Dawlance Women Empowerment

Category: TV

I might be a little biased as our agency made two of the ads for this campaign, but I truly believe in Dawlance’s new women-empowerment direction. Built upon the belief that women have much more potential and drive than they are given credit for, especially in our society, a big brand finally appreciates the better half of our population.

Agency: Ishtehari and IAL Saatchi & Saatchi, Pakistan

Vitamin Water

Category: Outdoor

Big bright boards with vibrant product shots is not exactly a heretical formula, but in Pakistan’s cluttered TVC-based outdoor space, the Vitamin Water campaign stands out. Quite simply, they are very pleasing to the eye, and I love that there are no token models or taglines to force a connect to the campaign.

Agency: RG Blue Communications, Pakistan

SCB: Think Outside The Bank

Category: Video

An internet-only release that many would write off as an over-produced and botched attempt at showcasing the beauty of internet banking. But I’m still hooked. The approach is different, and definitely a breath of fresh air (pun intended) for Standard Chartered’s Breeze as an activation-production hybrid.

Agency: Manhattan International and OMD, Pakistan

Foodpanda

Category: Video

Just goes to show that big budgets and fancy agency affiliations are not directly correlated to the awesomeness of creative work done. This simple but brilliantly conceived stop-motion video is designed to pique interest on social media and does it so easily with its engaging content hook and eye-candy production style.

Creative Director: Maaz Maudood

Lipton Brightness Revolution

Category: TV/Print

So Ali Zafar is getting all sorts of hate from ad pundits. I, however, think Lipton’s new campaign is quite a refreshing change from the usual tea fare. Although it might be ‘inspired’ by an international campaign, I love that it’s bright, cheery and well integrated in the ground and digital media. Catchy song too.

Agency: BE DDB, Pakistan

Nike: Make Every Yard Count

Category: TV

Nike. Big brand, bigger budget. Frequent purveyor of big name celebrities. But what they did for the Make Every Yard Count campaign was a bigger idea than any digitally enhanced shot of Kohli. They left out the celeb cricketers and made a street cricket themed commercial by stitching together thousands of pictures and it blew my mind away.

Agency: JWT India

Old Spice

Category: Packaging

If something about a product is interesting enough for me to not only notice it on the shelf but pick it up and chuckle over it, there is definitely a lot of win brewing there. And I am not the only one! The Instagram hashtag for Old Spice is overflowing with people that are goo-goo-ga-ga over the razor-sharp witty copywriting for their products.

Agency: Wieden & Kennedy, USA

The Glenfiddich Experience

Category: Activation

Technology is always a wow-inducing factor, but it is not often that you find it so beautifully merged in the brand’s promise as it did with The Glenfiddich Experience. At an exclusive event in Bangkok, well-heeled clients were exposed to a custom drink-detecting Microsoft Surface installation, telling each product’s brand story in a mesmerising way.

Agency: Goodstuph and Make Studios, Singapore.

Umair Kazi is a partner at Ishtehari.
umair@ishtehari.com