The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2024–2025
Yas Island hired Ryan Reynolds as 'Chief Island Officer' — the role was the campaign
Miral gave Ryan Reynolds a real job — Chief Island Officer — and let the absurd title sell Yas Island; the campaign won Effie MENA 2025 Gold.
Yas Island
The solution
Yas Island Abu Dhabi, the UAE's leading leisure and entertainment destination, had built a winning formula: appoint a global celebrity as 'Chief Island Officer' (CIO). Comedian Kevin Hart and actor Jason Momoa had each held the role, and by 2024 the franchise needed a third chapter that felt fresh without losing the momentum the platform had built.
Miral chose Ryan Reynolds — whose humor, self-awareness and international appeal mirrored the island's playful personality — and the campaign was built around the role itself, not a standard endorsement. The launch film showed Reynolds parachuting out of the sky onto Yas Marina Circuit amid speeding race cars, with the #RollLikeRyan hashtag inviting fans worldwide to join the legacy. Momentum MENA led the creative, with Initiative and Weber Shandwick alongside.
The numbers show the platform's pull: 438 million total video views against a 349 million plan, a 65% view-through rate for a 1-minute-32-second film, 224 million reach, and international media coverage up 40% versus a 30% target. On the island, attendance surged 78% year on year, package sales grew 36%, brand awareness rose 17% and consideration 10%.
The campaign won Gold at the Effie MENA Awards 2025, judged on exactly the effectiveness those numbers demonstrate. The summer around the appointment saw Yas hotels run at 83% occupancy with international hotel guests up 29% — evidence that a role, played in character, can carry a destination's marketing for years.
Why it worked
- The role created annual anticipation — audiences waited to see who would be the next CIO.
- Reynolds' humor gave the island a personality license to play rather than pitch.
- One platform, three celebrities: each chapter extended the story instead of restarting it.
- The launch film's spectacle made the reveal itself the media event.
- A measurable franchise: 438M video views, +78% attendance, +36% package sales.
What can be applied
A recurring character role can outperform one-off celebrity ads: the title builds annual anticipation, gives talent room for humor, and makes the destination the stage rather than the product pitch.
Aftermath
The 2024 CIO chapter over-delivered: 438 million video views against 349 million planned, a 65% view-through rate, 224 million reach, and a 40% uplift in international media coverage versus a 30% target. On the island, attendance rose 78% year on year, package sales 36%, brand awareness 17% and consideration 10%. Miral's summer report showed Yas hotels at 83% occupancy with international hotel guests up 29%, and the campaign won Gold at the Effie MENA Awards 2025 — turning a celebrity hire into one of the region's most durable marketing platforms.
Sources
- WINNERS — Chief Island Officer, Yas Island, Momentum UAE (Gold 2025)
- Miral reports significant increase in visitors and hotel occupancy at Yas Island and Saadiyat Island during summer
- Yas, Saadiyat islands witness booming summer season with surge in visitors, hotel occupancy
- Yas Island CIO III
- Chief Island Officer
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