2016 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Fashion is dictated to us by the glamour world. It makes us feel we should look a certain way if we want to be fashionable. This is particularly true in Dubai, a city fast becoming the luxury capital of the world. So, we decided to democratize fashion with Max, a popular fashion brand in the Middle East, by telling people fashion is what makes you feel comfortable. We launched the message through a social experiment. We took a real woman and put her in the fashion world. But little did she know, she would have to wear the outfit in the real world. The experiment made the point that fashion is what makes you feel comfortable. Our print ads avoided stylized fashion shots and captured nothing but the beauty of reality. We used an app to give people a tool to express their opinion and make a fashion statement by creating own their magazine cover. The campaign even got the endorsement of popular Arabic singer Mohammed Assaf. Mohammed starred in our TVC to prove even celebrities are real people when they’re not on stage.

The Brief

Fashion constantly exposes us to a glamorous world that can be quite intimidating. It makes us feel pressured to look a certain way if we want to feel fashionable. This is no more evident than in Dubai, a melting pot of the world's cultures and fashions. So, we saw it as an opportunity for Max, a popular fashion brand in the Middle East, to free people from this pressure by telling them fashion is what makes you feel comfortable. We used this message to launch Max, fashion for real people.

Execution

Max as a brand provides clothes at the lower end of the price range. Most people who shop in that price range do it because its what they can afford. They aspire to be fashionable, but feel its out of their price range. Max's mission is to change that. They want people to feel proud of what they wear. they want people to feel fashionable. So, they don't just produce affordable clothes, they produce fashionable ones as well. But not any fashion. They produce fashion that reflects people's personalities. It's fashion inspired by lifestyle.

The campaign’s key objectives were to drive traffic to the store by winning the hearts of the target audience and engage with them on social media beyond the regular and expected news of sales and arrival of new seasonal collections. The results of the campaign were 33.5 million in reach through MAX and Mohammad Assaf social media profiles with 23.2 million impressions through MAX social media profiles and delivered 9.5 million views on social media. Also, the number of subscribers to the Shukran loyalty program through the MAX stores increased by 40% and sales grew by 5% compared to the same period the year before.

The Strategy

On social media, we engaged people through our social experiment. The film was shared on Max’s Facebook and Youtube page. Bloggers spread it through the blogosphere and their social media channels. As it started to gain traction we gave people a tool to participate, by creating an app that let them make their own fashion statement by creating a magazine cover. We used the endorsement of Arab singer Mohammed Assaf to leverage the campaign on PR. The media reported about the film and press ads, as well as covering the fashion show launching the concept.