2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

THE BOOK OF ART GAP

Short List
BrandSTANDARD CHARTERED BANK
Product/ServiceINSTITUTIONAL
EntrantTBWA\RAAD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryBooks
Idea Creation TBWA\RAAD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Placement CARAT Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production BOLT Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Background

Standard Chartered is ‘Here For Good’. A bank’s promise to improve communities. Gender pay equality is one of their priorities and they walk the talk: In 2017, they instituted the Fair Pay Charter, pledging to pay men and women equally. In the UAE, the bank has four women in senior management, including their first female CEO, who is Emirati. With positive momentum within, they wanted to raise awareness for gender pay equality on International Women’s Day and inspire other companies to follow suit. One alarming fact surfaced: A global study led by the University of Oxford - Saïd Business School highlighted that works by women artists sell for 47.6% less than those by men. The press reported it. Then the world moved on. The bank felt that this was not good enough. The budget for an activation was USD 50K, including media.

Describe the creative idea (40% of vote)

Our target audience was Government leaders, CEOs, women influencers, artists, general public. People don’t remember statistics. We had to give them a picture. On International Women’s Day, Standard Chartered announced the Art Gap Exhibition. If women are going to be paid 47.6% less, they will paint 47.6% less. We brought together a collective of 19 Emirati and expat women artists from 11 nationalities to add their voices to the global gender parity conversation. 19 incomplete paintings created a powerful visual statement. Art Gap used a universal language to highlight gender pay inequality, creatively leveraging scientific research to bring about change. The exhibition made an impact beyond borders but we needed to ensure our audience got the message. The Book of Art Gap was a compilation of all 19 statements, sent to 250 Priority Banking customers: CEOs and C-suites of leading companies and multinationals in the UAE.

Describe the execution (40% of vote)

This limited-edition coffee table book showed gender pay equality in a new perspective. The design language used the 47.6% gap throughout the book and was flexible enough to adapt to the different painting shapes. The cover of the book used a blind foil manifesto to elevate the embossed 47.6% message. The special cover gave readers a preview of the sensorial experience inside. Special paper was chosen and the book had an arthouse feel with Japanese binding. The die-cuts were crafted to reveal the 52.4% complete paintings, which were all done in complex variation. Each artist was making a statement, personally and through her painting. The book design captured both these statements, inviting readers to interact with each statement, rather than passively read them. This action of revealing each painting gave the art more importance. The book was sent in bubble wrap packaging, the same way paintings are delivered.

List the results (20% of vote)

+10,000 visitors attended, including dignitaries like Director-General of the Dubai Department of Information, Deputy CEO of the Securities & Commodities Authority, senior representatives from UN Women, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and UK Trade Commission. +7,500 pledges for equal pay. USD 20,000 for 19 artworks, although sales wasn’t an objective. USD 1.4million in earned media, including BBC Arabic, Thomson Reuters, VICE Arabia, Design TAXI, Toronto Sun Times, Thrive Global, Branding News, Zee TV, Al Hurra TV, China Arab TV, Gulf News. +20 million social media impressions. On invitation, the exhibition moved to the prestigious Dubai International Financial Centre (24 April - 8 May). Art Gap is now a movement, with exhibitions planned at Oxford University and key markets to bring each country’s pay gap to the heart of the conversation: South Korea 34.6%; India 29%; Pakistan 48.4%; Kenya 65%, Indonesia 40.6%.

Credits

Name Company Role
Walid Kanaan TBWA\RAAD Chief Creative Officer
Jennifer Fischer TBWA\RAAD Chief Innovation Officer
Joe Lahham TBWA\RAAD General Manager/MD
Manuel Borde TBWA\RAAD Executive Creative Director
Bruno Bomediano TBWA\RAAD Executive Creative Director
Sandeep Fernandes TBWA\RAAD Creative Director/Copywriter
Monisha Mirchandani TBWA\RAAD Regional Account Director
Remie Abdo TBWA\RAAD Head of Strategy
Sumanth Wilkins TBWA\RAAD Senior Art Director
Mahesh Powar TBWA\RAAD Senior Digital Art Director
Rijin Kunnath TBWA\RAAD Senior Designer/Typographer
Doug Mackay TBWA\RAAD Senior Copywriter
Balu Puthalath TBWA\RAAD Art Director
Lucas Pimenta TBWA\RAAD Motion Graphics
Ashleigh Morgan TBWA\RAAD Account Manager
Christine Dias TBWA\RAAD Account Executive
Adnan Ahmed TBWA\RAAD Social Media Executive
Girish Sapalya TBWA\RAAD Retoucher
Rouba Asmar TBWA\RAAD Head of Production
Gloria Abou Diwan BOLT Producer
Romy Abdelnour TBWA\RAAD Communications Director
Martin Velkov BOLT Director
Bashar Najjar BOLT Audio Engineer
Mohamed Treka BOLT Video Editor
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