Abu Dhabi’s Creative Media Authority (CMA) – a government entity that empowers Abu Dhabi’s content creators through strategic guidance, talent development, financial support and a streamlined regulatory environment – has revealed how it has leaned into brand campaigns to champion and nurture creative talent and support the cultural sector in the UAE.
CMA, Abu Dhabi revealed that the primary mandate for both its recent Martyr’s Day 2025 campaign and Eid Al Etihad 2025 campaign was to deliver authentic, respectful and emotionally resonant national storytelling aligned with the UAE’s values and identity.
Objectives of the Abu Dhabi CMA brand campaigns
From a brand perspective, CMA shared that its goal was twofold: To produce a high-quality national campaign that meaningfully commemorated Martyrs’ Day and celebrates Eid Al Etihad, and to demonstrate how creative talent development can be embedded into live campaign delivery, enabling emerging creatives to contribute professionally to nationally significant work.
To bring the campaigns to life, CMA leaned into a community-led production execution model under CMA’s Creative Community Projects (CCP), which embeds emerging creatives directly into nationally significant campaigns, allowing talent development and campaign delivery to happen in parallel.
Beyond the individual campaign objectives, the wider objectives for youth community-led content supported by the Abu Dhabi’s Creative Media Authority are to:
- Inspire the Youth Through National Storytelling: The CCP initiative positions creativity as a powerful expression of national identity, encouraging young generations to see the creative industries as a source of pride and purpose.
- Empowering Local Creative Talent: CMA enables emerging creatives to gain real world experience by contributing professionally to nationally significant campaigns – where the voice of the youth drives the creative output and vision whilst the technical knowledge and production know-how is shared by the local creative industry.
- Showcasing the Power of Collaboration: By uniting government entities, industry partners and creatives, CMA demonstrates how collaboration strengthens national storytelling.
The campaign was designed to honour national moments while showcasing a sustainable, locally rooted creative ecosystem. The key target audiences for the campaigns were UAE nationals, UAE residents, as well as regional and international audiences engaging with UAE national moments.
The campaign was intended to resonate emotionally with the public while also signalling the UAE’s commitment to homegrown creative capability.
Rollout of the CMA campaign
The campaigns were rolled out primarily through digital-first marketing, including digital videos across social platforms, as well as organic and social amplification. In addition, both videos were also broadcast by ADMN on across its network and on its social channels.
The digital channels were selected to maximise reach and visibility during nationally significant moments,; allow for cinematic storytelling appropriate to the tone of Martyrs’ Day and Eid Al Etihad; and enable content to be easily shared, revisited, and amplified organically.
These channels aligned with the objective of delivering campaigns that felt contemporary, inclusive and emotionally impactful. The rollout prioritised high-visibility, high-reach formats appropriate for national occasions, ensuring accessibility to audiences across the UAE.
The campaign intentionally brought together industry professionals, emerging creatives, and institutional partners within a single production framework.
The campaigns were created in collaboration with production companies drawn from within CMA’s creative ecosystem including Media Mania, She Films, Gamma Engineering, Al Thuraya Films and Qasdeer production.
Creative talent from CMA’s Creative Community Projects (CCP) comprised 20 community extras, including employees’ family members, and four interns. From the 2024 internship during the Martyrs’ Day production, two interns progressed to work as 1st Assistant Directors on the 2025 Eid Al Etihad production, while one intern was hired by a production company founded by the director of the 2024 Martyrs’ Day video.
The campaigns also witnessed collaboration with strategic partners, including the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation (Martyrs’ Day), as well as cross-entity collaboration involving teams from the CMA, Abu Dhabi Film Commission, Creative Lab, Abu Dhabi Media Network and Image Nation.
The campaigns were timed to their respective national occasions. They were launched on social channels from several entities within the Creative Media Authority including Abu Dhabi Film Commission and Creative Lab along with Creative Media Authority’s Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and X. Primary visibility was intended for the official commemoration period from 30 November to 2 December 2025. This was followed by continued digital presence beyond the event date through online platforms and social media.
Success of the campaigns
Success was measured through a combination of social-led data.
Martyrs Day Campaign saw:
- An average engagement increase of 1,921 per cent year-on-year across Instagram, LinkedIn and X for Creative Media Authority handles based on preceding time period
- An average increase of views of 315 per cent year-on-year on IG and YT for Creative Media Authority handles and an average engagement increase of 526.3% from Abu Dhabi Film Commission’s YouTube and IG channels with an uplift of 794 per cent on impressions on ADFC’s LinkedIn channel.
- A 20 per cent increase on Creative Lab’s Instagram.
National Day Campaign saw:
- An 80 per cent average increase in engagement on YouTube for Creative Media Authority and Abu Dhabi Film Commission with an increase of 450 per cent of minutes watched on CMA’s YouTube channel
- LinkedIn for both CMA and ADFC also provided metrics of success with an average engagement increase of 76.2 per cent and average impression increase of 85.1 per cent.
- A whopping 461 per cent increase in engagement on Creative Lab’s Instagram handle supported by an increase of 46 per cent views and 66 per cent increase in mentions.
For CMA, success was defined not only by campaign performance, but by the ability to translate national storytelling into real creative career progression.
Creative and talent outcomes, included:
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- Progression of participants from internships to paid roles – notably, an intern from the 2024 Martyrs’ Day project was hired into a full-time role this year based on the production team’s recommendation and a long-term intern, who has worked on locally and international CMA facilitated projects, worked on this project as a freelance 1st Assistant Director.
- Freelance and full-time employment opportunities generated as a direct result of campaign involvement.
CREDITS:
Client: Creative Media Authority
Agencies: Media Mania, She Films, Gamma Engineering, Al Thuraya Films and Qasdeer production
