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ArabAd goes Brofessional (and vice versa)

May 17, 2013
Advertising, Design, Media
5 Comments

IMG-20130516-WA001ArabAd goes Brofessional (and vice versa)

By Admin I: So the last issue of ArabAd is out, and yes we are featuring it because they chose to publish one of our posts in the last page of the issue and also because this time the main theme is ‘Design’ (they probably thought that working with design is less problematic, I guess our last week proved them wrong!).

The issue includes ups and downs, a 26 pages special report (maybe too special) about the AUB Revolution/Evolution 20 years celebration, highlighting many design profiles that contributed in changing the design field in Lebanon (We all know that change is not always positive right?).

The report is filled with names that should be researched, works that really make you want to know more, and other pretentious long lines on design as well.

Type design is also featured in Arabad through an article about an Arabic typeface that’s rooted in the English shires, designed by Boutos International. (Problematic and borderline unethical in terms of cultural design, sorry we’d like to one day respect our mother language a bit more).

On another note, ArabAd featured Beirut ntsc’s Tarek Chemaly’s exhibition that we will feature soon. The work is rich and highly engaging (wasta, yes we know him, and still think he rocks).

Thank you ArabAd, and hope you feature more amateurs like us, that need to get an idea, an opinion across to the public, for people to think more, without necessarily agreeing.

As the fabulous N wraps up her featured post: I’m a Brofessional, and you guys take me way too seriously.

BLA BLA BLA

Chaos and frozen veggies combo

May 14, 2013
Advertising
9 Comments

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By Admin I: so here’s a light advertising post after the series of opinionated design posts that caused a severe indigestion to many.

Al-Wadi Al-Akhdar launched an outdoor promoting their Halloum and stuff, okay we don’t really care, but the combination of failing humour and a 90s design treatment is worth a small commentary.

It’s a really courageous step when brands rely on alternative routes to deliver an idea, illustration for example, bringing up the fun in the brand and engaging the audience. What was done here is a mix of two competing entities: a reach for illustration, and (we’re just assuming), the client insisting on the ‘traditional’ pack shot. The mix clearly doesn’t work as the two elements look detached, stuck and forced (hit us with any extra synonym!).

The copywriting issue is one of many discussed earlier. It’s a potentially good idea, clinging to insights, but the language structure and even the type treatment looks too amateurish to even discuss!  The slant, the coloured band at the bottom, and the overall chaos reminds of the 90s ad extravaganza.

Earlier this year, Al-Wadi Al-Akhdar redesigned its packages going to a minimal ‘white’ feel, that probably helped enhancing the fresh feel of the product without detaching it from its old identity.

What we’re saying in the end is simply that whether you sell frozen veggies or jewellery, communicating ideas shouldn’t be taken for granted, just dig in your type library or do your own lettering with some visual research, even though a field search for local insights would do better.

Cheers to that Halloum!

 

Chateau Ka Goes pad-ad

May 5, 2013
Advertising
5 Comments

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Chateau Ka “Source Blanche” Goes pad-ad

By Admin I: Whether you liked the Buzz ads or not, or whether you think they were stolen or not, I’m very sure you were eager to see another work by “Nathalie Masri’, the freelance creative behind last year’s advertising extravaganza.

Chateau Ka recently released a TVC for its “Source Blanche” white wine, that fits the summer season quite well, except the fact that I’m not allowed to drink it, being a man, or at least this is what the ad showed (let’s assume there’s an unreleased sequel, featuring a man’s needs *dirty mind starts functioning*).

This TVC’s only good feature is Caroline Labaki’s lens, having an over-the-top cliche copywriting, a boring act and an over all approach that seemed tailored for Kotex. The main fail here is the total absence of a relevant USP. What are we dealing with? Wine, or chocolate or tampons? The script fits every single product-line and lacks the basic substance of a well targeted approach, not to mention the humor, that’s not very, umm, humorous.

*Beeep* no.

Chateau Ka “Source Blanche” understands those little self-indulgent moments, and is proud to be part of (some of) them.

Credits:
Creative: Nathalie Masri
Production House: kapitän kühn
Director: Caroline Labaki
DOP: Tony El Khazen

Almaza goes back to Almaza: Fta7oulé Reji3

May 1, 2013
Advertising
9 Comments

Almaza goes back to Almaza: Fta7oulé Reji3

By Admin I: So it’s seems like Almaza finally got back to its senses! Those guys are sober again after a  drunk phase sponsored by Lebanese Brew, their only local competitor. The two beers cater to immensely different audiences, a point that Almaza failed to acknowledge at first, and tried to adapt to LB’s young, daring and westernized marketing tools.

‘Fta7oulé Reji3′ is the new summer campaign by Almaza, evolving around Lebanese insights and short stories, authentic, true and funny (in the most part). The campaign is definitely smart, even if featuring insights the way they are feels a bit flat, but that’s in the end a personal opinion. A well shot video, well scripted and art directed starting from an interesting play on word between (fta7 Almaza, and fta7 el beb). The best feature of this campaign is definitely the series of lines saying “Naji reji3″ and so on, simply because it depicts a very Lebanese idea brought back from the post-war memories, you know, the walls sprayed with the same slogan.

This year, drink for your friends and bring them back to Lebanon.
Because wherever they are in the world, nothing feels better than coming back home.

On another note, a debate was going on the brand’s facebook page, claiming that the idea was proposed to Almaza by another agency, stolen and revamped, a cat-fight indeed that was deleted later on (you’re lucky we couldn’t find evidence!).

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Good job for Almaza, initiating a positive summer season, using the right timing, the right umbrella and the right approach to talk to a very loyal audience. ‘Hayda Jawkun”, stick to it, it’s the only way you can remain original and truthful.

Social Media Awards Beirut – Reviewed

April 30, 2013
Advertising, Design, Media
21 Comments

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Social Media Awards Beirut – Reviewed

By Admin I: it finally happened, the buzzing event that managed successfully to become the talk of all online platforms, in a way that made everyone forget about hidden agendas, the Lebanese mindset of a conspiracy theory. It was successfully okay, we cannot deny that, especially if compared to other events being held in Lebanon, certainly not ‘Tedx’ bad, you know.

Everyone was there, the glam, the meh and the disastrous, and we showed up in a tribute costume to the wickedly famous Panda Cheese ads meeting our fierce competitors, you know with their fake smiles and blonde dates, yes the kind of blondes that thought an ‘angry panda’ was ‘cute’ *shoot her*. So Panda overheard some Leo+alfa hate, and was almost beaten by Little miss sunshine aka. Tedx Beirut’s Sarah Sibai (that never gets angry).

Aaaand we didn’t win. But let me tell you, this time we will be the sore loser, we’ve been behaving for a month! The only reason why we accepted a nomination by the event’s organiser, placed in the wrong category, was a friend’s advice to show sportsmanship, but screw it. We do not belong to the ‘best business blog’ category dudes! We review creative works and write design related posts that you probably failed to read while creating a facebook page after the other. Well you know what? It’s highly calculated, being with ‘Wamda’ in one group. Wamda won, mabrouk (we really mean it), but give me a break, those guys offer a platform designed to empower entrepreneurs in the MENA region, THE MENA FREAKIN REGION, and we’re a local bunch of bloggers. Wamda is funded, and helps funding startups. Tell me about fair competition. That is mere NONSENSE.

Anyways, we didn’t win, you know, even David Habchy, Elie Fares and Amal al Dahouk didn’t, so we can live with it. the regular pals did, Najib, Gino, the social media accounts held by the organisers, the venue and ha–ii–fa-a-a.

Oh oh, another caliber hint: Almaza, Cheyef 7alak and Lebanese Memes won more than one category, Poly performed (while people devoured the buffet) and Neshan’s poetic drama was more hilarious than Nemr bou Nassar,see, something to be proud of. not.

The event is a fail by all fair measures, except the ones evolving around media buzz, great success. Tanks haifa, tanks.

(The afterparty was awesome Ragmag, awesome!)

Here’s the full list, check it out (Wait for the panda pictures later).

1. Best Business Blog: Wamda
2. Best Commercial District on Social Media: ABC
3. Best Start-up on Social Media: Tickle My Brain
4. Best Facebook Application: Novo
5. Best Facebook Campaign/Page: Lebanese Memes
6. Most Creative Instagram Account: Live Love Beirut
7. Most Engaging Diplomat/Politician on Twitter: Ziyad Baroud
8. Best Lifestyle Blog: Mich Café
9. Best Food & Beverage Brand: Almaza
10. Best Pub/bar on Social Media: February 30
11. Best NGO/Organization on Twitter: Donner Sang Compter
12. Best Design for a Social Media Campaign: Almaza
13. Best Fashion Brand on Social Media: Vero Moda
14. Best Food Blog: No Garlic No Onions
15. Best Fashion Blog: Plush Beirut
16. Most Engaging Person on Twitter: Anis Tabet
17. Best Technology Blog: Microsoftoholic
18. Most Engaging Youtube Channel: Cheyef 7alak
19. Most Engaging Media Personality on Twitter: Neshan
20. Best News Blog: Beirut Spring
21. Most Engaging Youtube Video: Beirut Duty Free Flashmob
22. Best NGO/Community on Social Media: Lebanese Memes
23. Best Non-Arabic Vocal Artist: Anthony Touma
24. Best Restaurant, Café or Bakery on Social Media: Roadster Diner
25. Best Band on Social Media: Mashrou3 Leila
26. Best Personal Blog: Gino’s Blog
27. Best Hotel on Social Media: Phoenicia Hotel
28. Most Engaging Celebrity on Twitter: Haifa Wehbe
29. Best Media Personality on Social Media: Zaven
30. Best Business on Social Media: Roadster Diner
31. Best Integrated Campaign: Cheyef 7alak
32. Blog of the Year: Blog Baladi
33. Social Campaigning Magnet Award: Lana El Sahley

Check Elie’s awesome review.

Crepaway’s ‘All Good’: absurdity abused

April 13, 2013
Advertising
35 Comments

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Crepaway’s ‘All Good’: absurdity abused

By Admin I: so back to advertising, the field that surprisingly suffers from less mafia domination if compared to what we’ve seen from this country’s design sphere the past couple of days.

It seems like advertising is reaching a rough phase in this country. Give it a look, we have 2 main trends: storytelling (the new black) brought to you by classicists like Leo Burnett and their Ksara campaign that’s currently running a competition among students for additional stories (don’t ask me how irrelevant that is), and the trend of the total non-sense absurd that we totally encourage (in moderate doses), brought to you mainly by Interesting Times and their LB beer campaigns.

This is chaos, irrelevant advertising solutions are mainly split between those approaches with no intention to make a step further. The equation is simple: mature audience = storytelling, young and fun = absurd. Eh, no. It doesn’t work that way people!

Lorem Ipsum (yes it’s an agency that even google had barely heard of) launched its new online for Crepaway, an approach mainly depending on positive absurdity and odd moments (how Diesel ‘be stupid’ is that, aka Last summer on earth, you know the confusion between those 2).

So the production looks poor, a shaky art direction and post-production (coloring added unnecessary cheese), but a working overall campaign, you know the type that goes viral because it can be ‘funny’ to facebook’s desperate housewives. One of the campaign’s main drawbacks is rhythm; some of the stereotypical characters are indeed funny in that video, but excessive repetition gave it less impact, became borderline boring in some places (you know what happens when you chew a gum for a whole day).

Good attempt you people, just don’t get too excited with your work next time, too fun can become too boring.

Almaza goes light-minded

April 6, 2013
Advertising, Design
8 Comments

Almaza goes light-minded

By Admin NK: Dammit Almaza, WHAT IS THIS? What’s this weak use of typography mixed with this horrible blank space dilemma? And NO you can’t just put a typical “Lebanese” landscape and add a bottle of Almaza and call it a summer campaign.

So I skipped the normal “introduction” to this post because whatever is happening to concept coherence in this country is such a blasphemy. I mean, Almaza is one of the things you miss when you leave the country. It’s that typical Lebanese beer plan on a night cruise when you’re out of plans. And to top it all, it’s that drink you order on weekends when you’re broke. We freaking love Almaza and yet they’re not making an effort to brand it properly!

So summer comes and you would expect something interesting, but Almaza Light failed again this year (you may check last year’s fuss. The use of typography is just horrible, a “ready whenever you are” placed in the middle and creating this hideous unbalance with its ugly font. And holy moly what is that “symbol” next to it? Some kind of a badly shaped umbrella cheaply done on illustrator, or that “drop of water”. Like, WHY is it there? Are you serious? It doesn’t fit the tonality of the photos taken, nor the line (Disastrous copywriting skills)!

Whenever you decide to go gimmicky try to push it all the way or drop it, that’s like design 101 at any school/agency!

And fine, we love campaigns that stick to one style to show the brand’s “constancy” or whatever; but passing by this on the streets would just remind me of their previous campaigns, nothing special about it. And no, a basic intsagram competition called ‘Chilling with light’ didn’t by any means save it.
Obviously this will not make me stop drinking Almaza, but it sucks seeing it ruining its brand essence with its hideous campaigns. So dear Almaza, please get yourself together.

Kunhadi and Alfa: the unfinished job!

April 3, 2013
Advertising
2 Comments

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Kunhadi and Alfa: the unfinished job!

By Admin NK: Kunhadi’s mothers day campaign didn’t fail to impress us even though it was produced more than a year ago, and the same goes to their latest text driving campaign. So Kunhadi launched its new mobile campaign in collaboration with Alfa; the TVC is pretty impressive, not cliche (the missing arm wasn’t used in a dramatic way), something you probably wouldn’t see coming and straight to the point. What works here is mainly having a background story, an insight and anticipation, I mean we’ve all learned at some point that an awareness campaign has to have this shocking element used in a clever way, and I guess Kunhadi is slightly “getting” there instead of implementing a usual drama scene. Although I do have this tiny concern that it seems like a deja vu (whoever finds the original version wins something, whatever) but hey let’s give Lebanese advertisement the kudos this time!

But COME ON! Have you seen the billboards?! They seem completely out of concept, 90s-boring, and no you can’t just show a guy on a chair with a broken hand and bad use of typography (Saatchi better read our latest post about Kashidas, yes, you type ignorants!) next to him and make it a “don’t text and drive” campaign, unless I’m missing something that I would be delighted to know! Do you guys not hire the same people for that? We’d love to see for once a decent campaign that doesn’t just throw good ideas for the sake of advertising, the TVC was well done, but the whole campaign is highly ‘meh’.

CSRs are like the trickiest shit in advertising, you either make it or break it, and whenever you lack a coherent campaign with a potential impact, you by consequences, lack the chance of getting an awareness message across to your audience.

So make everyone happy, don’t text and drive, no really, we don’t want to see such caliber of work.

CREDITS:

Agency: M&C Saatchi MENA
Associate Creative Director: Pierre El Khoury
Senior Art Director: Mohamed Kabbani
Arabic Writer: Maya Macaron

Production House: Beirutworks
Director: Hady Syriani
DOP: Pierre Mouarkesh
Post Production: Alleycat
Music Composer: Harry Hedeshian

Designed & Signed by ABC: a triangle from the Brofessionals?

March 28, 2013
Advertising, Design, Media
14 Comments

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Designed & Signed by ABC: a triangle from the Brofessionals?

By Admin HY: so ABC decided to approach Lebanese designers and artists, and tell them “Hey, take our triangle, and interpret it your own way! Add to it, mix it, modify it and make a statement piece!”. By doing that ABC pushed the boundaries by using and manipulating their brand and taking it to the next level, yet keeping their consistent and unified symbol: the triangle. And it’s all for a good cause! Now that’s a smart thing to do. The full 100% of all donations are used to cover the medical expenses of underprivileged children suffering from CHD, those donations will go to the Brave Heart Fund, a charitable fundraising initiative established by volunteers in November 2003.

So far we’ve seen 3 and I can’t wait to see more.

Now as a designer to be, I’ve always been interested in processes and how designers and artists that we know, come up with their ideas …Where do they start? How do they evolve? Do they start with one idea and build upon it like Zena El Khalil? Or wake up one morning and visualise the whole thing like Roger Moukarzel? And that’s what I really loved about the videos released.

“Designed & Signed” will go on for one year (before the final auction), hopefully more videos will be uploaded and we’ll be introduced to more point of views.

By Admin I: for those who don’t know (or are too lazy to google), Zeina Khalil is a visual artist producing very pink, patterned and pop works for different purposes; Zeina is one of the ‘we do Arab pop art’ circle, mixing heritage with all sorts of glitters and feathers (the Rana Salam kill-me-now trend).

Roger Moukarzel is a talented photographer that started in journalism then moved to fashion photography *dollar sign blings* and is known for an orientalist eye to portraits.

Ashekman are two lebanese brothers that founded a rap band, a clothing brand and other graffiti-i-ish/we-are-cool westernized perception of the Lebanese slangs.

Hoping to see more interesting choices for designers, (I can smell Rana Salam, Nada Debs and other names from that sort of ‘I sell you your own heritage for a fortune’) but hopefully ABC can take a deeper look to what’s happening on a less privileged level, check local uprising artists, the ones that lack a business-oriented mind.

WE’D LIKE TO DO A TRIANGLE FOR ABC AS BROFESSIONAL REVIEW. CONTACT US.

That fun Siblou campaign!

March 24, 2013
Advertising, Design
10 Comments

That fun Siblou campaign! 

By Admin NK: As a customer (without taking part of the design community), I was never a big fan of Siblou even though I never bought any of their products. Their branding identity and previous campaigns never really attracted me and got me to say “hey I have to try this out”. (NK, dear, you were a broke noodles eater, and yes Siblou is overpriced, whatever!)

Now we’ve all seen their “Do The Fish” and “Fishfull Thinking” commercials, those were lame and pointless. But we recently spotted their latest TVC and I’ve got to say, this one was funny. True, you’ll find it cliché after you’re done watching it but when I saw that obnoxious woman late for dinner “transforming” into a French man chef, I didn’t see that coming. And the reaction on that old man’s face was priceless!
Unlike their other commercials, this one surely does make sense in promoting their products. We love witty humor when it comes to anything, so good job!
Going too literal does indeed become lateral and witty, not to forget the good art direction and the spot on sound effects and editing rhythm that contributed in its success.
But will that make me go buy Siblou now? Unless a Japanese chef comes out of the fridge and hands me Siblou frozen shrimps, now that’s an idea! (Again, NK, you wouldn’t settle down for frozen shrimps dear, and the chef is not a part of the offer).
GREY is kind of back, you know, kind of!
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