28-07-2025
Private View by The Romans' Joe Lipscombe
Campaign Middle East features a Private View section with a range of insights and viewpoints from industry experts, revealing the intricate world of marketing and advertising campaigns.
This month's review is by Joe Lipscombe, Partner – MENA at The Romans.
The LEGO Group: Build It With Him
Love the concept, wish the creative upheld it. I've read the extensive background – the endless research and data mining done to land on this insight, but I can't see it in the final product. The notion of 'don't buy, build' is nice. But it's promoting LEGO, which you buy.
The art direction is classy, but the creative hasn't truly captured the heart of the insight. I'm also not sure that brown wallets, slippers, grey mugs and power drills really reflect the modern dad – but maybe I'm projecting.
Dubizzle: Everyone Is On dubizzle
Another strong concept, with a tame execution. I like the core idea; I would have preferred a more ambitious creative execution. It feels like it does the job in terms of message penetration. I wouldn't be sharing or re-running the spots, though.
NYX Professional Makeup: The Face Glue
A bit absurd, finally. The story behind this strongly reiterates the impact of pasting ads across metro stations and on bridges over SZR. I can't argue with that, but there's little mention of the creative direction.
That said, not many brands strike a culture chord in Dubai, and despite not being the audience, I respect that they've achieved that with this partnership. It's absurd and we need more of that. But given the physical coverage, I'd have loved more from the creative direction.
Himalaya: We Know Pimples
Feels like the brief, not the solution. The central concept of we don't get you, but we get spots is interesting. But simply putting your audience in their natural habitat and calling it relevance isn't enough. We need some proper depth, not another actor with a headset and controller. I think it misses the mark.
L'Oréal Paris: Sit Al Bait
Powerful, if not a bit unoriginal. Three of the young Arab women at The Romans watched this and agreed that, though the film gets them pumped up and it's strikingly shot (which it is), there isn't enough negative sentiment behind the original phrase to make it truly meaningful.
In fact, they felt that both 'Sit Bait' and 'Sit Al Bait', over time, have come to mean the same thing. From my perspective, we have seen so many campaigns hinge on the changing of Arabic letters to alter meaning, that the vehicle has lost all potency.
By Joe Lipscombe, Partner – MENA at The Romans
