Skydive Dubai is THE provider of adrenaline-fuelled experiences in Dubai. Even so, they do compete with other adrenaline focused brands in the region. So, when they want to do something to encourage people to come jump out of a plane above the Palm it needs to stand out from the clutter. The brief was simple - 'Do something cool to celebrate our 13th birthday, make sure it's death defying and make sure it is seen by millions'. Our objective was to come up with an idea that would be relevant to their birthday, relevant to the death defying nature of the brand and have a little fun along the way.
This is where The Dare In The Air was born, A death-defying BASE jump which contrasted with colourful and "harmless" cake and balloons theming; an idea which seamlessly connected to the brand.
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Our message had to appeal to our regular audience: people already interested in Skydiving and other adrenaline-fuelled sports and audiences beyond. Our strategy was to create a stunt interesting enough for people who may never have thought of having an extreme experience, but after seeing it, they would consider doing it.
While the execution/idea looks simple, it was extremely technically challenging to pull off. The cake had to be completely custom built, with innovative physics calculations to ensure we had the right number of helium balloons and the right spacing of the two levels between them. This was to ensure they could sustain the weight of the inflatable cake and the BASE jumper. The height also had to be precisely calculated: too low and there's not enough time to open a parachute; too high and the balloons would lose pressure, causing the cake to fall. It took 6 months of negotiations, hundreds of rounds of designs, 1 massive engineering mishap, countless strenuous safety tests, and one crazy adrenaline junkie to say yes, to pull this stunt off.
By harnessing the power of organic reach, this idea took earned media to a new level. Through the millions of people who saw the stunt online and the thousands that saw it from the public areas around the Palm and JBR, we pulled this off without relying on any paid promotion.
Ultimately, we created a branded experience both in the real and the online world. The one-time stunt also became a “Disney meets RedBull” viral film, with cuteness, thrill, adrenaline, and a happy ending.
When the inflatable cake started being lifted early in the morning, thousands of people living in JBR and on the Palm started to shoot videos and post them on social, increasing the awareness of the stunt before it even happened. The day after the jump, the Crown Prince of Dubai (who is known to love anything that gets the adrenaline flowing) re-posted our branded stunt video on his social media channel. To get his personal seal of approval is rare for a brand, so we were literally honoured. Our single post hit 1 million views within 24h, and to date we have reached a total of 3.7 million views. (That's the same number of people who live in Dubai!) We gained over 464,370 likes, more than 11,630 comments and 351 coverages. After our Dare in the Air stunt, the number of tandem jumps increased by 26%.
The media impact reached millions and solidified the brand's adrenalin-fueled status and the meticulous execution underscored a perfect balance between safety and spectacle, setting a new standard for viral stunt excellence. 'The Dare in the Air' has left an indelible mark, ensuring the brand's lasting association with ground-breaking experiences in extreme sports.
