Apple - when advertising is divorced from sales.

Today an ad for Apple pocked my interest. Called "the matchmaker". In typical Saudi culture, a matchmaker finds "a suitable groom" for the girl in question. See the film here. The ad marks a very clear shift to the GCC culture. But it was not the first. If you look at the ads above combined show that they are entrenched in an Arabic pseudo-slang way far from the super copywriting on the iphone 15 (here). I have heard clear rumblings that the brand has lost its direction with this copy. But my point of argument is elsewhere: These ads, if they bother the purists or do not, have zero effect on sales. And I don't say this negatively, but rationally. Apple will still sell by the bucketload. Women will still want the newest phone in their "mahr" or dowry. The newest Apple gizmos will still be a claim to bragging. Whatever the tone of voice of the ads is irrelevant. 

Which of course begs the question:

Is advertising in any way related to sales?

Did Pandora misread the Lebanese market?

Pandora has a Christmas ad. So far nothing unusual. Women (and even men) flock to buy bracelets with charms from the brand during the holidays. But let us be very honest here, and I am speaking as a liberal for whom a lot of things are "OK, whatever", the models in the ad are dark-skinned. And in Lebanon, you are only dark-skinned if you are the househelp. Once more, I am trying to be both open-minded, but also very pragmatic. Almost every summer there is an issue at resorts - can the maid be admitted as well, and if she does can she use the pool like anyone else? I know I am not inventing these issues, these are part of the Lebanese society want it or not. And sadly, one cannot be too avant-garde while trying to sell. Someone just told me "I love Pandora, but now if I wear it I would be the same as our househelp as per the ad." I truly do think Pandora did a misstep here. Nothing that two light-skinned models cannot fix. And again, take it from a liberal, sometimes the market is the market.

Where does Istikbal stand in the market?

All, right I am a little confused. 

Confused as in - where does Istikbal stand in the Lebanese market.

If you look at their advertising, it is quite elegant, the models professional, the product emphasized, the setting dreamy - which makes it more like a Roche Bobois, Bo Concept or such high-end furniture manufacturers. Yes, Istikbal has several branches, most located in more or less popular areas. 

But Istikbal went into the Lebanese market as being an affordable alternative to high-end brands. Their line was in Arabic "Bayti Ajmal" which translates into "my house is more beautiful" but could also imply "my house is more beautiful than yours" (because, yes, Lebanese are excellent at playing the keeping up with the Joneses).

All of this leaves me confused as to where Istikbal stands. Does it want to ditch its approachable image to the average consumer despite the placement of its shops? Does it want to change target audience? Or does it simply wish to give "aspiring consumers" the feeling that they too have made it? My main wonder comes from the Aihom line here. Interestingly, a glance at their facebook page would tell you whereas their prices are not "cheap" they also are not extremely sky high.

The minority report: To belong yet to still be unique

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

So today everything has a name… “Microagression”, “pansexual”, “harassment”. You want to declutter your “toxic” relationship? Go ahead, “Mary Kondo” it (along with your wardrobe, lifestyle and house) and turn your “Brazilian lifted” bum on the past, because you need to “be the best version of yourself”.

And no I am not exaggerating in any of the above.

All these are expressions often used by the youth and not so youthful, to say things which might be something to them (although I am not sure what, maybe I am too retro). But I still maintain that there are too many things with names these days. I know, I know, I seem to come from a different age, and oddly I am very relaxed – whatever works for you, works for you, as long as you are not hurting anyone. I mean, what? You want to be sexually adventurous? You want to cross-dress? You do nude swimming?

Little or nothing shocks me. Hell, after losing too much weight following diabetes and falling to a level where websites no longer can advise me on a good fit, the only t-shirt that worked on me was one from the women’s section. And yes, I wore it, and no – no one noticed. Just to tell you that I am indeed permissive.

Funny I was having a conversation with someone lately (an artist I truly respect who is American of Lebanese origin) and he said that “he had little interest in pop phenomena these days. ME. The man who always swore to remain hip” to which I answered “perhaps the time came for you to be hip replacement rather than hip”!

But there are still too many self-imposed labels (or perhaps imposed by others) to go by. Maybe it makes people psychologically safe to belong to one category or other (OK, sorry but “other” is a category apparently these days). Maybe people like boxes. It makes them both – “belong to something, while being unique”.

I think at some point, if we resolve this “target audience” (the one that wants to belong to something, while being unique) problem, we could have be done with all the marketing dilemma in the world.

In 2003, I wrote an article entitled “Of minorities of my own” (which was published earlier on this blog). Oddly it still holds true after all these years. Below are parts of the article (which is still long mind you).

“I have often wondered what it meant to be a minority or what it exactly meant to belong to one. A minority is defined as: “A part of a population differing from other groups in certain characteristics and sometimes discriminated against”. A minority is also any group of persons which is less than half.

Being part of a minority is a cool act in itself. One can always brag about it. You hold that characteristic you possess high and loud. Now imagine telling someone “Yes, there are only some 300,000 of us in the whole world!” when referring to whatever characteristic you might possess. Personally, I belong to the “Christian Maronites”, which is a religious order only found in Lebanon. Although we follow the Catholic church in everything, we still like to think that we are a minority.

When I was in New York, I was taking a walk with an Indian friend of my brother’s and there I was gasping: “See that Lincoln over there! Well it belongs to a Christian Maronite from Lebanon!”. The clue behind my statement was that the back window of the Lincoln had a sticker of St. Charbel on it, a Lebanese saint following that particular order. The owner of the Lincoln felt so proud of being part of a minority that he just had to brag about it on Manhattan’s sixth avenue.

I am a left-handed person, and I specifically recall an incident which happened while at university: By sheer coincidence, we were three left-handed students sitting side by side at a table in the library and a right-handed one looking at us oddly. The remark he managed to say must have been the stupidest one I heard in my whole life: “I have been writing like that since I was a child [as referring to writing with his right hand], and no one told me that it was the wrong way to write!”.

But it always surprised me why minorities feel they are “wrong” - to quote that right handed person at university - and majorities feel themselves “right” - to quote any skinhead - when found in specific historical, and geographical conditions.

Another point which also intrigued me is that the same person who belongs to a majority also, in some way, simultaneously belongs to a different minority. In an episode of Murphy Brown, the rather tall actress Candice Bergan found herself obliged to join a club for “short” men since she seemed to have offended them in her show. The only way for her to get off the hook was to stir differences about other characteristics they might possess. And finally, a club member shouted to another - even though they were both short - “At least I am not bald!”.

Now, short and bald, is a minority within a minority.

A Lebanese proverb goes: “Me against my cousin; Me and my cousin against the stranger”. Short and bald against short and “furry”, then short against tall. Of course, it should all make sense.

I’ve been thinking, I certainly would like to be the leader of a minority. A minority which would regroup all Christian Maronite, left-handed, 5 feet 3 inches tall, 100 lbs heavy; people who are into Formula 1, pop culture, world music and graphic design; and who are formed as agriculture engineers, and subsequently as environmental economists.

We would have our weekly outings at the Chase restaurant - my favorite - and sometimes hike on Sundays, we would march for our rights if we had to, and have an annual convention of our own once a year - twice a year if I am in the mood. We would all have stickers on our cars signaling our membership to that specific minority.

Our flag will be anything containing the yellow color - again my favorite.

What happens if a member of the minority dislikes yellow? Well, he can still find himself another minority who would want to have a genetic mutation who dislikes yellow.

Even better, that member [former member to be more precise], can be the leader of his own minority regrouping all people who are Christian Maronite, left-handed, 5 feet 3 inches tall, 100 lbs heavy; people who are into Formula 1, pop culture, world music and graphic design, and who are formed as agriculture engineers, and subsequently as environmental economists… and who dislike yellow.

But what kind of people are these anyway?”

The quote of the article is now done. And now I can add what Groucho Marx said "I don't want to belong to any club which would accept me as one of its members". Because you know, I am a minority, and I still like to belong. To what however is a different question!

In Lebanon, brand loyalty is out the window

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

Do the Lebanese like to brag? Do they like to show off? Do they like to live above their means? Oh, is the pope Catholic? If I ask these questions if is because there is a palpable shift somewhere in the Lebanese consumption pattern in Lebanon (see here). Maybe one of the first signs that Lebanese use to mark how they went to an upper socio-economic class is the "signé" attitude (or the branded - naturally, it could be a knock off or a counterfeit, and only logoed garments are used - hence no discrete Hermes but more like a stamped Louis Vuitton all over, in the end, if it is not visible, why bother get it?). "Ana ma bechtere ella min 3and..." - I only buy from (under brand name, fancy store), used to be a catchphrase so overused and abused. But again, the parameters are shifting. 

When I asked students to give me a luxury brand in class (back when I used to teach), several thought Zara was one. When estimating the price of a Louis Vuitton bag, a girl thought that 100 Dollars was a good guess. Paul, the French brasserie one finds in metro stations in Paris is marketed here as a high end brunching destination, same applies to Gap (which shuttered its store in late 2019) and Benetton.

But again, the financial squeeze hit Lebanon incredibly hard. I said it before, brand loyalty is now out the window. "Did you know that between 1968 to 1990 Coca-Cola was boycotted in the Arab world by order of the League of Arab Nations since it provided "financial help for Israel" in the 1967 six day war?" Well, we were a household that exclusively bought Pepsi. Sometime in 2001 I went back home with a bottle of Coca-Cola, my mother looked at it with amazement and asked what it was, and if it was available everywhere?

As long as I can remember since the mid 90s we have used Persil washing detergent (why we made the switch from Ariel is beyond me!). Then a few months back, the washing machine got clogged. The repairman said the washing powder was stuck in the tube, so we switched to Persil gel. Last time I went to the supermarket though, I went back with a Lebanese made Sanita washing gel, which was so much cheaper, and it had 30% free. Oh and I also bought a large size frying oil gallon from a brand I had never heard of, which was (again) substantially cheaper than the one we were accustomed to. Our house-help said that both, the Sanita and the frying oil, washed and fried just as well as the ones we usually bought.

It is said that the pandemic has taught us that we have already enough as it is in our closets. How correct and true this is for the average Lebanese is still a debate. Though shops are closing like crazy in nearby areas, there were still very few people who shopped. How this is representative of the population is not something I can answer (due to COVID-19 self-imposed restrictions I have not been to many malls as of late and even that (malls) might not be indicative to the general population movements).

But am still sticking to my guns. I still believe people are now buying more budget friendly than the brands they used to know or believe in (because brand loyalty is about allegiance above all). The other interesting aspect is that, it is known that in time of crisis, brands are encouraged to advertise, so as to remain top-of-mind in the consumer's mind. This, however, is not something am seeing in the local market. 

Facebook #lovelocal

Facebook is inviting us to "Love Local"... The campaign is a brilliant product of today's world. Shot a la va vite most likely with phones (or professionally but made look like amateur), it highlights institutions (Hachem in Jordan, Chez Maguy in Lebanon,...) in the MENA region. See film here. I honestly love the visuals, and it seems Facebook is placing webinars to help these institutions or companies benefit by being online. Now let us face it though, would people of a certain demographic want to get back to square zero and relearn how to put their name out there? Remember the recent "Stop hate for profit" Facebook boycott campaign? Major multinationals were on board, but that made only a small dent since Facebook makes its money from small companies and individuals, not international heavy weight accounts. Now if it works or not, #lovelocal is still a campaign of lovely imagery.

IKEA between mistake and masterstroke

IKEA just wrote under its English ad "same thing but in Arabic" for their mattresses and bedding.... And it went viral. Some say it is a marketing ploy, others an honest mistake. Jury is out in this one. Because the next day they scratched the Arabic headline saying, "this is what happens when you do not get a good sleep. Get the perfect sleep".

To those wondering it is possible for a full agency not to notice such a mistake? The answer is a resounding yes. How do I know? Let's say the large phone number in bold on an ad we published was the art director, originally placed there as a dummy until the client gave us the correct number....

In Lebanon, what back to school?

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

In certain countries, the back to school spending is one of the biggest non-holiday spending times. In Lebanon a little less so, but still, between books (often imported), clothes (often dictated and issued by school), stationary, and the ever increasing tuition, the money spent is gob-smacking. Am thinking mostly of non-governmental schools. For those attending government schools, the task is a little easier, but not by much. Usually these schools are frequented by a lower socio-economic class to whom the symbolic tuition and books make - proportionately - almost the same percentage of spending as those in the non-governmental ones. Do note, this is by no means stereotyping, because a good student is a good one, and a student wanting to learn will find a way to learn.

But between spiking Coronavirus rates, between the schools that vanished in the Beirut explosion (am hearing 130 schools), between the local currency that lost 80% of its value, between parents who either completely lost their job or are working for a meager pay or one which now means peanuts, I wonder what back to school season do we talk about? To go on, continue, and still be productive, is a colossal challenge in Lebanon. And sometimes, no, we do not have that energy.

Happy Supermarket - now sad

Post Beirut explosion, few brands advertised anything from the usual "we will rise" or "like a Phenix..." etc... Interestingly the legend of the Phenix has nothing to do with Beirut, or Lebanon. Which makes the Happy Supermarket a rarity - but a welcome one. The ad says "it's ad, but there's still hope" but the smartness is to simply flip the logo which used to say "happy" and now indicates sadness. Minimal, smart, and effective.

How an advertising billboard tells the story of a post-explosion Beirut

Credit: Hasan Jaber

You can always count in advertising to tell you the story. Always. Lately there was a campaign spreading, for better or worse, to entice people to place ads under the tag #اانا_اعلن which doubles as "I declare" (for the centennial of Lebanon's creation) and I advertise. For personal reasons, I made it a point not to talk about that campaign which ran under the umbrella of the Advertising Association. One of the billboards, in the campaign which tried to remediate to an estimated 90% drop in ad revenue, said "I declare my faith in a better future" - what is left of that billboard after the massive port explosion, is something that is torn, broken, defeated, and humiliated, only shows what it feels like now in a bitter twisted (literally) irony. 

Better future? Which one? People are grappling with the magnitude of the devastation no longer riding under the wave of adrenaline. The loss, in souls but also in material elements, can only add to the strain of the many problems the country is living in. And please don't anyone say "pity the nation" it is rather "pity the nations" - divided, fragmented, with each fragment following its leader. "Deux negations ne font pas une nation" as George Naccache brilliantly put it in 1949. A million negations will not make a nation.

Ksara - Army Day in brilliance

Army Day came and went without a whimper this year, thankfully. For a while, any company that could dip anything in camouflage did so and bragged about it. Which makes the low key Ksara ad "teslam ya Askar Lebnan" (may the Lebanese Army people be preserved) even more punchy. The line comes from a popular song, so nothing new there, but the trick was finding that KSARA and ASKAR are anagrams. Cue, just flip the logo. Easy? Yes. Smart? Without any doubt. Why it took so many years to find it? No idea. Note the Ksara logo is so well known, that the ad did not need to be signed. 

#YouCantStopUs - Nike

Brilliant and heart-stopping ad by Nike. Watch here.

Let me first say it's been done before. The mix and match technique of two images. But Nike does it brilliantly and perfectly, the way images go from one shot to the next is impeccable. The copy, said in a natter of fact way only makes it better, straight to the point, and completely credible. The film goes from pro. To amateur, to invented and new lockdown ready sports, and makes them all worthwhile, and whereas tailored to the American market, it can easily resonate worldwide. You can't stop sport #YouCantStopUs indeed.

Advertising revenue is down 90% in Lebanon

At the beginning of the year, trusted media and advertising personality Naji Boulos forecasted that the 2020 expenditure in Lebanon was going to be 100 million Dollars or 25 Dollars roughly per person. How wrong he was.... In a private chat with him he estimated the figure will be around 20 million by the end of the year. COVID, lockdown, inflation, devaluation, capital controls, all played a part - add to that the digital migration of advertising (seriously, why would anyone use OOH anymore? I explained that here). Agencies estimate that the revenue is down 90% now that we passed mid-year. Numbers are unlikely to get better or increase with the impeding factors here to stay. 

USAID and protecting water in Lebanon.

At a time when any new ad is worth talking about due to their scarcity, this USAID ad about protecting water in Lebanon "no matter what" with the cedar (of the flag no less) in a fluid form is up to my knowledge the only new campaign in town. Campaign is also stretching it as it is just a few unipoles on the road. Long long ago (mid oughts) one needed 600 billboards for a campaign to be simply visible in Beirut. Now only a couple can do the trick.

The Epica Awards 2020 are open for entries

The only global creative award judged by the press goes ahead with its €100 “early bird” discount until August 31st.

As they face rocky economic times in the months ahead, the press and the advertising industry need each other more than ever. The press benefits from advertising revenue, while giving brands a platform for their paid and earned messages.
Epica allows the press to celebrate creativity – so we felt it was essential that the competition went ahead in an effort to thrive and survive despite the crisis. Our international jury of editors and senior reporters from titles such Adweek, Campaign, Creative Review, Horizont, Stratégies and Shots are all on board. Epica covers advertising, design, PR and digital.
From July 1 to August 31 there’s an early bird discount of €100. Entries will close on October 31, but the period may be extended if we decide to hold an online-only jury. The date of the ceremony has yet to be confirmed.
At the request of jury members, we’ve introduced a free-to-enter category for campaigns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. All proceeds from this category will be donated to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).
Epica Awards editorial director Mark Tungate commented: “We know this is going to be a tough year. Agencies are suffering. But it’s also true that there has been an explosion of creativity as governments and brands communicate messages concerning health and safety, support and solidarity. The journalists on our jury are keen to honour this work as well as the other great work from the preceding months.”
They’re also keen to write about it, reinforcing Epica’s natural PR advantage. Creativity is working harder than ever. Let’s spread the news.

Shtrumpf cooks up a nice ad

Well with ads so rare and in between these days it is great to see anyone doing anything, and so much the better, anything good. So it is a pleasure to see Shtrumpf, our local diner, dipping its ad in the current events sauce. "Well done quality, medium rare prices" - not just one wink, two winks. And they are both so effortless they actually work. Actually, with so many restaurants closing or shooting up their prices to cope with the current devaluation crisis, seeing Shtrumpf thrive or trying to keep abreast is actually a pleasure.

The PHNX festival winners are out!!

Three months later, the AdForum PHNX Tribute is a reality, with a list of Grand Prix, Gold, Silver and Bronze winners. They were announced during an online event in partnership with the UK Advertising Export Group (UKAEG) and the International Advertising Association (IAA).

The Grand Prix winners were:

Watch here

Film: Lacoste, “Crocodile Inside”, BETC, France

Explained here

Digital: Burger King, “Stevenage Challenge”, DAVID Madrid/DAVID Miami

Strategy: Burger King, Moldy Whopper, INGO Stockholm/DAVID Miami/Publicis

There were no clear Grand Prix winners in the Print and Design categories. Overall there were 41 Gold winners, 97 Silver and 191 Bronze, from a total of 4,000 entries. Out of the 35 countries that won awards, the United Arab Emirates came in third with 29 awards, while the most awarded agency was Impact BBDO Dubai with 10 Bronzes and 5 Silvers, but no Golds. The jury was a uniquely diverse gathering of creatives, strategists, consultants and journalists – a total of more than 430 people. Together, they gave over 270,000 scores, which amounted to more than 2,800 hours of voting – or 117 days. Surely an awards show record! My own clam to fame is that seems I clocked 44 hours of judging, more than any of the other jurors...

AdForum CEO Philippe Paget, said: “Congratulations to all the winners and of course a huge thank you to everyone who entered. You rose to the occasion. I’d also like to thank our jury, of course, and the Grand Prix panel. I’m hugely grateful to the UK Advertising Export Group, which became a valued partner in the event. As intended from the start, the AdForum PHNX Tribute showed that creativity grows even stronger in a crisis. Perhaps the PHNX will rise again one day in the future.”

Concord - on staying home and patriotic slogans

Concord, the Lebanese white good manufacturer, has an ad that combines staying at home and patriotic slogans. "Stay home and shop online" has obvious meanings and roots. Now the patriotic bit I have blogged about before but may need repeating.

بتحب لبنان؟ حب صناعتو
You love Lebanon? Love its industry

The slogan which was coined when slain Minister Pierre Gemayel was Minister of Industry, has firm roots in an old poster by the Phalangists (which were created by his own grandfather - Pierre Gemayel after whom he was called), the poster in question (circa 1976) is below:

Photo taken from Maria Chakhtoura's book La Guerre des Graffiti

You love it... Work for it.
The analogy between the two slogans is uncanny once you think about it.

On the joys of being a juror at an ad festival

The PHNX festival just closed its jury grading window. I must have graded more than 2500 ads.

The PHNX was a bit of an anomaly though: Being free to enter some people plugged their portfolios to the cringing reaction of the jurors, there was an incredible mismatch in the categories which also sent the jurors over the edge, and many entries were not eligible due to their broadcast date being earlier than was stipulated.

To be a juror means either you are a masochist or you have enormous dedication. Remember, you need to finish the category you started because either your vote will not be counted or you will skew the average if you do not fulfill the whole category. With around 250 entries per category on average this becomes a drudgery.

Yet, again, in my case not only passion but dedication is there. For the PHNX, I was given a full day head start in judging because I am incredibly fast at doing so (when I used to teach at university level I immediately knew if I liked the creative idea the student was presenting or not), and because I was able to pinpoint technical errors and immediately report them.

Just to clear though, the PHNX which was a one time only festival and the Epica Awards where I have been judging since 2016 are no walk in the park. Both online and as a physical juror. When you sit about 16 hours in the same room putting grade after grade, or when you do that at home doing the same amounts to pseudo-insanity. The problem? An ad which is a total disaster in the film category actually has a great use of sound, one with a horrible activation strategy is excellent in its branding, hence the need to be alert as to what category you are judging and to combat mental fatigue.

Another issue? Peer pressure.

Many ads fellow jurors fell in love with left me incredibly cold. At times I would throw another glance at the ad in question only to say - "nope it still leaves me cold". It really takes a lot to make me change my mind. But again, you need to really hang on to your opinion and not say "Oh so-and-so-head-of-agency-liked-it-so-must-I". You have your opinion and head-of--agency has theirs.

Of course, one also needs to be fair. Normally as a juror you are denied voting on work from your own country. But work for the Lebanese market is often presented from Dubai so I end up judging it - often poorly - without playing favoritism.

With all its folly, the excitement of finding the next great ad overcomes all the insanity and frustration. And this alone is a tremendous joy!

Al Hurra goes against stereotype in New ad

Al Hurra TV goes against stereotype in a new ad. Part of this new wave of short-destined-destined-for-internet ads, the Hurra output crams a lot in a short while: A man dancing professionally? A woman riding on a motorcycle? Throughout the copy makes it easy to understand. "I am free in my expression" on the dancer and "I am free in my orientations/destinations" on the woman. Then the words "I am the free one" (Hurra means Free in the female form). The effort is part of a larger campaign by the chain to (re)position itself with its potential audience.