Client: PepsiCo - Sting Energy Drink
With an impeccable career of 31 wins and the title of world’s youngest Olympic boxing medalist, UK boxing legend Amir Khan faced a setback after being defeated by Canelo Alvarez. The news claimed his career was over. At a time when nobody backed a down-and-out Khan as brand ambassador, Sting decided to take up the opportunity and remake the boxer's reputation by re-energizing him back into the ring. Tapping into Khan's Pakistani heritage, Sting invited him to Pakistan and showcased an entire city as a gym and its people as coaches. The Mughal city of Lahore, and its residents, stepped up. A digitally led campaign by the name of #StingChallenge was launched, inviting Pakistanis to challenge and train Khan.
Client: UN Women
Almost 90% of Pakistani women suffer from some sort of abuse, while a bill recently proposed that men be allowed to “beat lightly” a woman. Compounding the issue, more than 42% of Pakistani women believe that they are weak. So UN Women decided to do the opposite of what was expected from a women’s rights campaign in Pakistan by building the first anti-domestic violence campaign in the world that INVITED men to beat women. But at things they were good at.
Client: Asia Pacific Transgender Network
The campaign is backed by a powerful local insight associated with transgender people specifically in the subcontinent: the clap. This unique form of clapping, in which one spread-out hand is struck against the other palm to palm, is used frequently to degrade, mock and insult the transgender community. The idea was to challenge a transphobic mind-set in the country by using the same hands – and transform the clapping action from one of ridicule to one of applause, respect and inclusion. Transgender people in accomplished roles such as Pakistan’s first transgender model Kami Sid, asked people to #ChangeTheClap. From clapping AT transgender people to clapping FOR them, the campaign depicted how a simple shift in a gesture was powerful enough to transform entire mindsets. A change that is instrumental to empowering the community and giving them an equal standing in society.
Client: UN Women
We were talking to a nation with a culture rich in wedding festivities, one that celebrates their brides in full zest. To throw light at the issue of child brides in a fitting context, we picked a bridal event that garners a lot of media attention; The Bridal Couture Week and collaborated with the biggest bridalwear designer; Ali Xeeshan to perform a stunt to hijack conversation around the show itself. To mark the end of the fashion show, from amidst bejeweled brides, out came the showstopper; a little girl wearing a school uniform embellished with bridal motifs. The Bridal Uniform, with its shocking juxtaposition of wedding ornaments and a school uniform, symbolized the trade-off that takes place when a girl is married young and is deprived of her right to an education.
Client: Kashmir Banaspati
Phonetically, the language of Urdu is regarded as "saccharine" sounding. A mix of Arabic, Persian and Hindi notes give it a dulcet, melodic and honeyed tone - for centuries, poetry in the Indian subcontinent has been written in Urdu for this very reason. Even the script form of Urdu is Arabic-based, using beautiful, flowy calligraphic styles. Our idea was to revive the beauty of Urdu by making it wanted again through something that’s just as old and sweet as the language but is still considered cool: Jalebi. Jalebi is a popular 10th century South Asian dessert made of dough and sugar, and fried in vegetable oils. The sugary treat is made by hand-drawing soft spirals in heated oil which then cools down into a rigid structure. It was the perfect opportunity to merge it with Urdu calligraphy.
Client: Dubai Tourism / Dubai Food Festival
In attempts to driving 20 million visitors to Dubai, we established and activated the biggest pillar of Dubai Tourism - ‘Gastronomy’. We were tasked to give a refreshed look and feel to the festival that everyone adored. From it’s design language to an over all 360 integrated campaign, it was remembered by tourists because of it’s vibrant and quirky messages.
Client: Abu Dhabi Media Group / Flash Entertainment
Flash Entertainment is one of the biggest and best event organisers in the region, having curated multiple nationally and internationally recognised experiences. With upcoming concerts of famous artists like The Weekend, Sam Smith etc. We had an opportunity to brand and design the biggest event organisers of the region.
Client: UFC Arabia
After Khabib’s fight made rounds on the internet in 2018, there was a rise in his following in the MENA region. This was a great chance for UFC to launch an event along with it’s digital services (app/subscription/website). We were asked to create a 360 campaign that introduced UFC in the region especially to the arab youth, since blood sport like UFC did not have the same following as football, we decided to cash on the biggest fight that they wanted: Khabib vs. Dustin, Sept 7th, 2019 in Abu Dhabi.
Client: Al-Turki / Sawafi Borets
Sawafi and Borets - two giants in oil drilling industry decided to shake hands. We were asked to brand the newly merged oil drilling company, Sawafi Borets. With the merger ratio of 60-40, we decided to stay true to company vision. Ultimately resulting in the full brand identity and a brand purpose for the group.
Client: Dubai Calendar
Dubai being the city of tomorrow is a host of many events, of which a very stellar one being ‘entertainment’ since the vast expat majority comprises of brits, Ed Sheehan the top of charts leading UK artist was invited to come over. We had an opportunity to raise awareness and brand the event - through a very powerful insight we were able to build a massive footfall and a strong campaign that everyone was singing about.
Client: Visa Middle East
With a high rise in arab youth following football, how could visa partner with Emirates NBD to create a bespoke campaign using FIFA assets to drive their business goals? In collaboration between Visa San Francisco, Facebook and Emirates NBD we decided to create your window to the World Cup - a hub(portal) for football fans to connect, communicate and engage resulting in one of the biggest below the line event in Dubai with their favourite footballer: Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Client: PEPSI Pakistan
Pakistani youth today are mostly found online playing games and hardly step outside. While street cricket is not as popular as it used to be. So we decided to bring the two together. We fused the online gaming experience with age old street cricket in a way that appeals to the youth. We built the first digital cricket game to be played on streets: Pinball Cricket.