At that very instant, you can see everyone’s eyes light up and the energy in the room just take off. Unspoken truths are at the root of any human insight, and consequently, successful campaign.
Now the Associate Director of Content at PHD UAE, Samer Chehab knows what you probably don’t – how social media and the changing digital landscape is affecting Arab youth and what that means for your brand.
Having racked up a fair bit of experience in consumer behaviour and content marketing, there’s much to look forward to at his Dubai Lynx session. Speaking on Monday, March 7, his talk is titled ‘KISS: KEEP IT SOCIAL AND STIMULATING,’ and we can’t wait to hear what other insights he has in store for us.
Our exchange with him prior to the much-awaited event [3 days to go!] was informative and entertaining.
Here’s the complete Samer Chehab interview:
1. Tell us about your journey to the field of advertising – Did it find you or did you find it?
I had always wanted to work in advertising. As a child, my father (who didn’t actually work in the field but was fascinated by it) made me truly appreciate the art behind it.
When I started out in my career, it felt like the dream was fading, but after six years on the client side at an FMCG, the opportunity presented itself out of sheer coincidence. It’s been an amazing journey ever since.
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2. What’s the most exciting component of the creative process for you?
This has to be the moment we uncover an unspoken human truth—and that happens early in the creative conception process.
At that very instant, you can see everyone’s eyes light up and the energy in the room just take off. Unspoken truths are at the root of any human insight, and consequently, successful campaign.
3. Tell us about your funniest/wackiest/most fanciful/idle idea you’ve ever had.
Social media can be pretty out there on the wackiness spectrum, since nothing is ever new and all eyes are on us. Recently, we were thinking of doing an activation that involves a certain space mission – let’s just say that this is still a work-in-progress.
4. Have you ever suffered from a productive block? Tell us about how you overcame it.
It happens quite often, and I think it’s necessary for creative minds and people in the industry to undergo blocks every now and then. I usually overcome it by travelling. Cities and urban spaces help me ease myself out of a productive block. I also read a lot and that usually helps me come up with different approaches and solutions.
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5. How do you tell when an idea is good enough?
If an idea resonates with a human truth or an unspoken insight, then it’s a real winner. These are the ones that cause creative disruption in our industry and allow a brand to truly achieve something big.
For me, I look at what the idea is based on and how sound the underlying intuition is before beginning to assess whether it’s a good one or not.
6. For all those who are considering attending Lynx, tell us in 40 words or less why they shouldn’t miss your session.
Arab millennials are cynical and desensitized. They also don’t really care about your brand on social media. My session will equip you with five ways to win back the attention of this huge audience and engage them in this new age.
We can’t wait for Samer’s session! What do you think? Tell us in the comments below.
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