advertising Archives

November 20, 2013

TOP VIRAL BRAND ADS

TOP VIRAL BRAND ADS OF 2013

The marketing industry has an affinity for predicting trends for the coming year and we’re already seeing a few interesting predictions floating around online for 2014. On the other hand, as we head towards the end of the year, we also start to see a lot of lists that fall into the category “a look back at the year that was”. These too are quite interesting, especially when they are purely consumer generated. Enter the top viral ads of 2013.

Did you see the Dove ad with the sketch artist pop up in your Facebook feed this year? With the current actor Jean Claude Van Damme & Volvo currently topping the viral ad charts, via digital & social media blog Mashable, here are some of the ads debuted in 2013 that raked in the most number of shares, deemed a better metric than views by Unruly, the firm that compiled the list. “Shares are the currency of social success and for leading brand marketers discovering how to create and distribute highly shareable content repeatedly and at scale is now at the top of their wish list,” Unruly

What do you think? How many of these ads did you watch? Below are some of our favorites & you can see the complete list here.

June 12, 2012

KALIMAT

KALIMAT – THE VALUED ART OF READING

Case study: Kalimat is the first publishing house in the UAE which is dedicated solely to publishing and distributing quality Arabic children’s books with global production standards. For the brand’s launch at the Sharjah International Book Fair the client wanted a unique and vibrant exhibition stand as well as an ambient VIP and media reception area. Zaman created an exhibition stand which featured animal characters from Kalimat’s wide range of its children’s publications silhouetted against a coloured light backdrop and featured a story-telling corner staffed by its publications’ authors.

The exhibition stand launch was preceded by an extensive print advertising and poster campaign, aimed at encouraging locals to explore its offerings at the Sharjah Book Fair. Kalimat’s online presence features an interactive animated website that brings its book characters to life. With a flexible sitemap structure for the addition of reading games, etc in the future.

Click here for more images on the work we did for Kalimat & other our other client projects.

June 12, 2012

Kalimat – The valued art of reading

Click here for more images on the work we did for Kalimat & other our other client projects.

May 29, 2012

AZAL

AZAL – BUILDING A TIMELESS RETAIL OUTLET

Azal is a multi-brand jewellery and watch concept outlet from Al Tayer Group. Zaman worked with the Group on all of their home brands including Ounass, Azal, Azza Fahmi and supported the launches of various international brands Bulgari, Kenzo, Jaguar, and Maserati.

Zaman created the complete identity for the Azal brand. The name Azal means Eternity so its identity was inspired by clean modern lines and conceived to evoke the classicism of the objects to be sold at all outlets. We designed the outlet interiors to carry timeless jewellery by creating a minimalistic presentation and using wooden busts to best showcase the jewellery. White stone floors worked as a perfect backdrop for sleek wenge wood and lighting was designed to highlight masterpieces.

We designed the collaterals, theme for an in-store launch event and advertising; for which we used the compositions of the collections always reflecting the mechanism of a watch. Each composition was seasonal.

May 29, 2012

Azal – Building a timeless retail outlet

April 13, 2012

Belgian TV channel

Belgian TV channel commercial goes viral

Today’s video comes courtesy of twitter chatter around a TV channel commercial that garnered over 3million views on Youtube in just 2days! The commercial is for the launch of the TNT channel in Belgium and the “protoganist” is a small square in an average Flemish town where nothing really happens…well that is until you push the button ofcourse. Zaman’s verdict? It’s too good not to share.

May 5, 2011

Creating a platform for Authenticity

Creating a platform for Authenticity. Grace Yacoub speaks to Gulf News

For the online version got to http://gulfnews.com/business/media-marketing/creating-platform-for-authenticity-1.803347

Everyone loves rankings; ‘the 10 best of that’ or the ‘the 10 worst of this’. These days you just cannot navigate websites without coming across one or more of these vying for your attention. Such is their sheer proliferation.

Now, Zaman — one of the first dedicated branding agencies from the region and which knows a few things about the subject — has taken upon itself with creating a ranking list of its own. But this is no Top Ten listing.

Zaman has taken on the task of finding out the Top 100 ‘authentic’ Arab brands out there.

The process does seem straight-forward enough on the face of it, but look closely and the catchphrase ‘authentic’ strikes you. How does one filter through brands which are authentic and which aren’t? Would such an exercise be completely objective and be free of personal preferences or prejudices?

Grace Yacoub, founder and CEO of Zaman, speaks on the rationale behind the new ranking list and all the processes that went into making it.

Gulf News: There are so many brands out there which would fit the bill of what you are looking for. Why then this emphasis on ‘authentic’ rather than ‘popular’?

Grace Yacoub: We believe authenticity drives brands to be loved. Throughout our 16 years of practice in the Middle East, we have tried to make Arab companies focus on creating meaningful experiences around their brands.

We felt this is the only way they could penetrate a market that is saturated with international established brands. We have oriented companies to be more honest about their offering so they are perceived as real and genuine.

According to you, what makes for an authentic Arab brand? And what was the immediate need for the agency to go for this ranking list?

A brand is authentic when it has an original story that engages with the customers and it consistently delivers what it says it does.

It initiates or participates in activities that support its messages which usually match the customer’s needs and values. Most importantly, authenticity comes from business owners who have real passion and therefore keep challenging themselves to do things better.

By initiating the 100 Most Authentic Arab Brands, we wanted the companies that are behaving in an authentic way and inspire customers and brand owners better understand the ins and outs of successful brand behaviour.

We hope it will be the platform for measuring the real value of brands in the mind of the customers. Perhaps after this exercise, brand owners will learn what people truly care about.

Isn’t there a chance the way you arrive at the conclusions could set off protests from brands claiming their authenticity?

The platform we created for this initiative is very transparent and interactive. After selecting the brands we have monitored, we are leaving it to the public to express their liking and their feedback.

By doing so, we are hoping that brand owners will capture the feelings of people and be able to assess better what they are doing right. So far we’ve got a lot of positive reactions from various brands even those who have not been selected.

Are there proprietary processes you followed to arrive at the conclusions? What were the parameters to identify the wider universe of regional brands?

Our manifesto is based on three values — authenticity, taste and innovation.

The markets are saturated with products and services. In the Middle East, consumer expectation is growing especially after the financial crisis.

Today, they have become immune to hollow messages and superficial design. So branding is only effective if a product or service is wrapped up with true value.

And unless the brand is really genuine and committed to practice what it says it does, it will become obsolete. Authenticity is about honesty.

Brands need to find a way to appeal and become relevant. We believe “taste” plays a major role in presenting a message simply without fanfare.

It is about harmony and original compositions and re-compositions that make a brand live its story in an infinite dimension without looking boring or sounding phony. It is about the attention to detail that any discerned person can detect and appreciate. Nowadays customers have become more sophisticated and learned.

Consumers’ expectations are growing. Today’s game is no longer about awareness. It is about differentiation. The more original you are, the more you stand out and if your story is original, believable and credible the consumer will adopt it and even market it for you.

In the 100 Most Authentic Arab Brands, we decided to go viral to demonstrate that consumers today talk with each other before talking to brands. And if they love a concept they will drive it.

It is interesting that the brands that are most popular on our site are not necessarily the most established. Some of them are not even three years old.

Many of the rankings in the region are based on third-party feedback. Have you eschewed this route completely?

So far we have noticed that size and longevity don’t really matter. Also, it doesn’t matter if the company’s online fan community base is big or small.

Some of the brands that are reaching the Top Ten most voted have a very mixed number of fans. Take for example the Brand Rajadano, they have been on our Top Ten most voted list since the start.

It is a young Arab Fashion brand that has great ambitions to grow on an international platform. What is most interesting to see is that Rajadano has no Facebook Fan page, only a Twitter presence and without a large number of followers.

So far, we have noted that there isn’t a direct link between our votes and the number of fans. Our voters are responding to real experiences that they have with the brand.

They are somehow connected with the brand they like and their messages relate to pride and ownership. We have also noticed that we have managed to create a new dialogue between brands and their audiences. They are now listening to what people are saying about them and responding.

May 4, 2011

PSFK INTERVIEW

PSFK INTERVIEW | Grace Yacoub on Middle Eastern Brands

For the online interview log on to www.psfk.com/2011/05/the-100-most-authentic-arab-brands.html

Branding agency Zaman is embarking on a remarkable initiative as they campaign to consolidate votes to determine the best brands in the Middle East. The initiative includes not only regional product and service brands, but also blogs, media outlets, and even festivals.

PSFK caught up with Zaman’s Founder and CEO, Grace Yacoub, to get a better idea of what they are doing.

Tell us about what you hope to achieve with your initiative.

Throughout our 16 years of practice in the Middle East, we have tried to make Arab companies focus on creating meaningful experiences around their brands. We felt that is the only way they could penetrate a market that is saturated with international established brands. We have oriented companies to be more honest about their offering so they are perceived as real and genuine. We believe that authenticity drives brands to be successful and loved.

We initiated The 100 Most Authentic Arab Brands to celebrate the companies that are behaving in an authentic way and inspire customers and brand owners better understand the ins and outs of successful brand behavior. We hope it will be the platform for measuring the real value of brands in the mind of the customers. Perhaps after this exercise, brand owners will learn what people truly care about.

In your manifesto, you mention 3 criteria: authenticity, taste, and innovation. What do each of these terms really mean for brand building?

Authenticity

The markets are saturated with products/services. In the Middle East, consumer expectation is growing especially after the financial crisis. They have become immune to hollow messages and superficial design. So branding is only effective if a product or service is wrapped up with true value. And unless the brand is really genuine and committed to practice what it says it does, it will become obsolete. Authenticity is about honesty.

Taste

Brands need to find a way to appeal and become relevant. We believe Taste plays a major role in presenting a message simply without fanfare. It is about harmony and original compositions and recompositions that make a brand live its story in an infinite dimension without looking boring or sounding phony. It is about the attention to detail that any discerned person can detect and appreciate. Nowadays customers have become more sophisticated and learned.

Innovation

Consumers’ expectations are growing. Today’s game is no longer about awareness. It is about differentiation. The more original you are, the more you stand out and if your story is original, believable and credible the consumer will adopt it and even market it for you. In 100 Most Authentic Arab Brands, we decided to go viral to demonstrate that consumers today talk with each other before talking to brands. And if they love a concept they will drive it. It is interesting that the brands that are most popular on our site are not necessarily the most established. Some of them are not even three years old.

How do you define authenticity for brands?

A brand is authentic when:

It has an original story that engages with the customers

It consistently delivers what it says it does

It initiates or participates in activities that support its messages which usually match the customers needs and values.

Most importantly authenticity comes from business owners who have real passion and therefore keep challenging themselves to do things better.

Who is voting? Any notable differences in how a consumer votes vs. more professional voters?

It doesn’t particular matter if their online fan community base is big or small. Some of the brands that are reaching the top ten most voted have a very mixed number of fans.

Take for example the Brand Rajadano, they have been on our top ten most voted list since the start. It is a young Arab Fashion brand that has great ambitions to grow on an international platform. What is most interesting to see is that Rajadano has no Facebook Fan page, only a twitter presence and without a large number of followers. So far, we have noted that there isn’t a direct link between our votes and the number of fans. Our voters are responding to real experiences that they have with the brand. They somehow connected with the brand and their messages relate to pride and ownership. We have also noticed that we have managed to create a dialogue as brands are listening to people and establishing a two way conversation, building closer and more personal relationships generating evangelists for their brand.

What trends make you optimistic about the future of brands in the Middle East?

Arab societies are changing. There is absolutely more awareness about what the international brands are doing and hence they are now expecting the local brands to level. In certain industries such as fashion, luxury goods, companies in the Middle East have started to have more confidence in their offering and their ability to anticipate what customers want. So they are addressing the needs of customers and even creating astonishing quality. Local customers are responding positively.

Whilst these brands are quite popular locally or regionally, they have just begun to venture on an international level. So the potential is immense. Take Sauce for example or Animals of Lebanon. They seem to have gained good awareness and popularity amongst regional audiences in very little time. That means they must be doing something right. However, these brands are still working on a niche proposition. As the markets are maturing, brand owners are challenged to improve their offering. I believe the economic crisis made brands strive harder to survive and by doing so they learned to do things better.

Thanks Grace!

The 100 Most Authentic Arab Brands

Zaman

March 28, 2011

QR codes

QR codes, has your business embraced the latest marketing trend?

QR codes have made it big in Japan, but why are we still taking time to catch up with this new marketing trend? The reason this code is such a cool marketing tool is that you can just about put it anywhere. When you scan or read a QR code with your Blackberry, iPhone, Android or other camera-enabled Smartphone, you can link to digital content on the web and it will take the user to any URL you specify. These codes are great for advertisers, publishers and brands because they are connecting the physical world to the interactive world and driving traffic to their mobile internet site. This is an effective way to add interactivity to any print media and the possibilities are endless! The UK and Australia are also starting to use QR Codes more in advertising and slowly we are starting to see it in the Middle East. One of the best things about QR codes for marketers is that you can know exactly where a visitor came from, so not only you can generate traffic to your website but you have the ability to track how many users go to that site from using the code. Not only that QR codes enhance both your search engine and social media optimization and because sharing is how you build community, and one of the favorite arenas for doing this is using the famous Like button so any mobile device is linked to a fully functioning LIKE button for your Facebook page. The potential for QR Codes is limitless. What’s most exciting is how they take what social media is doing well now, bringing people together with technology, and extending it to enhance the experience.

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