大象传媒

What is Ramadan in a Day?

On Thursday 2nd July 2015, Digital Guerrillas, in partnership with Asian Network and 大象传媒 Religion & Ethics, will undertake a unique live social broadcast experiment from sunrise to sunset.

The aim is to create a meaningful online event that will use a mix of pre-created, and reactive ‘on the day’ content, to drive and curate social media conversation around Ramadan. This will help us capture and archive the day, and also inspire a wider awareness of what Ramadan means to young Muslims in 2015.

What inspired you to create Ramadan in a Day?

Social media can be great for curating and reflecting a ‘moment’. We were really hoping to create a ‘moment’ around Ramadan and explore what it means for young British Muslims.

How does this compare to what you do most of the time?

This is what we do – experiment with new forms of digital content and try and shape them into meaningful stories or audience experiences.

How did you create the project?

We started off with research and insights around content themes. We then looked at different social media formats that we could use to tell our story and offer a chance for the audience to become part of the discussion. We then shaped it into a content stream that works in conjunction with Asian Network and their programmes, content and talent.

Last but not least, we built a bespoke Tumblr page to curate and archive the project.

Did you use any new/special technology?

We played with quite a few social platforms, not just Periscope but also things like Instagram and Snap Chat, which are a little less popular in our company. We also used Seen It to collaborate with a network of video contributors – that was very new.

What do you want to learn from this?

We’d like to see how different parts of the 大象传媒 could come together to develop, produce and broadcast a new kind of social experience that appeals to young digital audiences. We’d also like to discover which elements within a live social broadcast engage the audience the most.

The project will also explore how well ‘ad hoc’ live-streaming, using Periscope and YouTube, works in this context. We may learn things about the presentation and curation of content on Tumblr that could feed into the 大象传媒 Live product.

Did it turn out as you expected?

It’s a challenge for an organization like the 大象传媒 to work with products like Periscope. They are difficult to moderate, but offer a unique interactive experience for the audience. We’ve discovered however, that it’s not so different from a traditional live TV broadcast and is viable with the right planning.