Kuwait: GREAT British week and the instagram effect
Published 16 April 2014
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0.1 This publication was archived on 4 July 2016
This article is no longer current. Please refer to Overseas Business Risk - Kuwait
0.2 Summary
GREAT British Week brings together leading Brits from the worlds of fashion, food and innovation to headline the biggest and most ambitious public diplomacy campaign ever delivered by the UK in Kuwait. A memorable programme of UK-centric events promotes British brands and expertise, taking Kuwaitis beyond their sometimes staid stereotypes of the UK and delivering stunning success on the social media front.
0.3 Detail
March 20 - April 3 saw a high profile series of over twenty well-attended events showcasing the UK in Kuwait under the banner of GREAT British Week (which ran for a fortnight). Under the patronage of His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, and underpinned by the GREAT Campaign, we opted to focus primarily on the pillars of fashion, food and innovation - all of which stood a good chance of gaining traction in a market with substantial disposable income and a devotion to expensive luxury goods. The tone was set with our opening ceremony in The Avenues - Kuwait’s biggest and best shopping mall, and one of the largest in the world.
We kicked proceedings off with a GREAT Fashion Show by top British designer Maria Grachvogel. The show was well attended by the Kuwaiti fashion and retail elite, raising the local profile of main event sponsor Harvey Nichols. With both women and men in the invited audience, this was a groundbreaking event. The buzz created by the event was reflected in the speed at which word got out; in the hour after the show alone, Instagram and Twitter coverage from our guests had a combined reach of a staggering 300,000+ followers.
Kuwait’s burgeoning ‘foodie’ scene was treated to a British Food Festival headlined by GREAT Ambassador Gary Rhodes, who prepared a quintessentially British afternoon tea and sold-out dinner at Harvey Nichols’ in-house restaurant. Again, the social media reach of these two events was immense, with diners’ Instagram coverage reaching close to 200,000 followers.
With the recent announcement that local sales of British cars have experienced a 30% year-on-year increase it was an opportune moment for our GREAT British Automotive Showcase, featuring the luxury Bentleys, Jaguars and Rolls-Royces beloved of affluent Kuwaiti petrolheads, as well as the obligatory Union Jack Mini. We took to the streets of Kuwait City at the wheel of a GREAT-branded McLaren 12C, leading a parade of vintage British cars from the iconic Kuwait Towers to the city’s motor racing circuit. This was closely followed the next evening by an absorbing event centred on British advanced engineering and hosted by the fastest man on Earth, Wing Commander Andy Green of the Bloodhound SSC project.
One of the biggest draws for the local audience was our closing event, a lecture by Sir John Major delivered at Kuwait University. Sir John is fondly remembered here as British Prime Minister during the liberation of Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s forces and his address on the subject of past, present and future UK-Kuwait relations resonated very well. The lecture was widely covered on Kuwaiti front pages, delivering key bilateral messages on long-term British commitment to Kuwait and the Gulf and potential avenues for further expansion of political and commercial co-operation.
A diverse range of satellite events accompanied our core programme, showcasing everything from parkour to Potter (Harry). Among the numerous highlights:
- Kuwait’s classical music aficionados were lucky enough to attend a Music is GREAT recital by one of the world’s top violinists, Madeleine Mitchell. This was followed by a more contemporary ‘mash-up’ concert combining performances from up-and-coming young Kuwaiti artists with sets by visiting British musicians;
- Numerous British retail brands signed up for our Shopping is GREAT campaign, driving retail traffic to the likes of Debenhams, Top Shop, Jack Wills and Pizza Express by offering special discounts and displaying GREAT window branding;
- Local British schools and the wider British community also did their bit, with a fiercely competitive GREAT British Bake-Off and a scratch XI of cricketers from the British Military Mission attempting to prove that Sport is GREAT (only to be foiled by rain, that most unlikely of Kuwaiti meteorological phenomena);
- And we cut the ribbon to open our new Visa Application Centre, to better cater for the insatiable Kuwaiti appetite for the boutiques of Bond Street and Knightsbridge.
0.4 Comment
In a country where the traditional ‘chocolate box’ Britain of black taxis and red telephone boxes predominates, we succeeded in projecting the more modern and vibrant side of the UK, particularly to the young Kuwaitis who will form the next generation of decision-makers. Our GREAT British Week has served to significantly raise the profile of this Embassy, with some remarkable success on the social media front in particular. Our challenge is now to capitalise on this and keep our growing digital audience engaged on other priorities, including our four UKTI HVOs.
0.5 Disclaimer
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