ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller was retained by the UAE Government to manage the communications for the second Federal National Council election. The Agency also managed the PR for the UAE’s first-ever election in 2006

Brief

• Position FNC election 2011 as next logical step towards wider political participation in the UAE
• Create greater public awareness on the election in order to drive candidate registration and voting
• Manage international and regional media expectations about the election – as a gradual process towards more political power – especially following the events of the Arab Spring
• Familiarise the audience with the concept of Electronic Voting that was introduced for first time in the UAE
• Manage press office functions across 13 Election Centres in all seven Emirates on election day
• Co-ordinate registration and management of regional and international media
• Crisis management support

• Create unified messaging for National Election Committee members 
• Meetings with specialised stakeholder groups, particularly women, to enhance awareness 
• Roadshows and discussions at universities to engage students 
• Integrated media outreach – print, broadcast and social media – through interviews, op-eds and discussions 
• Messages from Rulers of UAE urging public to vote 

• Over 450 candidates registered for 20 seats 
• Over 35,000 voters took part in the elections against less than 7,000  in 2006 
• 25-member ASDA’A B-M team managed press office functions including registration and support for nearly 450 media representatives 
• Over 941 media clippings