Latest news with #Boutiqaat
Campaign ME
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Campaign ME
Here are Campaign Middle East's Work picks from May
Every month, Campaign Middle East selects a collection of 'Work' to display in its monthly issue. The same selection then gets offered to industry professionals for their review in Campaign's Private View section the following month. These are the picks from May – featuring work from Talabat and Kitopi, MG Egypt, Boutiqaat, RAM and McDonald's Saudi. Talabat x Kitopi: See, Eat, Repeat In partnership with Talabat, Kitopi highlighted its top 10 restaurant brands, offering best-selling items for AED 10, for 10 days. The goal? To bring Kitopi's food experiences to the masses. With Hypermedia as the campaign's media partner, Kitopi executed a full-blown out-of-home (OOH) takeover in the UAE. Kitopi also tapped into influencer marketing to amplify messaging across different demographics. The campaign helped Kitopi acquire more than 100,000 new customers. MG Egypt: Well Known, Even If Not Owned To launch the automotive brand's new range, this campaign takes a humorous approach for the Egypt market, highlighting how people who don't even own MG cars, know so much about each of the cars and love them. Given that car prices in Egypt are hitting new highs, and for many people in the nation, owning a car feels out of reach, this campaign aims to make the dream of car ownership possible again. This resonates with Egyptians, showcasing how they talk about cars – like true salespeople – as if they all know the specs, features, and prices, as if they're ready to sell the cars themselves. The campaign was carried across billboards, social media channels, digital channels and TVCs in Egypt. The campaign was brought to life by DDB Egypt, Kino Films, The Barber Shop and Keeva Casting Agency, under the direction of Amr Haddad. Boutiqaat: Ya Hala Campaign This campaign used unconventional Arabic humour to drive app purchases and achieved more than 1 million organic views, making it Boutiqaat's first commercial blockbuster without paid promotion. The campaign aimed to engage audiences through a humorous and engaging narrative, emphasising the festival's excitement and the opportunities available for shoppers. With exaggerated slapstick that includes repeated visual gags, such as characters being thrown through a window, this commercial took the comedic route – a detour from the region's dependance on cultural references. The campaign, brought to life by Shareet Studios, was primarily distributed on social media platforms, including Instagram and TikTok. RAM: RHO Airlines – The Shortest Flight RAM Trucks took to the skies – briefly – to launch its latest performance vehicle with this bold campaign. The creative stunt turned the desert into a runway for what is being described as the world's shortest flight, lasting just 1.2 seconds. The hero film depicted an immersive airport experience in the middle of the desert, complete with check-in counters, security, ground staff, air traffic control and cabin crew. The only thing missing was a plane. Instead, at the centre of the experience was the new RAM RHO 1500. The stunt featured Saudi Arabia's popular influencer duo, The Saudi Reporters: Abdullah and Abdulaziz. In partnership with Publicis Middle East, the spot marks the first phase of a wider brand campaign from Stellantis' RAM in the region. McDonald's Saudi: Menuless The objective of this campaign was to demonstrate how consumers in Saudi Arabia know what their favourite McDonald's products are without having to look at the menu. Therefore, the brand removed its menu across all its restaurants in the Kingdom. Created in collaboration with Leo Burnett Dubai, the campaign ran across outdoor billboards, digital channels and social media, and had an immediate impact, driving a 37 per cent increase in footfall. Outdoor billboards outside the McDonald's drive-thrus displayed messages such as, 'You didn't drive all this way to experiment,' while the in-store menus that are usually displayed on the space behind the counter were replaced with a single line, 'You know what you want.'
Campaign ME
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Campaign ME
Shareet Studio's humourus approach for Kuwaiti Ya Hala Festival garnered 1 million views
Shareet Studio's campaign video for Boutiqaat, created for Kuwait's Ya Hala Festival, used unconventional Arabic humour to drive app purchases and achieved over 1 million organic views, making it Boutiqaat's first commercial blockbuster without paid promotion. The campaign aimed to engage audiences through a humorous and engaging narrative, emphasising the festival's excitement and the opportunities available for shoppers. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Boutiqaat بوتيكات (@boutiqaat) According to Mohammed AlNashmi, Founding Partner & Director of Shareet Studio's, the campaign was not meant to sell a specific product, but instead was meant to increase the amount of purchases on the app itself. As a result, the decision for a humourus approach for the social video was an important choice, as data showed that comedy is the number one selling genre in commercials. The style chosen is what AlNashmi describes as unconventional, however credits it's distinctiveness for its success. Unlike many regional campaigns that rely on cultural references, this commercial introduced a new comedic approach that supported its organic reach. The campaign was designed to appeal to Kuwaiti viewers and the wider GCC region. The dialogue was crafted to be direct and engaging, targeting a broad demographic spanning ages 16 to 45. 'We wanted to have a commercial that was comedic for all ages and was relatable to majority of people in this community,' says AlNashmi. Is humour the best tool for organic reach? The social video was released on TikTok and Instagram followed a humourus storyline in Arabic, with exaggerated slap sticks that including repeated visual gags, such as characters being thrown through a window – an element that resonated with the audience. AlNashmi mentions that a significant milestone for the campaign was its organic reach. The video became the first Boutiqaat commercial to achieve one million views without paid promotion. Audience reactions highlighted appreciation for its originality, with many referring to it as a 'commercial blockbuster,' and comments saying, 'hilarious! need more people flying through windows.' Overall, the main message behind the video was to encourage participation and direct purchases from Boutiqaat apps, and audiences were incentivised through a raffle in which they could win a car or cash prize. Additionally, the social video also aimed to highlight that Boutiqaat was the only way for any GCC country to enter the Ya Hala campaign if they were not located in Kuwait. While the commercial was produced in Arabic, a subtitled version was made available for wider accessibility. The campaign was primarily distributed on social media platforms, including Instagram and TikTok, an intentional choice as this is where Shareet Studio's believe comedic content often garners high engagement. Credits:
Ammon
18-11-2024
- Business
- Ammon
Cyberlaundering; How Social Media Influencers Fuel Financial Crime
The rise in e-commerce and social media influencers in the Middle East has opened more avenues for cyberlaundering, an emerging threat with significant vulnerabilities in terms of the financial system and overall security of the region. Utilizing the influencers' popularity, the crime bosses are able to mask the origins of the illicit funds and inject them into the mainstream economy. The 2020 case of Kuwait's much-vaunted e-commerce platform, Boutiqaat, underlined this issue of cyberlaundering. The platform allows influencers to create virtual shops and plug goods into them, for which no traceable sources of income are visible. The actors in money laundering schemes can use social media influencers in a variety of ways. This includes Product Promotion and Brand Partnerships, where money laundering's trail could be hidden by having the influencer paid to showcase items or services part of the illegal actions, such as cryptocurrency scams or fraudulent investment schemes. Another method is Inflating Product Values, whereby the criminals purchase high-value items through influencers to raise artificially the value of those items to launder money. Another form of approach is through hidden ownership, whereby an influencer, usually acting as a proxy for criminal organizations, owns businesses or assets funded by these illicit proceeds. Another channel used in the money laundering practice through social media is Social Media Trading and Cryptocurrency, most of the time performed due to Pump-and-Dump Schemes. Influencers are paid to promote certain types of cryptocurrencies so that their values can artificially be inflated. At the top of the price, criminals sell their holdings and then disappear, leaving the investors with big losses. Another tactic used is Money Mules: such influencers will be hired to collect and transfer illicit funds through cryptocurrency exchanges or other digital means of payment. A third method involves Philanthropy and Charity. Influencers may promote pseudo-charities or collect money to fight a cause that does not exist. Sometimes, charity donations are collected through an influencer but distributed to crime groups as a presumptive way of distributing funds to legitimate philanthropy. How much is actually laundered through social media influencers remains hard to quantify, but the best estimates are that it is a significant volume. It therefore requires that law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies take concrete, proactive measures to detect and prevent money laundering activities by influencers utilizing many methods. financial institution should carry out necessary due diligence on an influencer—a validation of identity, sources of income, and business undertakings. Social media platforms should have a more careful verification process, especially for acceptance of those influencers into their fold who are dealing in financial products or services. Also, utilizing advanced analytics capabilities to monitor suspicious behaviors on social media, such as sudden wealth increases, unusual spending habits, or the promotion of unknown or suspect products and services. Additionally, Blockchain technology creates a clear basis on which one can trace cryptocurrency transactions to identify suspicious patterns. The extra development of sound regulatory frameworks with respect to cryptocurrency exchanges has the potential to reduce the associated risks linked to money laundering and terrorist financing. In fact, GCC countries have already risen to the challenge. Influencers in Saudi Arabia are compelled to disclose if they are paid promoters and to eschew making deceptive claims. The UAE has instituted licensing for the influencers, heaping on an additional layer of accountability. However, there are still challenges. The first one is that the rapid development of technologies and constant changes in methods by cyber criminals make it quite impossible for authorities to stay ahead. Also, the complicating nature of influencer marketing and many times very blurred lines of what is legitimate and what is not make this process of enforcement hugely difficult. Fighting cyberlaundering effectively requires a multiagency approach that involves the Jordanian government, financial institutions, and the technology firms. It includes increased international cooperation and sharing of intelligence to create complex tools for finding and discouraging these illegal activities. By means of these methods, the relevant authorities can significantly reduce the capacity of crimes to abuse social media influencers in money laundering, while protecting the integrity of the financial system. Conscious that the digital world keeps on evolving, this is one field where consciousness about new threats and changed regulatory policy will need to be performed.
