Campaign Middle East features a monthly Private View section with a range of insights and viewpoints from industry experts, revealing the intricate world of marketing and advertising campaigns.
This month’s review is by Santiago Cuesta, Executive Creative Director, TBWA\RAAD.
Tawuniya: Saudi in Identity, Heart and Spirit
Having worked closely with our Riyadh office over the last year, I’m constantly amazed by how fast the advertising scene in Saudi is evolving. Tawuniya’s strength was clarity: one unifying idea, one hero film, one platform to amplify the emotion.
Five million impressions on X weren’t accidental; they were the result of focus and a human message, with employees as the heroes.
The objective was clear: shift perception from a cleaning app to a full home services partner, and I’m confident this campaign achieved it. ‘We Got You’ works because it’s built on real moments that happen at home, not just brand promises. That said, with all the insightful and funny things that happen inside our homes, I would have loved to see even more examples of how the brand can make our lives easier.
I like when a brand invites its customers to need them less. And standing out at GITEX is always a challenge when every brand is racing to be louder than the next one. Addictech lands because it flips the lens inward. Putting tech in service of anti-tech is the kind of ironic tension that sticks.
I only missed one thing: making at least one device real and testing it with real teens, even as a small pilot, to turn the provocation into proof.
There have been hundreds of breast cancer awareness campaigns, so doing something original is not easy. Clay Jugs goes back to something basic and instinctive: touch. Using sculpting to create a lump, then spending real time feeling it, is a smart way to rewire behaviour and build muscle memory. It’s a physical experience that will stay with women far longer than another awareness execution.
Dubai Roads and Transport Authority: RTA Meet Up
Milestone campaigns are tricky because they can slip into corporate nostalgia fast. What works here is treating RTA as what it really is in Dubai: a daily enabler. The tagline is simple and strong, and the choice to use creators makes sense because the city is built on lived stories, not just infrastructure stats.
By Santiago Cuesta, Executive Creative Director, TBWA\RAAD
