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Campaign ME

Private View by VICE's Tarek Khalil

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 review of our 'Works' from March is by Tarek Khalil, Managing Director – MEA, VICE. RAKTDA: Not a Vacation … Our Vacation RAKTDA brilliantly demonstrates that how you tell a story matters. Their take on the classic 'this sucks/this rocks' format delivers genuine charm and visual impact. The 'Not a vacation/Our vacation' payoff lands perfectly because they've earned it through truth rather than empty promises. It's not reinventing the wheel of tourism marketing, but it showcases RAK's strengths and makes it look genuinely appealing. Sometimes, executing a simple idea well beats trying too hard to be clever. Puck – Arla Foods: Recipe For Change I'm cynical about purpose marketing, but this one actually lands for me because it's centred on actual human stories rather than brand heroics. It backs up emotional storytelling with a genuine financial lifeline. The 'you dine, they thrive' approach creates lasting impact rather than the usual temporary misery spectacle that makes brands feel good while changing nothing. In an industry that regularly exploits tragedy for brand points, this delivers something real: cultural preservation with economic benefit. Beautiful and genuine without commodifying Lebanese resilience. Deliveroo x Humanta: 'Drinkable' Billboard This is attention-grabbing smart disruption with perfect Ramadan relevance. Advertising you can literally consume breaks the fourth wall between promotion and product at a time when thirst is front of mind. The concept brilliantly serves a genuine need rather than just being another tone-deaf Ramadan campaign. Refreshing in more ways than one. Ducab – Ramadan Genuinely impressed with how they connected invisible electrical cables to visible human emotions – using Ramadan as a narrative lens rather than just slapping on a seasonal filter. Very cool. And the emotional crescendo works because it's unexpected from an industrial brand. They cleverly visualise how their cables literally power life's meaningful moments, and they find genuine relevance most seasonal campaigns lack. Volvo x Electromin: Come Back Stronger The AI-generated approach falls short both technically and emotionally in my opinion. While the concept of resilience resonates, the execution is emotionally flat. Good storytelling should make you care, but this piece feels like it was created by machines and algorithms that don't. I'm yet to see any AI-generated content that delivers something genuinely memorable. The robots aren't taking our jobs anytime soon. By Tarek Khalil, Managing Director – MEA, VICE.