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An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and now an accusation for an accusation:

August 2005
Leo Burnett answers Intermarkets' copycat accusation with another copycat accusation
How often do two campaigns of the same product category end up having the exact headline and slogan? Well, too often in the Arab world, maybe not too often anywhere else in the world. But this is not enough to qualify it as copycat, especially when it comes down to basic concepts such as the one we are examining. 'Express' is the slogan of two campaigns: Syriatel in Syria and Al-Jawal in Saudi Arabia, launched simultaneously by Intermarkets in June 2001, and Leo Burnett in March 2005.

Even though Leo Burnett routinely checks the availability of headlines and slogans of its upcoming campaigns, however, the wide time gap between both campaigns made it difficult to catch. Asaad Douwaihi, regional creative director of Intermarkets' sister company Team Young & Rubicam, found it surprising because Syriatel's competing company, 94, is handled by Leo Burnett.

When chairman and COO of Leo Burnett- Middle East and North Africa, Farid Chehab, was asked about his reaction to the accusation he replied: "It is a pity to try to fight creativity to get market share with such a cheap accusation, especially, when the manager of this company has just copied the creative idea of Bouygues and its exact execution." Leo Burnett filed a new accusation against Intermarket's affiliated company Team Young & Rubicam for copying Bouygues's TV commercial for Mobili Telecom.

Questions and answers, accusations and defences; read through and be the judge.

ArabAd: When and where was the Saudi Telecom 'Express' campaign released? When did you start preparing for it?
Farid Chehab: It was prepared around November 2004, and released recently in March 2005.

AA: What was the main message you wanted to say about AL-Jawal, Saudi Telecom? Do you think it is a message that can be used by any telecommunication company?
FC: We found it very articulate to think of the word 'Express' in a campaign for Saudi Arabia, where the society is known to be hungry for expressions. We were very happy to find a theme that was very relevant to the aspirations of the Saudi Youth. At the same time, this was a commercial for Al-Jawal, which is known to address the younger generation, where the urge of expressing is even stronger. There is a subdued statement of a willingness to do things differently. So, it is like a call inviting people to get out of their cocoon. We did that respecting the Saudi culture. The proof is that this commercial achieved tremendous success in the market.

We tried to play with the word 'Express' in all possible ways. That is why we created, for this commercial, a totally fresh graphic treatment. A creative effort was put to match the introduction of the word 'Express' with its relevant context. We tried to visually give it a bigger dimension. So in all honesty, this is a totally new idea generated without any copying.

AA: What is your answer to the accusation of copying the 'Express' idea from Internarkets's Syriatel campaign?
FS: I am shocked that Intermarkets can come up with such an accusation especially that Intermarkets sister company, which is Team Young and Rubicam, has just copied, in the most unethical ways, the Bouygues telecommucation commercial for Mobili launch in Saudi Arabia.

When the head of a company wants to launch such accusations, he has to look at his own backyard and see what they are doing themselves. What is been done with Mobili and Bouygues is actually a rip-off. Intermarkets has copied the idea and execution of Bouygues. The whole advertising community was shocked by such an act. They picked up the effect of fragmented objects and replaced it with Mobili Logos. You see the same myriad of small cubes moving from one place to another. This, in my opinion, is a copycat. 'Express' is a concept that we executed completely differently. A copycat is when you pick up an idea and its execution in the exact same way and use it for your own brand.

AA: Did you take any preventive measures to make sure that this campaign had not been done before?
FS: Whenever we come up with a new line of copy we always check whether this line has been used by another brand, especially in the telecommunication world where things are so similar. We did our homework to check and I provided you with the proof. We did not find any communication company that is using the word 'Express' in 2004. That was surprising for me, because I had a hunch it existed. It is so basic. The simplicity of 'Express' is exactly what we wanted to tell the Saudi population, we checked it twice, to make sure that it was not done. When ArabAd came to me with the story I was amazed. We did our search again and found out that this was actually released in 2001.

AA: The campaign is based on the word 'Express'. Do you think using the same word is enough to judge an ad as a copycat?
FS: There is a lot of common words in the communication world and 'Express' is basic. Now knowing that there is another 'Express' I am disappointed, but not surprised.

AA: In your own words, can you prove why it is not a copycat?
FS: The execution of our campaign is totally innovative: Mixing titles and expressions. The titles are designed to reproduce the expression that we are talking about. When the scene is emotional, the super 'Express' is introduced tenderly, etc... so there was crafting in this commercial. We tried to play with the colours and give the commercial a certain treatment. That really exuded the youthful spirit and energy in the word 'Express'. It is a pity to try to fight creativity to get market share with such a cheap accusation, especially, when the manager of this company has just copied the creative idea of Bouygues and its exact execution.

AA: Would you like to add any closing remarks?
FS: I take this opportunity to tell Intermarkets that if they want to fight Leo Burnett, they need to start building a big dose of intellectual integrity and start investing in developing young creative talents the way Leo Burnet has been doing it for thirty years. We have trained and formed generations of creatives, who are all over the place in the advertising arena. My message to the others is that advertising is about teamwork, crushing your own ego, and especially it is about creating art before making money. Advertising is not a platform for building your own fame but the ones of your brands. That is what helped Leo Burnett becoming what it is.

Assad Douaihy answers

Syriatel 'Express' was launched in 2000-2001. The other mobile provider in Syria is 94. The agency behind 94 advertising is the same agency that launched 'Express' in Saudi for Al-Jawal.

'Express' was the heart and soul of the campaign in Syria. Surprisingly, Leo Burnett used the same slogans of the Syriatel campaign: 'Express your ideas', 'Express your ambitions', etc...

I am sure that the agency behind the 'pseudo-Express' campaign will succeed in 'promoting' its innocence. I hope it is just an accident keeping in mind that the product advertised is within the same category. They can say whatever they want but the facts are there.

By Hanadi Shehabeddine

© ArabAd 2005