCI (new)

Facebook: JCCI (old)
Twitter: JCCI

Friends, fans and followers
Facebook: JCCI (new) - 1,602 members, 16 discussion topics, 51 wall posts, 65 photographs, 67 links (27 September 2009)
Facebook: JCCI (old) - 333 members, 8 discussion topics, 33 wall posts, 14 photographs, 16 links (27 September 2009)
Twitter: JCCI - 12 followers (27 September 2009)

Campaign URLs - JCCI election candidates
Facebook: Nasser Al-Farhan (group page) - 453 members, 7 discussion topics, 28 wall posts (27 September 2009)

Facebook: Mazen Batterjee (group page) - 794 members, 3 discussion topics, 24 wall posts (27 September 2009)

Facebook: Mazen Batterjee's (event page) - 478 confirmed guests, 31 wall posts (27 September 2009)

Facebook: Seifallah Sharbatly (group page) - 525 members, 2 discussion topics, 27 wall posts (27 September 2009)

Facebook: Seifallah Sharbatly (event page) - 291 confirmed guests, 23 wall posts (27 September 2009)

Facebook: Kaswara Saria Al-Khatib (profile)


News stories
Arab News: Al-Khatib says it’s time for change at JCCI (7 October 2009)
Arab News: JCCI candidates use Eid greetings to woo voters (27 September 2009)

RTA launches social media campaign

Dubai's RTA, the Roads & Transport Authority that is responsible for planning, providing and administrating transport, roads & traffic services and infrastructure for the Emirate, has launched its own social media campaign, so says yesterday's official press release. The Authorities social media campaign kicks-off in advance of the opening of the Dubai Metro on September 9th.

The RTA begun opening social media profiles during June 2009 and now uses Blogger, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The Authority's YouTube channel has already been a marked success with 1,148 videos watched from the 64 videos uploaded (27 August 2009). The RTA's Facebook group has 1,475 members (27 August 2009).

According to Peyman Younes Parham, Director of the RTA's Marketing and Corporate Communication Department "Using these social networks plays a vital role in opening a two-way communication channel with the public. Clients can benefit from the information about RTA services uploaded in these social networks portals, whereas RTA will have the benefit of improving its services through capitalizing on communication."

My City My Metro
The RTA is also already using its new social presence for its first social media promotion campaign: "My City, My Metro". The YouTube video competition was launched on 19 August with an accompanying Facebook page. However, so far all the 28 videos that are shown in the "My Metro and My City" playlist (all of them uploaded on 19 August 2009), seem to be example videos shot and produced by the RTA or its marketing agencies. However, this is effectively at the end of week one and there are yet two more weeks before the Metro official opening!

Campaign URLs
Website: RTA
Facebook: RTA
YouTube: RTA
Twitter: RTA (English)
Twitter: RTA (Arabic)
Blogger: The Official Blog of RTA (English)
Blogger: The Official Blog of RTA (Arabic)
Facebook: My City My Metro
Youtube: My City My Metro Playlist

Friends, fans and followers
Facebook: RTA - 1,475 members, 16 discussion topics, 232 Wall posts (27 August 2009), 1,600 members, 19 discussion topics, 251 wall posts (7 September 2009)
YouTube: RTA - 89 subscribers, 1,148 videos watched, 6,991 channel views (27 August 2009), 98 subscribers, 1,200 videos watches, 8,120 channel views (7 September 2009)
Twitter: RTA (English) 64 followers (27 August 2009), 226 followers (7 September)
Twitter: RTA (Arabic) 7 followers (27 August 2009), 11 followers (7 September 2009)
Blogger: RTA number of subscribers unavailable
Facebook: My City My Metro - 195 fans (27 August 2009), 280 fans (7 September 2009)
Youtube: My City My Metro Playlist - 354 views, 28 videos (27 August 2009), 575 views, 28 videos (7 September 2009)

News stories
Gulf News: RTA launches Blogger, Twitter accounts (26 August 2009)

Ban men from selling lingerie

The online-offline "Ban Men From Selling Lingerie in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" campaign was started in July 2008 by women consumers using Facebook as its primary online platform. Led by Reem Asaad, a finance lecturer at Dar al-Hikma Women's College in Jeddah, the campaign aims to persuade the government to implement Saudi Labor Law No. 120, which states "only females may be employed in women apparel and accessories stores". The law was passed in 2006, but never implemented.

Although the Facebook group (started September 2008) has received modest online support over the past year (2,245 members at time of writing, and many of those foreigners), the campaign has achieved significant press coverage both inside and outside the Kingdom and some support from bloggers across the Middle East. In March 2009, a group of 50 women in Jeddah launched a public boycott of lingerie shops urging women to boycott lingerie shops that employed male service staff. Meanwhile, 1,700 people were reported to have signed the campaign's petition by March 2009.


In June 2009, a group of 26 Saudi women attended a widely publicised 10 day training course on selling lingerie, led by an Australian woman who had heard about the boycott campaign online .A group of Victoria's Secret employees who had heard about the campaign on Facebook sent a box filled with colorful cotton bras to be used in the training.

The campaign called for a two week boycott of all lingerie shops that employ men starting from the 13th of February 2010, which has been covered in local Saudi press and by Saudi bloggers.

The campaign continues. 

Updated 13 February 2010. 

Campaign URLs
Facebook: Facebook

Friends, fans and followers
Facebook: 1,200 members(17 January '09), 2,245 members (24 August '09), 4,409 members (13 February '10)

News stories
The Huffington Post: Saudi Women Train To Sell Lingerie (24 June 2009)
Saudi Gazette: ‘I’d rather not buy my unmentionables from you’ (March 2009)
BBC: Saudi lingerie trade in a twist (25 February 2009)
Arab News: Women’s campaign for right to sell lingerie in Saudi Arabia fails (18 January 2009)
Arab News: Shattering glass ceilings at lingerie shops (15 October 2008)
Saudiwoman's Weblog: Ban men from selling lingerie in KSA (16 January '10)
Arab News: ‘Manned’ lingerie shops targeted (13 February 2010)

National Democratic Party of Egypt's Sharek Campaign

The Chairman of the Policies Committee at the National Democratic Party of Egypt and son of Egyptian President Gamal Mubarak launched an online campaign called Sharek (meaning "participate" in Arabic) on Sunday 9th August 2009.


The new forum targets Egyptian youth via an online Sharek forum and social media channels including Facebook, YouTube and Flickr and aims to answer Egyptians’ questions about the NDP. Participants are invited to post their questions via the campaign website or Facebook and many of these were answered by Gamal Mubarak in a live 3 hour online video forum broadcast from an event at the NDP's headquarters in Cairo. 230 students from Egyptian universities and research centers at the NDP’s headquarters in Cairo. MUbarak answered questions submitted in advance via email, Facebook, or directly on the website www.sharek.eg. The videos will later be hosted on the website and via Youtube.

Update 28 August 2009

Campaign URLs
Website: Sharek
Facebook: Sharek
Youtube: Sharek - details to follow
Flickr: Sharek
Website: National Democratic Party of Egypt
Facebook: Gamal Mubarak
Facebook: National Democratic Party of Egypt (1)
Facebook: National Democratic Party of Egypt (2)

Friends, fans and followers
Facebook: Sharek - 3,529 supporters (12 August 2009), 3,359 supporters (28 August '09)
Facebook: Gamal Mubarak - 378 supporters (28 August 2009)
Facebook: NDP 1 - 2,859 members (28 August 2009)
Facebook: NDP 2 - 145 members (28 August 2009)

News stories
Al-Jazeera International: Connecting with Egypt's Youth (video, 14 August 2009)
Al Ahram Weekly: You've got mail (13 August 2009)
Daily News Egypt: Reaction to Gamal Mubarak’s ‘open dialogue’ differs according to venue (13 August 2009)
MENASSAT: Gamal Mubarak + social media = true (12 August 2009)
Global Voices Advocacy: Egyptian Government utilizes Electronic Media (12 August 2009)
National Democratic Party: Gamal Mubarak connects with Egyptians via Facebook (9 August 2009)
Egypt.com News: Facebook Activists support Gamal Mubarak (2 July 2009)

Je suis un 9%

TelQuel (French) and Nichane (Arabic) magazines were taken off Moroccan newstands by the Ministry of the Interior on August 1st after they published an opinion poll in conjunction with France's Le Monde newspaper about the reign of King Mohammed VI, despite the fact that the results stated 91% of Moroccans approved of his first ten years of rule. In addition to the seisure of the total circulation of both publications (some 85,000 magazines), an edition of Le Monde published later that week was also banned by the Moroccan government and all imported copies of the newspaper were confiscated at the airport on arrival.

A protest campaign quickly gained momentum under the banner of "Je suis un 9%" (I am a 9%), referring to the 9% of those surveyed that did not approve of the North African monarch's first ten years of rule. Since the week of the censorship, the Twittoma, as the Moroccan Twitter community like to call themselves, has been using the hashtag #9pcMaroc, Moroccan blogger Larbi published the poll results on his blog and bloggers such as Annous criticised the governments move and helped or organise a social media campaign. The Je suis un 9% Facebook group has secured 860 members (at time of posting) in just nine days.



The Je suis un 9% campaign is running across Twitter, Facebook and the Moroccan blogosphere, whilst the government's action itself has been roundly condemned by Committee to Protect Journalists, International Federation of Journalists and other international organisations.

Campaign URLs
Facebook: Au Maroc, je suis un 9%
Twitter: @9pcmaroc

Friends, fans and followers
Facebook: 860 members (11 August 2009), 1,137 members (28 August 2009)
Twitter: 48 followers (11 August 2009), 56 followers (28 August 2009)

News stories
AFP: Moroccan magazines seized after king opinion poll (1 August 2009)
Global Voices: Morocco: Bloggers React to the Banning of Magazines (11 August 2009)
Online Journalism Review: The Nine-Percenters: A Moroccan micro-blogging mutiny (11 August 2009)

Umm Zakiyyah, Author

Umm Zakiyyah, American novelist living in Saudi Arabia who writes on Muslim themes, launched her Facebook fan page in May 2009 and attracted 760 fans in one month. She uses the Facebook fan page and other social media to promote her novels including "Realities of Submission" and "If I should speak", which explore the differences between Muslim and Western cultures.

According to a Saudi Gazette interview with Zakiyyah in May 2009, she claimed to have achieved tangible results in terms of sales as a result of social networking.


Campaign URLs
Facebook: Umm Zakiyyah

Friends, followers and fans
Facebook: 750 (May 2009); 854 (August 2009)

News stories
Saudi Gazette: Social networking finds its calling in the world of marketing (27 June 2009)

The Mina Effect

One of the United Arab Emirates' longest standing commercial blogs, started in January 2007, The Mina Effect is the official blog of Le Meridien Mina Seyahi in Dubai.



The blog and Le Meridien Mina Seyahi's other social media resources are today becoming more and more integrated into the hotel's promotion campaigns (although Facebook & Twitter are not yet linked to via the blog).

Campaign URLs
Blog: The Mina Effect
Facebook: The Barasti Bar; Le Meridien Mina Seyahi; Westin Dubai
Twitter: @minaseyahi
Website: Le Meridien Mina Seyahi

Friends, followers and fans
Blog: followers not available; Technorati Authority (1)
Facebook: The Barasti Bar 1,727 members (March 2009); 2,385 (11 August 2009)
Facebook: Le Meridien Mina Seyahi 165 fans (11 August 2009)
Facebook: Westin Dubai 155 fans (11 August 2009)
Twitter: 140 followers (March 2009); 473 followers (11 August 2009)

N7nu - We the women

A postgraduate student's thesis on women driving in Saudi Arabia turned into a social media campaign which launched its own online forum in April 2009 to encourage open discussion on the issue.

The "N7nu — We the Women" campaign aims to raise awareness for the issue of women driving in Saudi Arabia and to start a public debate. Women are currently not allowed to drive themselves in the Kingdom. The campaign uses Flickr, Facebook, Google News and YouTube.


Campaign URLs
Website: www.n7nudrive.com
Facebook: N7nu
YouTube: N7nu
Flickr: N7nu

Friends, followers and fans
Facebook: 2,211 fans (11 August 2009)
YouTube: 25 subsribers (11 August 2009); 2,864 channel views (11 August 2009)

News stories
Arab News: The driving force! (26 April 2009)