The Islamic pilgrimages of Hajj & Umrah are the world’s largest human gatherings. With over 2 million people from around the world gathered in extremely close proximity, infection spreads easily.

According to the W.H.O., 60% of pilgrims who journey to Hajj or Umrah in Mecca fall sick due to contact, and then return home spreading the ‘Hajj Cough’. Moreover, elderly pilgrims have a 40% increased risk of death from this respiratory infection.

Every pilgrim enters the Holy Site with one item in hand: prayer beads.

After having identified this tension point and opportunity, Saudia sought to innovate solutions to place health & safety in the hands of pilgrims worldwide.

IDEA// ProtecTasbih is the world’s first sanitizing prayer beads. Knowing that every pilgrim carries prayer beads (or Tasbih) in hand, we knew that would become the perfect opportunity for us to put health & safety right in pilgrims’ hands.

By creating sanitizing prayer beads, we would incorporate hygiene seamlessly into religious tradition, without disrupting their journeys.

Every time a prayer is said and a bead is flicked, hands are sanitizer.

We had to create the product from scratch using a new compound, owing to religious that didn't permit alcohol - a known anti-bacterial agent.

Then, we had to match the aesthetics to existing prayer beads on the market.

We also had to test the product for different environments such as airplane pressure and hot summers in Saudi Arabia.

STRATEGY// We chose to use the one thing pilgrims carry on them to Mecca - an item that is common to most pilgrims across the world: Prayer beads.

Muslim pilgrims carry with them prayer beads, also known as "tasbih". They use these prayer beads to count 99 prayers - with each tasbih carrying either 33 or 99 beads.

We went global with promoting it as Muslim travellers would come from everywhere.

The product was designed for PR. Its new and innovative healthcare product novelty attracted media and news channels.

Seeding the product with Muslim influencers and inviting them to visit drove exponential content expansion on social platforms.

ProtecTasbihs were also promoted via interactive vending machines at airports and via a moving narrative film on in-flight screens targeting all Mecca-bound pilgrims.

They were distributed to travellers in-flight, as they arrived in Mecca, and were handed out across the city of Mecca too.

EXECUTION// During the development of the formulation, we came up with several challenges.

Alcohol is what’s commonly used for antibacterial and sanitizing products. But owing to religious reasons, we couldn't use anything using any alcohol.

So, we had to look at natural potential solutions. Further research brought us to tea tree oil.

Tea tree oil is found to be effective against a broad spectrum of bacteria because it disrupts the cell membrane of the bacteria itself.

Once we chose tea tree oil as the sanitizing element, we had to integrate it into a semi-solid compound.

And then, we developed a way of creating a solid bead, covered in this softer compound, by developing a new molding technique.

The semi-solid compound is designed to last two weeks; the duration of a pilgrimage. After the compound is used, the inner beads underneath allow the product to continue being used, leading to zero waste.

RESULTS// The ProtecTasbih innovation witnessed global responses, with opinion leaders and religious leaders praising the breakthrough. It was hailed as a revolution in Hajj healthcare, with each bead fighting a global public health problem.

Organic social media coverage across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa highlighted the importance of using ProtecTasbih and the importance of maintaining hygiene during pilgrimage.

Saudia Airlines made the design & formulation of the beads open-source so that any organization could produce their own life-saving beads—putting the power of protection in the world’s hands.

100,000+ pilgrims positively impacted. $2.9 million in earned media. 1.5 million pilgrims reached on-ground. #1 trending topic in the Middle East. Trending topic in 35 countries. +62% brand love for SAUDIA. +35% increase in pilgrimage travellers.