Are We In “Khabar” Cannes?
Posted by Wakim Zeidan
“I’ve always been trying to be a person with an “Earthan” identity. I believe I was born on this planet and I have the right to live anywhere I want.
Last June I traveled to Cannes and attended the “Latin Spots” workshop at the advertising festival; and there was my awakening. The lecturer pointed out a very simple yet important insight that was right in front of me the whole time but couldn’t see because of my obsession to win a Lions award. The insight was and I quote ” … we always tried in Brazil to do european kind of ads but they were never popular neither in our country nor at Cannes, until we started doing ads relevant to our culture and market. It is then when we started being recognized…” He’s right damn it, he’s absolutely right. How blind was I the whole time trying to do ads that europeans understand and not my market / culture. I’m an arab speaker communicating to an arabian community. The worse part of this is that I’m writing this article in english so you can read it, whereas if I’ve written it in Arabic you would have probably disregarded.
Why have we downgraded our means of communication, our language, our culture. I mean it’s true that Cannes Lions festival is international but its jury doesn’t have one single arab. Is it because they don’t like us or is it because they never felt the need to have an arab jury member!? Well basically it is our fault. We’ve never sent them ads that speak about our culture, about our way of thinking, about what makes us and our creativity unique.
You would say, well several agencies from Dubai were shortlisted. Well of course! dah! Do you really think that the ads in Dubai are for arabs or for the multi-cultural community residing there.
Living on the same planet doesn’t necessarily mean that we all have to speak the same language. Awards given to english copy will never have an arabic copy winner. We have to stay genuine to ourselves and to our culture, and it’s only then that International committees and organizations will adapt to our genuineness and it’s then when we start getting recognized.”
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11 Comments, Comment or Ping
Kre8tive
I feel your pain, Wakim.. It is not that “they” don’t like Arabs, infact they do reach out to them and recognizes their culture and all that, the same way they do to other countries with different cultures… It is the Arabs themselves who aren’t reaching out to them, why Dubai? Because they’d taken the risks and made it through.. and Kuwait? Sadly NOT (mostly don’t give a f*ck on creativity and values).. Creatives and Clients should take a stand (change) if they wanted to be recognized, noticed and applauded by the International jury and better yet- BE A PART OF IT.
Oct 17th, 2007
Amer
Hi Zeidan, I totally agree with you. That is true none of arab is in the jury. We have to take the initial step to chaneg it. Otherwise…
Oct 17th, 2007
wakim
Well Kre8tive, regarding Dubai, I don’t think they’re doing ads for the arab world, it’s rather more for the international community living there.
As for Kuwait, I don’t feel we (agencies) are doing enough to make sure we pump creative ideas through. If we think creative ads have to look european (which is mostly the case) then we will continuously lose. Whereas if we were creative the arabian way then we will be able to sell better ads. Unfortunately our suits are not helping much in providing proper consumer insights to pump it into our creative brains too :0)
Oct 17th, 2007
Kre8tive
Agreed, No Doubt :-)
Oct 17th, 2007
joe
Nice insight from Cannes Wakim. I do agree with you especially on the lack of understanding of the local consumers, and the absence of relevant data that can be useful for that matter.
Sadly, globalization is creating a universal consumer and local insights aren’t that local anymore. Devil’s horns (as hand gesture) were a taboo in Europe, and then they became popular as rock bands spread the trend.
We can still talk about local insights today, will we have this luxury 20 years from now??
Oct 17th, 2007
joe
just noticed your headline.. “touché”
Oct 17th, 2007
adchemist
I completely diverge with this thought. . If you believe in “believe I was born on this planet and I have the right to live anywhere I want” and then why you are still talking about Arab, Western, Asians…. just talks to the world in a universal language, that’s creativity. I believe here is only one culture in advertising, it’s just the message, and there is no local communication gear or a global communication tool to pass your message to a certain culture. Speak loudly and evidently, then your idea will convince to either Cannes jury or KREA judges, and why every year Brazil or India winning more and more metals in Cannes, they are not sending their entries in their local languages or their country’s representative Judges!
If your ads are valuable, then definitely they will win. No matter it’s from Kuwait or Kabul. All we have to do is work hard and get one. No need to blame your “suites” or tea boy. Good luck Guys.
Oct 18th, 2007
wakim
well addchemist, I can see your point but nevertheless when you look at the award winning ads of brazil / india for that matter, you can really tell that they belong to that culture even if the used language was english (example the havainas ads that won this year in Cannes). As for blaming the suits, well yes I would blame them to the bone, so far all what they do is deliver messages, instead of researching and doing proper branding exercises. The real suits exist but are unfortunately RARE.
Oct 18th, 2007
joe
There’s a clear difference between an “insight” and a “tone of voice”. You can deliver the same message with a different tone of voice, for different people. You talk to an English guy with Humor, a French with Love and Passion, a Japanese with respect, etc… however the message does not change, rather the approach.
As for local insights, they can only be understood by the relevant ethnic group. I saw a brilliant Almaza Beer ad in Lebanon a few weeks back that said “this summer, everyone is after the chair” with a visual showing a long summer chair with a cool bottle of beer on the side table. This ad would mean nothing to the International community, but in Lebanon it is a huge success, not only because of the upcoming election’s insinuation, but because in Lebanon every Maronite is after the presidential chair. That’s an insight.
Oct 18th, 2007
Q
Wakim, first of all, it was nice meeting you yesterday. You came over to show me some ads and tombstones.
I think the best example of what you are talking about in Kuwait probably came in the form “Bo Rashed” at Kamco and “yabeela” at NBK. I wrote a post 2 yrs ago about these ads and the Kuwaitization of these ads to match the culture, and they were all hits!
The ad was written in a very Kuwaiti way, which is not what I do mostly, but it was suitable for the topic.
Oct 25th, 2007
Q
Edit for last line -
*The post was written in a very Kuwaiti way …
Oct 25th, 2007
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