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CASE STUDY: COP28 / THE UNITED NATIONS

Creating app content to drive action at COP28

How creative pragmatism and practical client support helped global agency Identity deliver an app to inform and inspire over 500,000 delegates and visitors to (probably) the world’s most important event.

2–MINUTE READ

IN A NUTSHELL 

Client​

Identity Group (global experience agency)

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Services ​

  • App content strategy

  • Tone of voice

  • Brand development

  • Content team lead

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Difference

  • 57k downloads, 3 million page views and a five-star rating

  • UN plans to re-use our app for all future COP events.

2023-12-03T120551Z_1697368267_RC2NP4A7CU1R_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-CLIMATE-PROTESTre

An agency scaling up:  Identity had won a massive brief to deliver a transformative COP28 in the UAE and had to grow their digital content team quickly, while their scope was still shifting. 


They needed content experts with broad and deep digital experience; who could deliver when the deliverables changed and lead a complicated collaboration between competing clients from the UN and the COP28 UAE team.

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I was hired to direct the digital content for COP28's global online audience. But the scope changed and I was asked to lead content strategy and content creation for the official COP28 event app instead.

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In half the usual timeframe, I helped our team pull together and deliver mobile and web apps that reached 57k downloads, 3 million page views and a five-star app store rating. Here’s how...

Cop28-1_edited.png

A complex brief: the UN wanted a digital experience that would help world leaders take action. The host team wanted the thousands of expected visitors to and from the UAE to get the most out of their visit.

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Two very distinct audiences – with world leaders and COP delegates on one side and the general public on the other, we effectively had to create two apps in one and plan 12 days of conference content for both.

  
There was also the accelerated timeline. An app like this typically takes 12 months to develop but we only had four: to distil, design and deliver iteratively five app versions building up to full functionality and live content for the event. 


Working with multiple agencies and directing a remote team of content creators spread across the UAE, US and UK, only added to these challenges.

Making the best work possible

To galvanise productivity we needed a clear strategy, solid client collaboration and creative pragmatism. I prioritised daily communication, facilitating teamwork and simplifying briefs. A good portion of my creative energy went into rapidly solving content and delivery challenges; the rest into producing.

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Optimising the content: 

I developed a separate tone of voice and content guidelines for both audiences – clear, direct and action-oriented for delegates; enticing, inspiring and informative for public visitors – giving my content team a simpler brief to follow.

  
Connecting teams...

...with UX knowledge to bridge the gap between the content team and the UX/UI team. I helped inform the app functionality from a content and event strategy perspective and developed the UX copy.


...with brand and digital marketing experience. I ensured our content complemented the overall brand and marketing strategies and created the promotional messaging for the app store and social media campaign.​

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The difference

Over the 12-day event we reached 57k app downloads, 3 million page views and a five star app-store rating. 98% of 86k delegates registered on the desktop portal and true to the spirit of COP, the UN plans to reuse our app for all their future events.

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