At Zaman we believe that each city has its own identity which consists of its heritage, culture, traditions, music, cuisine and more. For our 2014 calendar we have translated these aspects into abstract portraits.
The 2014 Zaman Calendar encompasses 12 Arab cities (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Fez, Kuwait, Cairo, Muscat, Doha, Baghdad, Jeddah, Beirut, Damascus, and, Jerusalem) where each city is represented uniquely through the use of colour and abstract formations. This calendar was a result of intense research of analysing close to 600 pictorial references and 100 unique colours extracted to create compositions for each city.
Which colours would you use to describe your city?
Companies often don’t make a distinction between design and branding. They think that by having a modern look, they have achieved what it takes to win people’s hearts.
Today, as companies are racing to counter generic competition and large brands, our challenge is to focus on real values rather than design and marketing.
If there is a way to develop a brand through design alone, then many companies in the Arab world would have a chance, but no such possibility exists.
Design is a good ground breaker and therefore incredibly important. However, if the experience isn’t authentic and sustainable, then the relationship will remain shallow & fragile and ultimately unviable.
When companies realize that by being authentic, showing determination and creating their own distinctive cultures, not only will they win the hearts of their customers, shareholders, partners and principals, they will also recruit the best candidates, and those candidates will stay with them longer.
Managers of great brands are always looking for ways to express their brands in the finest details of execution. Why? Because if they are doing their job well then they know that every single encounter that a public audience has with your brand will either enhance its value or diminish it. The adoption of such an attitude towards managing/nurturing a successful brand is a sure way to ensure that management teams are bound to always stay curious about pushing the envelope to find ways to ensure that each customer experience of the brand is refreshing, unique and incites the customer to voluntarily seek out the same brand experience in the near future. Design is one of the fundamental elements of ensuring brand success. Whether through product design, web design or retail design, great brands create extraordinary experiences – brand “worlds” of sorts — that appeal to all the senses and use details and the interior environment decor to help express their brand personalities.
Most, if not all, brand managers should know that all the little things they actually do—or don’t do—for their customers will mean more to them than the big things they claim through their marketing messages. After all, not many advertising campaigns can compete with an impressive one-on-one brand experience that’s been designed down to the last detail and appeals to the human senses. Not surprisingly, some of the most memorable brand experiences are created by superior design elements.
Because well-crafted design elicits emotional responses, great brands use packaging design to stand out in the crowd and make powerful first impressions. The best packaging designs are not only emotionally appealing to customers; they also convey the unique meaning and value of the brand. Packaging design alone can facilitate an emotional connection and bonds customers to brands.
Managers of great brands are always looking for ways to express their brands in the finest details of execution. In the next couple of weeks we’ll continue to explore which great brands in the Middle East have made some noteworthy strides to appeal to their customers’ senses and create strong emotional connections through design. If you think there are specific brands that must be included or elects explored, let us know here on our Facebook page.
Pinterest has quickly become a powerful referral tool for online traffic, which is particularly important for eCommerce businesses. With an average of 1.36 million users daily users, Pinterest has surpassed Twitter; and Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn combined in referral traffic. Currently responsible for about 40% of e-commerce traffic, one reason for this is the simple fact that high-quality, visual content sells and it’s highly engaging.
Although the premise of Pinterest’s success underscores the importance of visual content, the platform still offers relevancy for non-visual businesses to promote their company cultures or perhaps recruit new hires by pinning photos of the office, behind-the-scenes events at headquarters, speakers that come to visit, off sites. All in all, photos should be colorful, bright and interesting i.e. things that people would want to share. Always keep in mind that attractive, compelling images are more likely to get repinned over those that obviously look like ads.
Below is a guide we recently came across on how to get the most out of Pinterest for your business.
The region’s first and leading dedicated design fair, Design Days Dubai, returns for its third edition to deliver a diverse, exhibition-quality collection of compelling, highly-collectible modern and contemporary design pieces and installations, alongside a public programme with leading design personalities and industry experts, from 17 – 21 March 2014. In anticipation of this, the organizers have planned a series of initiatives to whet the appetite of art & design aficionados. One such, is the exhibitor spotlight.
When Alexis Ryngaert established his design gallery in Brussels in 2008 he created Victor Hunt as an alter ego – an approach just as intriguing as the works that have given the gallery its strong and distinct voice in the contemporary design/art world. As seen in the work presented at Design Days Dubai since the fair’s inception, the designers represented by Victor Hunt produce bold pieces, often unexpected employing both new technology and new uses of old technology.
Victor Hunt’s website incorporates a series of beautifully filmed and skillfully edited documentaries following the designers represented through the production of specific works. By bringing production alive, showing it as an organic and often unpredictable process, driven by the materials used, the films also provide insight into each designer’s creative approach – and they highlight what Ryngaert, through Victor Hunt, defines as designart: the grey area where craft, architecture, industrial design, sculpture and other artistic disciplines meet.
Below are three such videos taken from the website. Enjoy!
The region’s first and leading dedicated design fair, Design Days Dubai, returns for its third edition to deliver a diverse, exhibition-quality collection of compelling, highly-collectible modern and contemporary design pieces and installations, alongside a public programme with leading design personalities and industry experts, from 17 – 21 March 2014. In anticipation of this, the organizers have planned a series of initiatives to whet the appetite of art & design aficionados. One such, is the exhibitor spotlight.
When Alexis Ryngaert established his design gallery in Brussels in 2008 he created Victor Hunt as an alter ego – an approach just as intriguing as the works that have given the gallery its strong and distinct voice in the contemporary design/art world. As seen in the work presented at Design Days Dubai since the fair’s inception, the designers represented by Victor Hunt produce bold pieces, often unexpected employing both new technology and new uses of old technology.
Victor Hunt’s website incorporates a series of beautifully filmed and skillfully edited documentaries following the designers represented through the production of specific works. By bringing production alive, showing it as an organic and often unpredictable process, driven by the materials used, the films also provide insight into each designer’s creative approach – and they highlight what Ryngaert, through Victor Hunt, defines as designart: the grey area where craft, architecture, industrial design, sculpture and other artistic disciplines meet.
Below are three such videos taken from the website. Enjoy!
Full list of Design Days Dubai 2014 exhibitors can be viewed here.
Shutterstock released its 3rd annual infographic revealing design and emerging visual trends around the world. For the 2014 edition, Shutterstock used data from their over 350 million all-time image downloads to reveal these recent and emerging visual trends from around the world. Shutterstock licenses 3 images every second from a collection of over 30 million photos, illustrations, vectors and video clips to businesses and visual communicators, making them a world leader in volume stock image downloads.
Some of the trends that came out in latest edition of the study include the rising popularity of video as a medium for storytellers and Instagram-inspired images as the top visual theme for the year. The infographic also shows the search terms with the largest year-on-year growth and the varying design themes across different countries in the world. Below are some of the trends outlined in the study which is presented as an infographic include:
No two countries design alike: From pastel colors in China to vibrant textures in the Netherlands, unique themes around the world continue to emerge.
Flat, minimalist design elements replace skeuomorphism: Led by changes in app and software design, downloads of flat design elements increased by 200% over the past year.
Instagram-esque images were a top visual theme of the year: With the popularity of retro cameras and mobile apps, searches for filtered images soared 661% in 2013, with no signs of abating.
Video is an increasingly popular medium: For visual storytellers and access to new image-capture technology such as 4K is growing. Popular video content topics include education, 3D renderings, transportation and cityscapes.
In an official statement released by Shutterstock, VP of Content Scott Braut said “The increasing demand for imagery is leading to new and innovative content types. Our data reveals how photographers, illustrators, designers and videographers are influencing design trends on a local and global scale.”
The full info graphic can be viewed here.
Kicking off the new year, our first post is a roundup of news and happenings that are on our radar as we gear up for another year of exciting year of inspiring projects and continued collaborations with our valued clients.
1. 2014 Digital marketing trends
a) Content continues its royal reign as king
2013 saw an incremental embrace by marketers that content is a critical resource in their efforts. So much so that studies conducted by social media blog Social Media Today reported that 78% of CMO’s believe custom content is the future of marketing. Likewise, on the platform side 2013 also saw the influx of content discovery apps which support the growth trend: Flipboard, Pulse, Fancy, Houzzer, etc. This trend is expected to continue in 2014, with marketers, more likely to consider allocating better budgets to the content development process.
b) Video marketing will continue to grow
In past posts we’ve underlined the power of story telling. The delivery format of the story is just as important. Videos have the ability to convey a message that is ten times more powerful than text content. Campaigns such as KONY 2012 that gained viral fame are proof that great video content has the potential of becoming an overnight viral success. Also, with apps like Instagram, Snapchat and Vine, videos are increasingly being easily created, viewed and shared on mobile devices. Facebook has also introduced and enhanced their mobile ads platform.
2. Five brands that are winning on Pinterest
When it comes to Pinterest, many brands aren’t quite sure how to turn boards and pins into followers and potential customers. However, now more than ever it is important to not overlook this image sharing social network. Numerous studies suggest that online consumers have made a purchase based on recommendations from Pinterest. The same studies indicate that Pinterest generates 4x more revenue per click than Twitter and 27% more per click than Facebook.
3. Augmented reality continues to inspire brands
Today we live in a world where brand and project launches have to compete to create amazing, engaging experiences in order to win the attention of intended audiences; and experimenting with interactive technologies is certainly a good place to start. In a promotion for the recently released game, Forza Motorsport 5, Pizza Hut UK has teamed up with Xbox One and augmented reality app, Blippar, to provide customers with exclusive game content directly on their smartphones.
4. The power of brand advocacy
In previous posts we have mentioned our belief that brands that act in an authentic manner & stick to a clear brand story will be rewarded by loyal customers. People who love your brand will introduce you to your new customers. Recommendations come from your advocates – a network of highly satisfied, passionate and connected customers who love your products and service. It can create awareness of your brand, help increase your sales, and increase consumers’ trust in your brand. 50% of advocates recommend a brand because they had a good experience with a product or service.
Recently we came across an infographic, which illustrates the importance of brand advocacy in your marketing strategy using the digital space as a context. Customers trust people like them, and that is who you’re brand advocates are. They are customers who love your product and want to recommend it to the people they care about. Click here to view infographic.
Having worked with so many different brands in the region throughout the past 18 years we have enjoyed a lot of proud moments. Some, however, naturally stand out over others. Back in 1998 we embarked on what was at the time one of the most significant branding projects in the region.
Zaman was approached by the then ‘Emirates Telecommunications Corporation’ to join the process of evolving them into a customer facing service company with the capacity to grow internationally. At the time very little was known locally about branding beyond its delivery of a new logo. So patience and the sharing of our knowledge were essential at every stage.
The Etisalat brand was of particular National importance as it was the only brand that was omnipresent in all Emirates as the sole provider of its service. Everyone in the UAE had to deal with them so this project would touch everyone at home and at work.
The challenge was very much to change the perception inside the company and across the UAE that this government institution was radically changing for the good of its customers.
To achieve this Zaman created a brand and launch platform that was very personal to the audience and related closely to them as individuals.
We switched the official name to the ‘street’ reference everyone used, Etisalat. We created a new logo mark intended to represent a human form and radiating sound waves of communication breaking from within its own boundaries. The dominant green spoke of a balance, security and growth.
The brand mark was based on a strong and detailed visual identity system that was applied to all the collateral’s – stationery, forms, bills, receipts – and communications tools – brochures, flyers, adverts, posters, signage etc. A comprehensive visual guidelines manual was provided so the brand managers could keep control of the brand’s development through the 100’s of channels and contact points they had to manifest the change.
Redirecting the mind set of the people within the organization was critical to delivering an authentic change to the customer experience. To support this we commissioned a photo shoot, which captured the unseen human face of the organization – people working with and for people. We shared it across the whole organization just prior to launch through a brand book, a presentation, and an intranet and poster campaign. Everyone in the organization got new business cards delivered in a personalized cardholder on the day of the launch.
For the public launch we created animated illustrations that communicated positive yet ‘soft’ messages to customers rather than harsh over ambitious corporate messages. The logo was launched locally with huge, first of their kind, building banners installed on each of Etisalat’s head office buildings in each Emirate and unfurled on the day. A new day.
The Etisalat project of 98 / 99 was a truly a milestone project both for Zaman ad for the UAE. It was followed by a huge wave of re-branding and new brand development across the UAE as the modern commercial age of swept through the UAE’s local businesses at full speed. Etisalat’s change was a true precursor to the incredible developments that were to happen over the next 10 years.
For Zaman, the successful launch of the project lead to Omantel and Qtel branding projects, as well as a host of projects with local companies. Some huge and some start up and from a broad spectrum of industries, all these companies recognized they had to respond to the huge change in the needs of the market place for organizations driven by their brands. They had to become brands.
An unofficial panel of senior designers from countries including Australia, Japan, Brazil, Italy, UK, Germany and USA cast their votes for Pantone’s 2014 Color of the Year. They predictions are presented in the infograph below: