Tomohi - the app that links people to experts

As they say, there's an app for everything. And here we are. For anyone who needed to be in touch for an expert, Tomohi (which translates to "my ambition") is here. Some ambitions are "to be the most knowledgeable in the office" others include "making my salary last till the end of the month" and so on and so forth. Whatever it is, apparently Tomohi can link you to an expert to talk it out. I am not sure I was either seduced by the design or the typography. But perhaps someone else, meaning someone who wants to talk to an expert, might find this interesting.

Autotrader - tire kickers be damned

Well, you can buy and sell anything online! Lebanon has gotten very professional about it. What started off during Covid has become a burgeoning industry on all levels - clothes, cooking items, supermarket loads and groceries, you name it - you can get it online. And well, why not cars too? Autotrader apparently promises that. Of course it scares the hell out of me how this works because well, cars are not exactly like clothing or condiments or mouneh items or oil. They are, a bit more complicated than that, but hey, there's an app for that apparently. Introducing "Autotrader" the "fastest way to buy and sell a car". Well, I know for a fact that selling cars requires a lot of inspection and bartering so all this is a little confusing for me. But what do I know?

Tekram, lovely name for a me-too product

Goods delivery companies are already too common at this point. But well, a good name is a good name. Introducing "Tekram" (how come no one thought about it before it beyond me!). Tekram is Arabic for "may you be generous with it" a classic retort for almost any sentence which involves anyone doing a favor to you. All right, the ad is as gimmicky as they come down to the shorts-clad delivery boy holding the stuff in one hand and - not even sure if this is a safety helmet or a bucket hat he is wearing. But hey, they did it in a local believable way... So voila, Tekramo!

Suyool - the uncola of banking

Just to be clear, I am usually against the "anti" positioning. Beirut Beer did its whole idea as an anti-Almaza so much it forgot its own positive points as a brand. The only time it truly worked was how 7UP labelled itself as the Uncola - pitting itself against Pepsi and Coca-Cola for a crowd that did not subscribe to either (with a brilliant campaign to boot - which included hallucinogenic and surreal art). Which brings us to Suyool App (not to be confused with the Bank of Beirut Soyoula program which was launched long long ago and most likely now defunkt). The ad is nice - it shows that this is an app that works as a bank including withdrawals and sending money etc. Most likely this is like a local Venmo. What makes the ad interesting is the "ma tbannek" line at the end. It has the pun of "ma tpannek" (do not panic which is one of the verbs in foreign languages used in Arabic) but also "do not use banks" - it also includes "shadde" and "kasra" two Arabic attributes specific to the language. See the full ad here.

Comin - new insurance app

Well, apparently there is a  new insurance app called Comin. It is one of the very very few campaigns on the road. But still, it is quite visible viewing the lack of challenge from other brands still invisible on the billboards. So Comin seems to have a major differential point to the rest: It covers teleconsultations. Well, "creative" wise they went lowest common denominator with a hand in a white gown extending a stethoscope from the cellphone - as I said, lowest common denominator. But hey, I guess they tried to appeal to everyone and anyone at the same time, so I guess they just tried to deliver the message via an un-sophistical route. No points for guessing which they used the blue though - it has been proven to insure trustworthiness, calm and discipline. 

FabricAID the timely initiative in Lebanon.

I am not someone prone to easy superlatives, but without any doubt the crisis currently hitting Lebanon and affecting people so totally drastically is one for the books (notice I did not say "unprecedented"). Still, if this is not the time to stand by one another, then I wonder when is? FabricAID is a great initiative, which gathers clothes and resells them at an abysmally low price to people in need.we all have pieces. We lost or gained weight, we made impulse buys, we grabbed something as a retail therapy and the list continues.... The FabricAID bins are strategically placed and as their ad says "little can become a lot".... Visit their site here.