The last day of the year saw an exciting new start for Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR). On December 31, the first full journey of the high-speed train connecting the two great Holy sites of Medina and Mecca over 450km.

High-profile passengers travelling on this inaugural journey included President-designate of the Saudi Railway Organization Dr. Rumaih Al-Rumaih (the head of the public transport authority), Spanish Ambassador Alvaro Iranzo, the chief executive of SAR, Dr. Bashar Al-Malik, and other national leaders contributing to the project.

One of the nation’s mega public transportation projects linking the two Holy Mosques of Makkah and Madinah, it is a key strategic infrastructure for the nation’s 2030 vision.

The Aeron team were instrumental in creating the SAR brand as a symbol of national pride in 2013; conducting Brand Research & Analysis, developing the Brand Strategy, Brand Narrative & Verbal Identity, Brand Journey & Brand Interaction, Brand Corporate Design, Brand Digital Design & Management, Brand Communication & Content, and Brand Environments. We produced a mini documentary series for SAR, when it launched in 2013:

Source: Arab News

MATTHEW MILLARD-BEER

After over three decades, cinemas are returning to Saudi Arabia. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s latest social reform brings great excitement to many whom, until now, had to leave the country to catch the latest Hollywood blockbuster or Bollywood epic.

The announcement comes shortly after the conclusion of the 14th Dubai International Film Festival, timely considering Dubai is the region’s film and media capital. In 2012, Prince Abdulaziz bin Ayyaf, the mayor of Riyadh, revealed to The National newspaper that around 230,000 tourists visited the UAE from Saudi just to attend the cinema.

With the first cinemas due to open in March 2018, the Government is expecting to build over 300 cinemas – with over 2,000 screens – by 2030.

“Opening cinemas will act as a catalyst for economic growth and diversification,” said Minister of Culture and Information Awwad bin Saleh Alawwad. “By developing the broader cultural sector we will create new employment and training opportunities, as well as enriching the Kingdom’s entertainment options.”

A recent study by Kantar Insights showed that 80 percent of KSA residents were in favour of the change, with 67 percent intending to visit the cinemas. The progressive move has been hailed by the country’s youthful population and keeps the Kingdom in sight of the ambitious Vision 2030 plan.

Stephen Hillebrand, CEO Kantar Insights, MENAP said, “There are few markets in the world at the moment as dynamic and fast moving as KSA. The speed of change is unprecedented, and the compound effect of the changes makes for a fascinating time in assessing the impact on both citizen beliefs and consumer behaviors.”

The announcement is also likely to excite brands and advertisers, as it will open up huge new opportunities for consumer and engagement and participation. While there may be some resistance to the plans, it is expected that the new cinemas will encourage visitors to the Malls where they will be situated, increasing customer flow around shops as well providing brand communication potential.

Despite the lack of Cinemas, the Saudi Film Festival was held earlier this year in Dahran

CONTEXT:

Advance Electronics Company or AEC is a Saudi company that specializes in advanced electronics research and manufacturing for defense, communication, energy, security IT and health IT.

AEC’s Marhaba program which is run by its Human Resources Department is an employee induction program to assist a new hire during its first 3 months of employment in the familiarization of the company’s general policies, in an employee’s respective department’s policies and workflow and in getting the proper briefings and trainings the employee would need to perform his duties and responsibilities according to AEC’s standards.

AEC’s HR Department provides all new hires with a Marhaba kit which contains the induction manual and other branded gifts like pen and usb flash memory stick.

AEC hired Charisma to redesign the Marhaba kit to give it a more updated look.

AMBITION:

Create an updated design that as per the client brief, would appeal to a younger audience.

ACTION:

Using the puzzle as an analogy, Charisma developed a theme for the brochure. In the same way that each piece of the puzzle, distinctive in color and shape in itself from the other pieces but when put together with the other pieces, it completes the picture is the analogy that each employee is unique with his/her own skills and characteristics but nevertheless contributes to the wellbeing of the company.

Charisma, for this theme that used vibrant colours, infographics and images that brings to life the concept of puzzle.

RESULT:

The design was well-received by the new employees and the management alike

CONTEXT:
Ajwad is a Makkah-based real estate company that specialises in residential complex and land development projects. With a new property in Madinah, a 48-villa townhouse complex, that was near completion, Ajwad hired us to develop a concept and create a design for a brochure that would showcase the property’s specifications and highlight its benefits. For this property, Ajwad’s target market is affluent retirees. The property is being sold as retirement homes.

The location of this property, Madinah City is known as the city of gentle people. It is a historical city, where many significant events took place and a host to one of Islam’s holiest site, the Prophet’s Mosque, thus a major Islam’s pilgrim destination.

AMBITION:
The main objective is to develop a concept that relates to retirees and convey a picture of serenity, of a well-deserved retirement home, highlighting comfort, contemporary architecture, accessibility and space flexibility for customisation in terms of interior decoration; all of these in addition to and supporting it’s main selling point: it’s a prime location in the city of Madinah.

ACTION:

To convey the message that it is a place where new memories can be made, We named the property “Memories” and developed the tagline “Building memories made to last”. The first few pages of the brochure were allotted for Ajwad’s profile, Madinah’s profile and the “Memories” concept.

For the cover, we placed a die-cut of the repeated tagline to convey transparency (what you see is what you get) and ‘seeing through’ a bright future awaiting inside the pages.

For the floor plan, we meticulously selected images of furniture and other decorative elements to help the target audience visualise the different spaces in the villa.

RESULT:

The concept and design enabled the client, Ajwad Real Estate, to communicate the idea that more than just selling properties, they are selling dreams and they are selling a lifestyle.