During the holy month of Ramadan, Careem launched ‘Seeds For Gaza’, a campaign that began less as a marketing brief and more as an internal call to action.
‘Seeds For Gaza’ is a community-led donations campaign supporting on-ground humanitarian relief and long-term rebuilding efforts in Gaza.
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“It feels strange to think about terms like creative vision or brand message with this campaign. To be honest it feels strange to even refer to it as a campaign. At its heart this was purely a collective desire from our team to stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza, using the Careem platform to drive impact on the ground,” says Tom Sword, Global Head of Brand & Creative.
Outside of Careem’s services and functional utility as an everyday app, the company says its broader purpose has always extended beyond transactions to meaningful impact.
“We have always stood in support of Gaza, but it wasn’t about words. We wanted to move beyond that, and into action. So, we used our network and reach to compound our impact by building a collective of people and brands who want to make a difference. This campaign speaks deeply to our roots and love for this region. From its foundations in the Arabic language, to the produce and materials which are being both symbolised for solidarity and sold to raise funds,” says Sword.
The initiative was rolled out across Careem’s product ecosystem, digital and social platforms, as well as offline touchpoints such as Captain boxes, with additional amplification coming through participating partner brands and community channels.
Consumers can support Gaza through a range of actions within the Careem app, including direct donations, purchasing watermelon via Careem Quik, or buying the ‘Seeds For Gaza’ T-shirt, with 100 per cent of profits directed toward relief efforts. Participating restaurants are also contributing a portion of order proceeds to the cause.
As part of the initiative, Careem integrated watermelon seeds into its logo across platforms and released an open-license ‘Seeds For Gaza’ typeface in both Arabic and English. The typeface enables individuals and brands to turn words into visual statements of solidarity by embedding watermelon seeds into letterforms. The campaign also features a ‘Seeds in Your Name’ generator, hosted on a dedicated website, allowing users to plant seeds into their own names and share the output across social media. Read all about the overall campaign here.
Seeds For Gaza was born and entirely brought to life by Careem’s in-house agency, The Creative Studio. The creative direction started with a simple insight that in the Arabic language, adding or removing a single dot can entirely transform the meaning of a word. This is where the creative played a role.
“We had the idea to change the meaning of our brand, by replacing the dots in our logo with watermelon seeds – a symbol of resilience and hope for Gaza, and of our commitment to seed cash donations across the city, to help rebuild lives. We collaborated with some of our favorite friends in the industry on production, who donated their time and talents to help execute,” says Sword.
To execute the typography, Careem collaborated with Lebanese typographer Tarek Atrissi, alongside production support from Bigfoot Films and soundtrack development by MangoJam.
Influencers also played a role in extending the campaign’s reach, though not through paid partnerships. Participating creators amplified the message organically across social platforms.
Some influencers included @tasneem.akoula, who posted: “This is such a beautiful way to support Gaza. @careem has planted watermelon seeds in their name and brand. Join in. Let’s help rebuild lives together. #Careem #SeedsForGaza” on Instagram.
Like most marketing goals, the campaign was structured across awareness and fundraising objectives.
“At the top, we want to use every channel at our disposal to raise awareness and show our support – at the bottom, to raise as much money as possible to be donated and do good on the ground. For both, we knew that our impact could be compounded by developing a mechanic that others could easily adopt. At a brand level this was through identity – with partners placing seeds in their logos, to symbolise their support, and direct donation,” says Sword.
At a personal level, Careem built a dedicated hub (careem.com/seedsforgaza) allowing users to generate seeded versions of their names and share them socially, alongside providing the bespoke typeface as a free download.
The response from the industry has been nothing short of “humbling.”
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the response – both from individuals and other brands. We had hoped that this message would resonate with our community, but the depth and sincerity of the support in the first 72 hours has been deeply humbling,” says Sword.
On day one, the campaign hub site crashed under the volume of traffic coming to use the name generator, while the Shop for Good products sold out on Careem Quik.
“We’ve been inundated by businesses that have requested to join the 100+ brands already on board, updating their logo with seeds to mark their donation, and show their solidarity,” says Sword.
Even we joined the cause, using the generator to incorporate the seed motif into our logo.
Credits:
Careem Creative Studio
Global Head of Brand & Creative – Tom Sword
Creative Director – Habiba Allam
Creative Director – Rodrigo Scapolan
Senior Creative Manager – Madhurima Ray
Senior Creative Manager – Phellippe Samarone
Senior Brand Manager – Hugh Phillips
Creative Manager – Sara Albach
Creative Manager – Arwa Elmahallawi
Creative Manager – Kalpit Bothra
Creative Manager – Manar Debbas
Creative Manager – Isabel Goulart
Creative Manager – Antonio Chao
Motion Design – Marcio Rodrigues
Motion Design – Lukas Pimenta
Motion Design – Pedro Alk
Motion Design – Pedro Lima
Director of Social Media – Ahmad Dghaim
Senior Content Manager – Willy Yuen
Social Media Manager – Dina El Hallak
Senior Social Media Executive – Sara Alamuddin
Senior Community Management Manager – Hadi Alsaoudi
Marketing Director – Merlin Yilmaz
Associate Director Communications – Lorena Copty
Senior Communications Specialist – Urooj Mirza
Senior Communications Specialist – Madhuriema Pant
BigFoot – Film production
Director- Ali Abdeldaym
AD- Patrick Khawand
Cast -Haneen Zawahra
DOP- Andrey Gubenko
1st AC- Roland Bou Diwan
Gaffer- Roland Baghdadi
Executive Producer- Ali Seifelnasr
Producer- Rania Salame
Producer- Hesham Marold
Assistant Producer- Elissa Hammoud
Production Coordinator- Yolande Farah, Linda Turki
Art Director- Kumai Obeid
Prop Master- Mariam Nahlawy
Stylist- Windy Ishak
HMU Artist- Renee Kastoun
Sound- Jad Asmar
MangoJam – Sound
Executive Producer – Wilbur D’Costa
Composer – Darrel Mascarenhas
Typography
Tarek Atrissi
