Spinning Dreams Timor-Leste – Documentary Film Trailer
In 2010, Air Timor embarked on a project with Gone Adventurin’ with the vision to leverage an international sporting event in Timor-Leste into a platform to create sustainable social impact in the country. Air Timor has a defined strategy to become Timor-Leste’s international and domestic airline and wanted to contribute to the development of tourism in the country by supporting projects which enable preservation and promotion of Timor-Leste’s textile art and translate these projects into a means to improve rural living standards.
Gone Adventurin’ first understood Timor-Leste’s history and culture. We also understood how raising awareness for Timor-Leste’s unique textile art can enable Air Timor to contribute to the development of tourism in the country and also increase its branding and engagement with relevant target audiences i.e. potential visitors to Timor-Leste. We then designed a custom-designed branded content project – Spinning Dreams Timor-Leste, based on Tour de Timor – Timor-Leste’s biggest international sporting event.
The adventure took young working professionals from Singapore – Air Timor’s primary target market, on a mountain bike adventure through Timor-Leste’s stunningly beautiful and breathtaking landscapes ranging from coastal roads overlooking azure blue waters, to rugged and rolling hills and across quaint mountain-top villages, all to raise awareness and support of sustainable social development.
While being a part of an exciting adventure race, the cyclists visited various communities deep in the country and experienced the inspiring cultures and life-changing stories like that of a young Timorese female cyclist who beat all odds to compete in the race, a young Timorese boy whose parents where killed during the past decades of violence and the head of Timor Aid, a charity determined to secure a peaceful and prosperous future for the rural women in the country.
The entire expedition was turned into branded media content in the form of Spinning Dreams Timor-Leste, a 45-minute broadcast-quality documentary film and a 1-minute film trailer targeted towards Air Timor’s main target demographic – young working professionals in Singapore.
We then facilitated documentary film screenings and maximised the outreach of the branded content through specific content marketing channels.
Spinning Dreams Timor-Leste enabled Air Timor to authentically share its brand values and sustainability objectives both in Singapore as well as internationally in other indirect target markets such as Australia. The film premiered in Singapore at the National Library and created online and traditional print media impressions in leading Australian news channels such as The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times and Outdoor Edge.
The newsworthiness of the content enabled S$0 spend on media buying. The events and media content raised critical awareness and more than S$30,000 for Timor Aid and enabled the charity to get more resources for its Working With Weavers program in rural Timor-Leste.
“This adventure was life-changing – challenging, heart-wrenching and exciting, all at the same time. The spirit of Timor-Leste was so inspirational.
Getting away from my desk job for a week and taking on this adventure challenge of the toughest mountain bike race in the world in support of Timor Aid has been the most amazing experience of my life!”
– Yasmine Khater, Adventure participant
