The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2023–2024
Saudia's ProtecTasbih: sanitising prayer beads win four Dubai Lynx Grands Prix
Saudia upgrades the pilgrim's tasbih with tea-tree-oil protection — 100,000+ distributed, brand liking +65%, four Dubai Lynx 2024 Grands Prix
Saudia
What it had to solve
Saudia, the leading airline flying pilgrims to Mecca, competed on price and comfort while the crowded pilgrimage was a health risk — the WHO warned that over 60% of pilgrims fall ill, and hands are a key route of infection.
How it works
Saudia flies more pilgrims to Mecca than any other airline, but the journey has a hidden cost: in the crush of the pilgrimage, the World Health Organization warns, over 60% of pilgrims fall ill, and hands are a key route of infection. Rivals competed on price and comfort; Saudia needed a different way to show it cared.
The insight was the tasbih — the prayer beads every Muslim pilgrim carries and counts through the day. Leo Burnett Jeddah created ProtecTasbih, the world's first sanitising prayer beads, coating them with tea tree oil's antimicrobial properties. Pilgrims didn't have to adopt a new habit; the habit itself became protection.
A four-minute film explained the why on TV, online, in cinemas and in-flight, while more than 100,000 beads were handed out in Mecca, on Saudia flights and in airport lounges. Global brand liking for Saudia rose 65%, the campaign earned US$6.7 million in media, and ProtecTasbih took four Grands Prix at Dubai Lynx 2024.
Why it lands
- It upgraded an existing ritual instead of asking pilgrims to change behaviour — zero friction, maximum relevance.
- The product was the proof: a tangible, wearable object carried the airline's care long after the flight ended.
- It connected a public-health insight about hand contact to a culturally sacred object with complete respect.
- Four Grands Prix across different juries showed the same idea worked as product, design, direct and PR at once.
What it did
Over 100,000 ProtecTasbihs distributed; Saudia's global brand liking rose 65%; the campaign earned US$6.7 million in media and won four Grands Prix at Dubai Lynx 2024 — Brand Experience & Activation, Design, Direct and PR.
What you can take
Don't ask people to change behaviour — upgrade the object they already use. Making the ritual itself protective delivered care without friction, and let devotion carry the message.
Since then
ProtecTasbih was the most-awarded single campaign at Dubai Lynx 2024 and anchored Saudi Arabia's record year at the festival (five Grands Prix in total). It became a reference case in industry libraries (WARC, Cresta) for turning cultural objects into functional products, and Saudia carried the 'care through innovation' positioning into later pilgrim-season marketing.
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