The interview below appeared on the current issue of ArabAd.... So what's a book release without a cheeky interview. We are indebted to Ghada Azzi, managing editor of ArabAd for this.
First and foremost, how did you three meet?
Geoana Hobeiche: Well I was a student in Tarek’s classes at university.
Tarek Chemaly: But that was long ago… and it all morphed into a friendship afterwards.
GH: And Ali I met at work and eventually co-founded the Lime Buzz as we were both interested in neuromarketing.
Ali Agha: And one day we met all three of us.
And the idea of the book?
AA: This originated from me, but Geoana was adamant, if anyone can vet if the project is viable or not it had to be Tarek.
GH: And so like 2 minutes into the meeting, I told Ali “you see! I told you he’ll like it look at him smiling” and poor Ali was confused because smiling for Tarek was a very very slight smirk – but that was something I was used to from university days.
Apparently the bulk of the writing fell on Mr. Agha?
AA: Well, yes and no. I mean I wrote the first chapter and sent it over proud as punch.
GH: Little did he know. Ten minutes later we get it rewritten by Tarek, who basically changed the whole thing.
TC: Well, not changed the whole thing, I mean the information was still the same what I did is that I dipped in a totally different tone of voice.
AA: Honestly I was… taken aback. I mean – yes, it was still my chapter and no it was something else, more reader-friendly. And speaking of readers, throughout it all Geoana was our alpha reader. If anything was “too much” or “not understandable” we would hear about it immediately.
TC: Actually this whole rewriting thing went on for the rest of the book. Ali would write, and I would make sure the whole book had the same “breath” all over.
Were there any disagreements among you about anything creative or where the book would go?
GH: Interestingly, eventhough I started Tarek’s student, at this point we were literally on the same level. If I say so it is because we all wanted to be implicated in everything on all levels.
TC: Well, at some point I was even outvoted on many things. I was very lukewarm about the cover for example but both Geoana and Ali loved it.
AA: And things were very respectful. In the sense that if anyone said “no” about something then we’d go back to the drawing board.
Speaking of drawing boards, who came up with BranDisorders, the title of the first segment of the book?
GH: Funny, when we were chatting on the WhatsApp group I told Tarek “I feel I never left university”.
TC: Because the creative brainstorm is the same everywhere. I mean we had to kiss a lot of frogs to get to the prince!
AA: And truly there were so many “no”, “no”, “next”, “not interesting”… Look if you go back to the original discussion I am sure we can pinpoint wo came up with BranDisorders, but it does not matter because it was an accumulation of many ideas.
TC: The funny part is that it took us 45 minutes of conversation to decide how to write it – which parts were bold, etc….
And AntiBrandiotics?
TC: This one was easier. As with everything in the communication world, once you have one coming up with the second is a no-brainer.
GH: Again, the brief was something with “brand” in it but make it positive.
AA: Again someone must have come up with it, but it does not matter because it was like “yes!” or to quote Tarek’s famous word “sold!”.
And now the book is out and apparently the original early reviews were incredible!
GH: Oh that is one funny story.
AA: So Geoana was like, what do we do with the back cover of the printed copy? And Tarek – who has published too many books to count was, “oh this is for the blurbs”
GH: And both Ali and myself were “what blurbs?”
TC: Sigh. I needed to explain to them that this is the quotes we use from very influential people who reviewed the book before it launched. And Geoana and Ali were like “so who are the biggest fish we know?”… Actually, I told them “nope, we are going to the top of the ecosystem!”
GH: And 10 minutes later Tarek comes back saying “so Quirino Malandrino – one of the biggest branding experts in the world – and Mark Tungate – the editorial director of the Epica Awards – both said yes”. Really, our jaws dropped.
TC: But look it all meant nothing if they did not like the book and thankfully, they did. I mean they liked it, and a lot.
AA: And in his usual self-depreciating way Tarek goes “I guess I am well-connected for someone wearing pyjamas and sitting on a retro orange desk!”
Apparently the book was written during the war in Lebanon in 2024 and the upheavals in Syria considering Mr. Chemaly and Mrs. Hobeiche are Lebanese and Mr. Agha Syrian. How did you manage?
GH: If I remember something from Tarek’s courses it is that in times of crisis, one needs to double and triple the effort.
TC: Look you cannot let slacking win! You need to go out and go what you do best.
AA: I admit something it was… challenging. I was terribly sick on top of everything and Tarek would be like “I know you are sick, but on page 127 there is the third paragraph”… And….
TC: Look, by then you knew that all this came from a place of love. What was I to do? Let you wallow in self-pity? I mean – because you were sick, you needed to busy yourself and activate your brain.
AA: I think this is one of those times when – like Geoana, I got to understand how odd Tarek is. But also I got to understand her stories which prior did not make sense.
TC: See? And now you like me. Oddity included.