The Sync-ervention.
At Ithra's Sync Digital Wellbeing Summit in May 2024, Sync handed out Lahdha (لحظة, 'a moment'), branded NFC cards that switch a phone into modes meant to pull people back into real conversation.
- Brand
- Sync
- Agency
- Leo Burnett
- Market
- Saudi Arabia
- Region
- Saudi Arabia
- Year
- 2024
The challenge
Sync is the digital wellbeing initiative of Ithra, Aramco's King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture. Its SMARTIES case film calls loneliness a silent epidemic and says, without giving a source, that 31% of people in the Kingdom tend to be isolated and that half want help with their digital wellbeing.
The idea
The work was built around Ithra's 2024 Sync Digital Wellbeing Summit, 'Confronting the Digital Paradox', held in Dhahran on 22 and 23 May 2024 (Ithra). There Sync launched what it called the Sync-ervention, a campaign against loneliness and mindless tech use built around Lahdha, branded NFC cards that, with a tap against a phone, switch it into modes that put time with people ahead of digital distraction, according to the case film. The cards, one marked 'Bond / تواصل', were handed out at the summit, creators including Omar Farooq posted about them, and outdoor and social ads ran with the summit line 'Lost between worlds'.
Results
- 81 speakers and more than 32,000 attendees in person and online, more than 47 million views and more than 6.3 million engagements, according to Sync's SMARTIES case film
- 13,000 visitors at Ithra for the summit, according to The Arabian Sun, Aramco's newspaper
Case study source: Ithra Source ↗
Awards
- MMA Smarties KSA 2025KSA - Brand Purpose / ActivismBronze
- MMA Smarties KSA 2025KSA - Social Impact MarketingGold
- Athar Festival Awards 2024Best Transformation CampaignHighly Commended
