Creative chiefs behind some of the Dubai Lynx 2023 Grand Prix winning campaigns have shared their journeys.
Marie-Claire Maalouf, ECD at Impact BBDO, was part of the team behind AnNahar Newspaper’s recent groundbreaking campaigns, “Elections Edition” and “Newspapers Inside The Newspaper” which won Grands Prix at Lynx, in the print and publishing category and in effectiveness at Dubai Lynx 2023.
She opened the Dubai Lynx Beyond the Trophy session with an emotionally-evoking story of why the ad had to be done, emphasizing the importance of freedom of speech in Lebanon and the newspaper’s history, which included the assassination of its editor.
“Our client was bold and was always the one pushing us to do even more,” Maalouf said. Both the Dubai and Beirut BBDO never had to do much convincing to get them outside of their comfort zone, where amazing ideas often live.
As a multi-award-winning ECD, her advice is to spend more time crystalizing the idea before jumping into execution. “Make sure everyone is aligned to the idea first,” she said. She also asks herself a lot of ‘whys’ as an internal check system and while not every idea can be entirely original, the key lies in executing them differently enough to stand out.
Federico Fanti, Chief Creative Officer at FP7 McCann in Dubai, won the Grand Prix for outdoor advertising at Dubai Lynx 2023 for his Heinzjack campaign. Federico shared the challenges his team faced in casting and outfitting the human billboard for Heinz, turning the story into an amusing anecdote.
Stage fright
The original Thomas Heinz who was cast for the campaign got stage fright at the last minute and backed out, forcing the team to look for a new Heinz. When they found him, he could not fit into the football jersey custom-made to fit the previous Heinz. Federico hilariously explained how they had to look for a local tailor to stitch together a larger shirt.
Federico’s tool-belt for crafting the perfect ad involves passion, instinct and stupidity.
“When we brainstorm, I tell the team to not hold back. To not worry about what the client will think…The more you hold back, the less likely you are to come up with an amazing idea. Every ten crappy ideas can generate at least one genius idea”.
“We had a small budget to work with. FIFA was not allowing us to do anything, say anything, how would we solve this problem?”. The client was not an official World Cup sponsor, and the limitations that came with it became the ingredients that would make #FindHeinz the trending success it was. Federico attributed this genius to allowing room for stupidity to flourish.
Maalouf added that there is a need for leaders who can provide safe spaces to allow “stupidity” to thrive. Leaders who would be okay with sifting through all sorts of “stupid” to get to the ideas that nail the brief closest.
Nonetheless, having that one final person that will reign in all the creative madness after they’ve soared on highs where the floodgates of ideas have been burst open is crucial. “You do get on a high of ideas,” she said referring to such liberal brainstorming.
Sitting on the floor
She was asked how she embodies such a leader. “I sit on the floor,” she said very matter-of-factly. “Seriously. I sit on the floor. We keep things very informal. It’s about having the right people to crystallise the brief. You don’t necessarily need a very big team, rather the right team.”
Federico said that creating ads that don’t feel like ads and instead engage the audience is very vital to avoid having passive audiences that feel like they are being bombarded by ad after ad.
He confessed to being obsessed with case studies as part of his process and underscored that the way to know that you’ve created “the one” is when you can step back and ask yourself, “How was I able to achieve that?”
Looking ahead, Federico envisioned a future where, “We create the problem and provide a solution for the problem, as long as the basis of everything is creativity. Creatively solving the problems we create.”
The topic of sustainability was broached as well, and it seemed close and dear to both panellists, Federico having done award-winning pro-sustainability campaigns.
“This is the sort of work I would like to do more of and maybe win a Nobel Prize for. Why not?”
By Hannah Uwuzura
