Ooredoo reaches out to the community for Ramadan

Ooredoo launched today its Ramadan campaign for the year, “Alrabaa,” which means “Friends” in Arabic. The campaign, which is the most extensive ever launched by the communications leader, brings together an engaging theme, a colourful cast of characters and a calendar-full of activities to give back to the community. 

The campaign will be led by the “Alrabaa”, a team of characters that combine traditional Qatari culture with a bright sense of fun, who will take part in a wide range of community and charity initiatives, including hospital visits, children’s activities, and small acts of kindness across the city. 

On days throughout the Holy Month of Ramadan, Alrabaa will visit different locations and bring gifts, well-wishes and surprises to the people there. Each day will have a special theme, and people can follow the activities through Ooredoo’s social media channels, including Facebook at www.facebook.com/OoredooQatar. In addition, there will be opportunities for people to take part as volunteers, visiting the sick and needy during the Holy Month, and delighting people in Doha. 

Mustafa Al Qatami, Director Branding and Corporate Communications, Ooredoo said: “This year’s Ramadan campaign is an inspiring initiative that will touch every level of society and engage the community. Alrabaa will travel around Qatar and make people’s lives better, even for a day. This is part of adding a human touch to our efforts in Qatar, and we hope that people will be inspired and take part.”  

As a parallel initiative, Ooredoo will launch a major campaign in partnership with Al Rayyan TV, which will enable people to share their social and environmental project ideas to make the world around them a better place. Ooredoo will then support one of the projects. 

Fatima Al Kuwari, Director Community and Public Relations, Ooredoo said: “We’re working with a range of partners this year to try to reach as many people as possible. Ramadan is a time to think of others, and we hope the broad range of activities we’ve lined up will enable everyone to take part.” 

Between 30 June and 12 July 2013, people can submit their corporate social responsibility-related proposals through the Ooredoo website for the Alrabaa campaign. The proposals will be evaluated, and several will be selected to compete through a special section on the “Ramadan Mubarak” show on Al Rayyan TV. 

The public can then vote for their favourite ones by SMS, and the three projects with the highest numbers of votes will be declared the winners and receive special prizes. One of these top three projects will be supported through its planning and execution stages by Ooredoo. 

To reach out to the public, Ooredoo “Sharing Spheres” will be placed in Villaggio Mall to receive donations. Each sphere will be for special items – including books, toys, mobile phones and electronics, sunglasses and eyeglasses, stationery and medicine. 

After collecting the items, Ooredoo and charities including Sheikh Eid Bin Mohammad Al Thani Charitable Association, Sheikh Thani Bin Abdullah Al Thani Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF), Qatar Red Crescent Society, Al Asmakh Charity Foundation, and Qatar Cancer Society will distribute them to the needy at the end of the campaign. Working with Qatar Charity, Ooredoo will also give children a “My Spreading the Joy Journal” and a “Joy Bank”, to collect money to give to charity or people in need. 

Ooredoo’s spheres will also be linked to an online “Share-o-Meter”, an application that will enable people to track the progress of the donations. If certain spheres are falling behind, the public will be able to see what is needed to reach the campaign’s goals, and donate accordingly. 

There will also be Ooredoo “Heart-to-Heart” competition on its Facebook page asking the public: “If you had QR 10,000, to whom would you give it, and why?” Entrants can provide a 30-second answer via a webcam, and the entries will be uploaded to Ooredoo’s Facebook page where fans can vote on the best answer. Five winners announced throughout the Holy Month of Ramadan and Eid will receive the prize to share with their nominated person.