Shababiah

Omani is a conservative culture. Traditionally, to be commissioned as an artist, you had to be part of a recognised artistic institution. Shababiah opened up new opportunities for young Omanis to gain recognition. The artists involved in the brand have all reported a big increase in commissions. Shababiah gave them a platform for recognition and made it cool to commission up and coming young artists.

The big idea was to have young Omanis create the brand so that it would be relevant to youth, with us curating their designs into a world class brand. We invited an Omani calligrapher to create the logotype. We sourced up and coming young Omani artists and gave them a very simple brief… to create their own version of the Shababiah logo. All they were given was the logotype and free reign for their creative imaginations.

We began with a key insight into youth, that they have switched off from traditional marketing.

Our research shows that youth crave individualised products and services. We developed a strategy built around co-creation, the idea that the best way to make a brand relevant to youth was to have youth themselves design the brand.

We videoed the artists during the creative process and this became part of the brand’s content for launch on social media. The early stages of their drawings provided interesting ‘teaser’ content as it engaged viewers in the artistic process before the logo was even launched.

In every way this was a brand created by youth, for youth.