Get to know of some of the GCC’s best creative leaders through this specially tailored ASKED & ANSWERED questionnaire designed to learn what are top agencies’ creative kitchen made of. They come from diverse horizons. They trace their professional trajectory— where they grew up and how they landed in the GCC. Aunindo Sen, ECD at Publicis Middle East explains what makes Dubai so attractive for creative talents, as he also expands on the importance of awards and what happens when cultural diversity and creativity combine.
YOU X DUBAI
Where did you grow up?
I was born in a country that doesn’t exist anymore (The USSR). With my father in the Indian Defense forces, I moved all over India, but spent most of my formative years in Mumbai, India.
What made you pick Dubai?
Well actually Dubai picked me. After a year and a half at our Bahrain office, the team was moved to the Dubai office. Looking back, it felt like a natural next step.
How would you explain your job to a taxi driver?
That billboard you see? I made that.
What makes Dubai so attractive for creative talents?
The confluence of cultures. The access to the best suppliers and partners in the world. Much like the city itself, the things you couldn’t do elsewhere, you can dream of, in Dubai.
What do you love most about Dubai?
Getting to understand stories from everywhere in the world. And realizing as different as we all are, we’re all really the same.
ON CULTURE & DIVERSITY
How do so many cultures work together to create successful campaigns that speak their own language and fit so many cultures at the same time?
I always believe brands need to be less formal and more familiar. And the only way to do so is through understanding, applying and integrating culture. Human beings need and want the same things everywhere they are. It’s how they do it, that’s different. And that difference is what we refer to as nuance. The journey of finding those nuggets of observation and inspiration and getting different perspectives on them, is what makes every brief not difficult, but unique and interesting.
Within the region itself, there are so many details, which are different from one geography to the next. If everything looked and sounded the same, our industry would lose the one thing we still have going for us - that no two days are the same.
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF AWARDS
Could you tell us why do you think advertising awards matter so much?
They’re the oil to our engines.
Your take on this year’s Dubai Lynx..
Very interesting results, and great to see new faces sharing the stage with familiar ones. The work gets better each year in terms of freshness and simplicity.
The one award every creative or agency wants to win
As an overall package, it would be Cannes Lions. The breeze in the South of France always helps.
Your top three awards show?
Cannes Lions. The One Show. Dubai Lynx.
One of your favorite creative projects that you didn’t work on that was awarded at the Lynx and that you admire.
I enjoyed Whatsapp Oman from my friends at Leo Burnett. It was cultural and insightful. On a platform not leveraged enough. By a brand that belonged there. And as their National Telco, using their country as a landscape. All elements used brilliantly and in a simple way. But all in all, there were so much good work.
Could you name a recent project you are proud of and think deserve to be awarded.
I believe Heinz Upside-Down Bottle deserved to win much more than it did.
