Marketing communications agency Wunderman Thompson Saudi Arabia has initiated the idea and led the execution of the project.
Saudi Telecom has sent a camel named Sahra deep into the remote areas of the Kingdom’s desert land for some stunning imagery not commonly accessible to photographers. Sahra roamed the desert to connect both regional and international photographers to the country’s most remote corners. The idea was to promote Saudi Telecom’s coverage at a time when Saudi Arabia is opening up to tourism for the first time, according to a report in Ad Age.
Marketing communications agency Wunderman Thompson Saudi Arabia presented the idea and oversaw the plan. Wunderman Thompson Seattle constructed and produced the technology, including a camera-controlling software for the camel and a website that photographers could use to access the images from the camera mounted on the camel. The agency also designed and collected data and analysis for the animated Instagram posts. Wunderman Thompson Costa Rica led data visualisation efforts, animating the Seattle team’s designs, and connected those animations to the data sets collected.
A team from Wunderman Thompson installed a dedicated high-tech camera rig system on the hump of the camel. The system included a laptop, solar panels, cam-ranger, and hotspot router connected to the internet. The idea was to allow photographers to connect remotely to the camel while it roamed the desert with the aim of capturing areas that no humans can easily access. The resulting footage will appear in online films, ads, and content.
