Trio students at Middlesex University achieved winnings in both the Masar Student Creative Award for Print Competition, and the Student Integrated Award Competition at the annual Dubai Lynx Festival.

Communicate will be publishing a three parts interview with them.

The first interview is with Rym Farran, who designed a campaign to promote adopting dogs.

Rym Farran, created a campaign with a theme of “Engagement”. The campaign was named as the winner for the Masar Student Creative Award for print. She wrote “I felt that many advertisements had drifted away from their viewers due to the lack of interactive elements.” The campaign, she created,  engaged the audience and connected with them emotionally, “hitting the right cords” from her point of view to encourage dogs adoption.

How did you engage with the audience: please mention the tools, the strategies used?

My winning piece was the most interactive as it required a little more work to understand it. It is not what a viewer would regularly expect in a magazine but rather a challenge which breaks the norm in the magazine design culture. The fact that it is unexpected and challenging proved to attract the viewers to solve the message. 

It would not only provide a fun puzzle to solve for adults, but also for children to have a pleasant experience with adverts rather than unrealistic expectations or complicated language that excludes certain age groups. Therefore, the short adoption story can be seen in the shifting images for both age groups to understand within seconds.

As for my second-place winner, it was also an interactive piece that showcased a homeless dog without a collar, but when a part of the ad is ripped out, it reveals a collar and a small story as well as the QR code to the adoption page.

The rip off feature gives a satisfying feeling to viewers to motivate them into adopting a dog and be able to put on the collar and be part of the adoption story.

 Was there any sort of feedback you have received that made you realize “you hit the right cord”?

When we went to present our work at the IAA I was able to speak to Dubai Lynx and major company representatives who encouraged me and appreciated my efforts. But it wasn’t until I met Islam elDessouky, head of content marketing at Coca Cola and Sasan Saeidi CEO-Gulf of JWT that I was truly inspired to push for my best to prove my spot in the industry.

They appreciated my work and encouraged me to keep working in it as I showed promising work. Even though I spoke to many individuals in the industry in the networking sessions, ElDessouky inspired me with his work and especially being Egyptian myself it showed me how far he has come and where I could find myself and more if I do my best and fight for what I love.

 What do you think advertisers can learn from your project?

 I feel that the elements provided and used in my pieces really capture the current audience, straight forward and simple ads won’t cut it anymore. People are looking for a challenge; therefore, I wanted to bring both interactive and challenging elements together to create a more engaging feel with not only the ad but also the company represented in the ad.

The fact that I was representing Al Mayya K9 shelter means that it is a very interactive and joyful personality that needed to be honoured.

Another very impactful element that might not be considered by many is mentioning the inspiration of an ad.

Just the fact that an ad mentions the artist it was inspired from (In my case: Patrick Hughes) shows how appreciative an ad company is and how approachable it is.

Even though many advertisers look to create original content, it is always great to look back and think of the roots that made such a great foundation to the end product.

In my case, I looked at my fine arts passion and background which helped nurture the advertiser/creative in me. It kept me grounded and mindful of my experiences and how they have made me who I am today.

With such huge companies like JWT and Coca Cola appreciating my work as a student artist and Dubai Lynx offering me an award I would love to see other artists in their fields enjoyed the same way, and advertising is a way to do just that all the while building a better and more successful advertising brand.