2019 Winners & Shortlists

HIDDEN HINDI

Short List
BrandCITI
Product/ServiceTRANSFERS TO INDIA
EntrantHORIZON FCB Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryPosters
Idea Creation HORIZON FCB Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Background.

44% of Dubai’s population hail from India. They come here to work and save money to send home to their loved ones, a priority that has led to an interesting behavioural insight: Whenever they buy something, they do a mental conversion of its equivalent cost in Rupees.

Describe the creative idea.

Because a large majority of Indians in Dubai speak both Hindi and the local Arabic, we took 3 simple words that represented their daily purchases and combined two vastly different alphabets, finding the hidden Hindi in the Arabic word. We showed that with Citibank easy transfers to India, home wasn’t far away at all.

Describe the strategy.

Because we were targeting Indian Citibank customers, we released the posters in Citibank branches across Dubai in April 2018, targeting the bank's customers at a relevant moment, speaking their languages to convey a service created just for them.

Describe the execution.

A dual-language series of posters were created to demonstrate the Dirham-to-Rupee conversion through bold one-word typography designs that cleverly masked the hidden Hindi word within the Arabic word. Distinctive shades of Citibank blue were used in a complementary manner to enhance the two languages, while the “everyday items” used as backdrop, subtly enhanced the creative idea. In spite of its severe differences and obstructions, we managed to seamlessly merge two alphabets into an unheard-of piece of creative. The typography – the hero of our campaign - spoke to our target demographic in their own language, or languages, and demonstrated how easy it is to transfer money from Dubai to India.

List the results.

The campaign added tremendous value to the brand - showing our target audience that we understood them - what they did, what they needed. By combining the two languages in one, we showed an understanding of the cultures that inhabit our melting pot of a city. And most importantly, we educated our customers about a vital service for them - easy transfers of money back home - a service that we had not previously communicated properly.

Credits

Name Company Role
Mazen Jawad Horizon FCB Dubai President
Reham Mufleh Horizon FCB Dubai General Manager
Bruno Bomediano Horizon FCB Dubai Executive Creative Director
Dio Santos Horizon FCB Dubai Creative Director
Nick Bristow Horizon FCB Dubai Senior Copywriter
Elsa de Bruyn Horizon FCB Dubai Copywriter
Husenn Baba Horizon FCB Dubai Art Director
Rijin Kunnath Horizon FCB Dubai Art Director
Tanya Vahanian Horizon FCB Dubai Associate Account Director
Waleed Abdulaziz Lord & Thomas Creative Media Producer
Samer Amir Lord & Thomas Producer
Sinto Anto Horizon FCB Dubai Designer
Kutaiba Kabbani Horizon FCB Dubai Senior Arabic Copywriter