Yes, Innovation is for you too!

Innovation isn't just for professionals anymore. With new tools available today at your disposal, even you can collaborate with other passionate amateurs to innovate in any field.

You can call yourself a "Pro-Am", described by Charles Leadbeater as a passionate amateur who acts like an amateur to make discoveries in many fields.

Listen to his interesting talk at TED on innovation.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/charles_leadbeater_on_innovation.html

Where the industry is heading pt.1

(via Emirates Business 24|7, 18.05.08)

Still (the highlighted in red)!!! Post the single minded idea era

Disrupting how we work

General Theory on Creative Relativity

(via russell)

The road to become a 'changer'

'We Think' in the age of conversation

Video promoting Charles Leadbetter's new book "We Think" (via Fallon Planning Blog)

Highlights

PAST: You are what you owned
NOW: You are what you share

Execution is strategic

Strategy informs creative
&
creative informs strategy

TBWA\RAAD. Ruling the change and excited about it!

The Middle East marcomms industry is changing, in a good way, and what i love more is that TBWA\RAAD is the forefront of this change. I've worked at various agencies but none with so much passion, so many cultures and with as much determination as this one. It's going to be great year and the start of something very special...i am literally as excited about it as this man.

Highly aroused people are receptive to messages: Decaux's Head of Research

Heathrow's terminal five, which opens in a month, will have more advertising than almost any airport in the world. There will be 333 bilboards or posters and 206 flat screen TV sets, all so strategically placed that business travellers will find them impossible to miss.

Read more about this rush for outdoor advertising space in the world's busiest international airport.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120296058551467765.html

The WSJ article touches on media rates, message placement, passenger movement, passenger energy levels, message cosumption per passenger, brand associations, growth of outdoor advertising, content customisation and revenue per passenger.

Outdoor advertising is a popular medium in Dubai too. Why don't we go to the same length in analysing the medium here? Why are the outdoor messages so uninteresting? Surely, the stress levels in Dubai keep us aroused too, don't they?

Is it a newspaper or an adpaper?

Enough is enough...

Aside from having obsolete news and paid editorial coverage, newspapers bombard you by an endless number of pages of ads, ads and ads.. Today's Gulf News main section had 22 page-ads out of total 31 pages leaving only 9 pages of stale news. Those of you who like to see the main page for 'breaking or top news' can also say farewell to that since every single issue now has a full page ad on the main cover...

Let's get this straight. Everything you need to know you've most probably already either browsed on the internet or your Blackberry or have seen on TV news channels. The newspaper is full of ads and stale news. Editorial is either paid for or 'borrowed'. So why do we need this kind of newspaper?


What happened to newspapers here? They are clearly a thing of the past and a waste of money for those who subscribe to them and advertise in them. To top things, each issue is an environmental hazard with alomost 1 kg of paper that you virtually throw after 5 minutes.

It's not fair to the environment, to the readers and to the advertisers. No one is actually getting any value out of this kind of newspaper. Compare to the likes of Financial Times and Wall Street Journal where you can read the newspaper from cover to cover and be truely fulfilled and more informed and all you want to do afterwards is never hold an issue of these local papers again..

Paper, Scissors...Claw?

Ever wondered what would happen if crabs could play Paper, Scissor Stone? Well i just found out...

Dubai Government Turns Grocer

Dubai government is planning to open a new chain of supermarkets "Aswaaq" to compete with the likes of Carrefour, Spinneys and the Co-ops, which are a favorite among a lot of shoppers.

Will they be able to compete and offer better prices and better quality products? Will they come up with a new concept in shopping?

Click here to read more.

Cultural Dive - Egypt

Sharing Egyptian culture dive pictures with the rest of the agency.

Hakina

Swooshing of swiveling chairs...clicker clacker of heals....thumping of a basketball...hums of exclamation.....sighs of frustration....swears of competitiveness....crackle of crumbling paper....ringing of the phone....

translates to

Clients are being attended to....brains are concentrating....thoughts are being exchanged...gossip is making the rounds....games are easing the tension....

now, the ticking of keys....

makes it possible for TBWAins to share interestingness.

\Hakina
Caffeine for your mind.

Arabian Automobiles' service campaign

TBWA\ RAAD creative for Nissan.



TBWA\ RAAD creative for Renault.

Can politicians decide the fate of your national flag?

The designs on the Iraqi national flag will be changed as per the wishes, divided though, of politicians. Today, politicians in Iraq voted to remove 3 stars and Saddam's writings from the national flag of the country.
The 3 stars represent unity, freedom and socialism and Saddam's writings mean "God is Great". I don't see anything wrong with this symbolism of the stars and writings for Iraq, keeping in view the sensitivities of it's people.
However, the new political regime of Iraq has decided to replace them.

How would you feel if the designs on your national flag were altered due to a change in political regime?

Read more about it here.

Read what people had to say, here, the last time this discussion came up.

MTV Arabia Launch

Here is some of the work done by TBWA\ RAAD for the launch of MTV Arabia in the Middle East. More stuff to follow soon.

Crotch Kiss TV Spot




Dabke TV Spot



Belly Dancer TV Spot



Oud TV Spot

Who Said Saudi Arabia is A Hot Country?

Jan 2008

Saudi Arabia covered with snow in coldest winter for 20 years

Northern parts of Saudi Arabia are covered with snow with schools, mosques and administrative bodies. The oil-rich kingdom is being hit with subzero temperatures and snow storms with freezing winds of up to 50 km/h (30mp/h).

Are we spending too much money?

Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) has released a report (after a whole year, since this data is for 2006) about consumer spending in the various Arab states. According to this article on ArabianBusiness.com, people in the UAE spend the most money on consumer goods and services.

Top Arab states by average individual spending:
1. UAE ($20,000)
2. Qatar ($12,500)
3. Kuwait ($9,266)
4. Bahrain ($7,587)
...
7. Saudi Arabia ($3,764)


Do you feel that you are spending a lot of money? How can you spend less? Do you have a choice?

What would happen to the UAE economy if we didn't spend as much?