Egyptian luxury rug house Kahhal 1871 has long been known for its craftsmanship and legacy, now led by fifth-generation founder Mohamed El Kahhal, the brand has sought to ensure its heritage remains relevant to today’s audiences.
Its latest campaign, 150 Years Still Rolling, sets out to prove that heritage is not static but a living, evolving force.
“For decades, Middle Eastern audiences have seen rugs staged only in homes, galleries, or heritage settings. By dropping them in a skate park, we created a deliberate collision – traditional craft meets street culture. Heritage doesn’t have to be preserved behind glass. It can move, evolve, and carry meaning for the future,” says Mohamed El Kahhal, Founder, Kahhal 1871.
The campaign delivered tangible results As a result, a 15 per cent increase showroom traffic with visitors aged 25-35 within the first month. There was also a 20 per cent rise in sale inquiries.
The campaign was brought to life by, Intuition Communications & Marketing Agency and Storyfyle.
Heritage as a living force
Heritage brands across the Middle East face an existential challenge: How do you matter to a generation that values motion over monuments?
Rugs are often viewed only through a lens of tradition and heritage, the campaign aimed to flip that narrative and show how Middle Eastern crafts can live within contemporary subcultures.
“The research revealed a fascinating paradox. Traditional luxury messaging about ‘timeless elegance’ was having the opposite effect, making brands feel frozen in time, not timeless. While heritage is a cornerstone, we realised that many Egyptian brands stop there – they celebrate the past without using it to drive the future. This campaign was our moment of ‘rebirth,’ says El Kahhal.
Meanwhile, across the Middle East, El Kahhal believes that we are witnessing a cultural explosion: reverence expressed through experimentation. As a result, the narrative for the campaign was developed when tradition and innovation stopped being opposing forces.
What if heritage could be the canvas, not the museum?
The goals were clear, the campaign needed to do more than celebrate heritage and contemporary culture, it needed to deliver dialogue.
The primary target audience were two overlapping demographics. The youth crowd, those drawn to sports, skateboarding, street culture, and authenticity, as well as designers, tastemakers, interior designers, creative directors, and cultural leaders.
Dialogue at the core
The 150 Years Still Rolling campaign, was a bold visual statement that places skateboarders’ mid-motion on handcrafted Kahhal rugs. Shot entirely on film camera, it merges craftsmanship with a spirit of counterculture, creating imagery that speaks to today’s youth as it does to design connoisseurs.
“We are in constant conversation with our audiences. For heritage brands, the temptation to become museums of themselves, preserved behind glass, speaking only of past glories, is both real and fatal. True legacy lives not in repetition but in conversation: between craft and innovation, tradition and disruption, the hands that built the foundation and the voices reshaping its future. The most enduring brands understand that dialogue doesn’t tradition; it reveals which parts of the past are strong enough to create with the present.
As a result, our inspiration came from a deep interest in youth culture and sports. We wanted to create something that could resonate with a younger crowd while reintroducing Kahhal 1871 as relevant and forward-looking,” says El Kahhal.
By placing Kahhal 1871’s rugs inside a skate park, the campaign had a fresh and rebellious outlook that was also a part of a cultural dialogue with younger generations.
Rather than traditional paid influencers, the campaign built authentic advocacy through cultural participants that believed in Kahhal 1871’s story. It featured skateboarders who were respected members of the region’s skate scene, and their endorsement gave the brand legitimacy and connection within a community that typically rejects branded content.
“Be Indie, the Egyptian streetwear brand that styled the film, brought organic reach within fashion-forward Middle Eastern audiences who saw this as a genuine cultural moment. By choosing people over influencers, we created advocates who shared the campaign because it reflected their values, generating deeper engagement and cultural credibility than paid partnerships,” says El Kahhal.
At the same time, the campaign was intended to go beyond the regional level and was built with global virality in mind.
“The visuals of handcrafted rugs, paired with skaters in action, resonated internationally and spotlighted not just the product but also the craftsmanship of our weavers, something audiences worldwide often overlook,” says El Kahhal.
The campaign was released across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Vimeo.
@kahhal.1871 The reality of shooting an outdoor #summer campaign, but we wouldn’t have it any other way! #Kahhal1871 #BehindTheScenes #Skateboarding #fyp
Impact across generations
Young Audiences (18-35) organic shared the campaign which exceeded projections by 250 per cent. Established audiences (35+) initially resisted the campaign, which later evolved into engagement. The controversy became a conversation starter, families debating tradition vs. evolution. This resulted into several clients specifically requesting the classic heritage rugs for their homes.
Beyond the target demographic, Gen Alpha (14-17) emerged as unexpected demographic from the campaign. TikTok analytics showed 65 per cent increase in organic shares came from users under 18, with a full view view rate of 57.5 per cent.
Post-launch, the campaign’s also attracted unexpected platform partnerships. Mad About Rug, a popular digital platform for rug enthusiasts approached Kahhal 1871 to feature the film. This collaboration extended the campaign’s reach into the global collector community.
15 per cent increase in showroom Traffic in visitors aged 25-35 within the first month. Time spent in showroom increased from average 25 minutes to 48 minutes, with younger visitors actively discussing craft processes.
20 per cent rise in sales inquiries and rug consultations. 2.3M impressions across platforms which was organic reach, with minimal media spend (1,500 USD) with the engagement rate being 8.7 per cent (industry average: 2.3 per cent for luxury brands)
With a production investment of $6,000, the campaign generated high media value and influenced 15-20 per cent increase in sales within 90 days, proving that cultural relevance drives commercial success.
Credits:
Brand: Kahhal 1871
Brand Director: Mohamed El Kahhal
Head of Brand Development and Client Relations : Melouk Mokhtar
Advertising Agency: Intuition, Cairo, Egypt
Founder & Chief Executive Officer: Rula El Kaliouby
Brand Manager: Mariam Ibrahim Hassanen
Strategist & Content Creator: Habiba Ghanem
Creative Architect: Nadeen Ayoub
Talents:
Skateboarder 1: Ayoub Shebl
Skateboarder 2: Eduardo Franchi Skateboarded
3: Omar Sobky
Production House: Storyfyle, Cairo, Egypt
Director / Editor: Abdelrahman Saleh
DOP: Ammar Yasser
1st Assistant Director: Ismail Khaled
2nd Assistant Director: Mazen Elbotiny Producer: Ziad
Assistant Producer: Omar Drone: Haitham A’mer
Art Director: Fatma Hussein Stylist: Mohammad Hasan Gaffer: Ahmed Magdy
Assistant Colorist: Ammar Al Tayel Post Producer: Ahmad Osama
Colorist: Mohamed El Maghreb Photography: Ibrahim Gamal
Music Mix: Makeen
