My Majlis
- Brand
- Standard Chartered
- Year
- 2011
- Objective
- Sales
- Industry
- Finance
- Mechanic
- Simulation & Strategy
- Platform
- Social
- Agency
- TBWA
Objective
During Ramadan, Standard Chartered wanted to sell UAE customers on the benefits of its credit cards without adding to the season's usual barrage of bank ads. Rather than run another ad, TBWA\RAAD built something people would actually do together — a shared, seasonally relevant experience that could carry the card pitch inside the activity itself, with the aim of making Standard Chartered the most socially engaged bank in the country.
Solution
Players open their own virtual majlis — a bare tent waiting to be dressed for the season. They shop a catalogue of furniture, rugs, lanterns and food, paying for each item with a Standard Chartered credit card, and place their picks to fill out the tent. Once it's furnished, they invite friends and family to come visit, then check back to welcome guests, add new pieces and see how their majlis is shaping up against everyone else's. Majlises are ranked by guest turnout and ratings, and the single most popular one each round wins a real-world prize.
Results
In its first four weeks, My Majlis drew more than 15,277 players, who spent an average of over 7 minutes per visit furnishing and hosting. The most popular majlis pulled in 2,006 guests and won its owner the campaign's top prize, an Eid getaway weekend.
- 1
The player enters through Standard Chartered's social-network brand page and launches the Flash application; there is no separate game domain, and the game is aimed at fans of the page.
- 2
The player starts by creating a personal Majlis — a virtual Ramadan tent that serves as their own space to build up.
- 3
In an in-game shop, the player buys furniture and decor for the tent and arranges it to their liking, with every purchase made using a "Standard Chartered credit card" as the game's built-in product message.
- 4
The player invites friends and family to visit their Majlis, spreading the invitation through their social graph as the game's core viral mechanic.
- 5
Invited guests visit other players' Majlis spaces, with each visit counted toward the host and guests rating the Majlis they see, so popularity is measured by guest ratings rather than visit counts alone (the winning Majlis drew 2,006 guests).
- 6
At the end of the campaign, the most popular Majlis wins real-world prizes, ranging from offline "Majlis experiences" to a grand-prize Eid getaway weekend.
