When Wendy’s, the iconic American fast-food chain famous for its square burgers and irreverent tone, decided to strengthen its presence in the GCC, it wasn’t just another regional rollout. It was an exercise in cultural translation.
In partnership with Das Kapital, an ideas-driven agency headquartered in Paris with offices in the UAE and Qatar, Wendy’s launched a new 360-marketing campaign in October, introducing the brand to consumers in Saudi Arabia. But this wasn’t just about exporting a global campaign; it was about adapting Wendy’s sassiness, the DNA of its voice, to a market where humor has its own distinct set of rules.
“Wendy’s key asset in its communication is its brand personality, evidenced by sassiness. And that goes way back to the iconic ‘Where’s the beef?’ campaign,” says Hubert Boulos, Founder and CEO of Das Kapital.
“We wanted to deliver our idea: Whoooooooooo is Wendy’s? On that basis, we intend to deliver the same consistency in messaging across every touchpoint, from digital and aggregator platforms down to restaurant trays and napkins!” he told Communicate.
This approach signals a broader shift in how global brands are localizing their storytelling. Instead of toning down their global voice, Wendy’s is reinterpreting it through a regional lens, bringing cultural fluency to creativity.
Boulos explains that the agency’s process integrates research and creative thinking from the earliest stages. “The insights we discovered were about how to select and then execute our rough initial concepts. The feedback helped us pick the sassiest idea and get straight into actionable steps for execution. Consumer feedback gave us a lot of advice on how to optimize consumption shots. When it comes to juiciness, there are no limits in Saudi!”
Beyond tone, the campaign is designed as an idea-first ecosystem. “We focus on the idea. I believe everybody is now realizing this in Western markets, and it certainly applies in the GCC as well,” he said.
“What brands really need to perform are strong ideas with repetition and consistency. That’s how you build fame and sales, not by counting how many people engaged with you on Instagram and calling it ‘content,’” Boulos said.
That mindset, he argues, is what sets independent agencies apart in global brand work. “Many global clients are realizing they no longer need large networks with all the overheads and lack of agility. I am convinced that there is a huge gap when it comes to independent agencies with global capacity.”
Boulos concluded that the real opportunity lies with independents that understand both global strategy and local context, and that’s exactly “where we position ourselves, and what all our clients are looking for.”
