Local advertising seems to be on the rise and improving day by day. The development and management of this industry locally is, in itself, a design marvel. We’ve found that only a handful of Saudis are aware of the progress of local agencies.
Full Stop Advertising is a great example of how local advertising enterprises have defined standards for distinctive local creative output. Kaswara AlKhateeb, founder of Full Stop Advertising, realized that the ads we saw in Saudi in Saudi Arabia weren’t always… well, Saudi! He always felt something was missing; a local touch was needed to properly send across the product promise to local families who were exposed to ads without any insight. Hence, he decided to not only create a Saudi ad agen-cy that met the demands of companies reaching out to the local consumer, but to create an agency that also prided itself for the unique output of creative work.
According to Kaswara, “The advantage was being able to cross the language barrier.
” He refers to foreign agencies as the barrier, which consists mostly of non-Saudis that were attempting to address Saudi consumers in an inappropriate tone. Another advantage Kaswara claims “is that we are the clients, the consumers and the advertisers.
So if you need someone to speak to you, you will need someone who can speak in the same tongue.” Kaswara uses his natural instincts to differentiate between cultural norms and taboos, “A Saudi, at the end of the day, is more likely to understand the mindset of his own people.”
Among Full Stop’s pivotal points of success is the rebranding and re-launch campaign for Saudi Postal Service was one of Full Stop’s pivotal points of success. In this campaign, the traditions of poetry and true local faces were key features in promoting the modernized and efficient, yet still local, Saudi mailing system.
Aside from advertising, Full Stop is well recognized and applauded for its provocative public service announcements. The latest media contribution that Full Stop released for Ramada nwas entitled, “Al-Rahma” (Mercy). The Mercy series aimed to address domestic abuse towards members of the household, whether individuals within a family or domestic workers.
Another prime project was the latest music clip produced by Full Stop for the rapper, Don Legend. The video’s use of a global philosophy around true rhymes and a local storyline using Hijazi folklore, is further proof that public acceptance for progressive material depends highly on local insight and vision. Today, Kaswara is recognized as one of the young driving forces for change within the advertising industry if not other forms of media communication.
He may not have been the first but his establishment has become aforefront for local agencies with higherstandards of creative output.Because of companies like Full-Stop, many global advertising agencieshave moved towards hiring and trainingmore local talents. Creative professionals,who had started out at FullStop,have since graduated to senior positionsin many global agencies including,Ogilvy & Mather, Leo Burnett, Y&R andmany others.
to establish a local advertising agency ‘With his success in advertising established, Kaswara now plans to flex Full Stop’s muscles ins more specialized design services such as 3D modelling, animation and postproduction. This impact has made Full Stop a key player in establishing design as a legitimate and widely accepted profession in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.