Dubai Lynx 2015 – the story so far: Shingy, David Carson and why context matters

For me, never have those words rung more true than on this, my first trip to Dubai. Of course I had a preconceptions about UAE; I was expecting blistering heat, sand everywhere, glittering skyscrapers packed together and super cars driving down the streets.

Well, on Saturday temperatures were firmly in the ‘where’s my sweater?’ range, the sand was exactly where you’d expect it to be – on the beach – the skyscrapers I saw were separated by wide stretches of low-rise residential developments and while the super cars are roaringly present, they’ve got to share the road with saloon cars and taxis. The Dubai of my imagination isn’t wrong but it definitely lacked context.

The Dubai Lynx programme is packed with some impressive international names, exploring the festival’s theme ‘Create Tomorrow’. From Shing’s blast of the future that’s happening to us right now to Dentsu’s Nadya Kirillova sharing the ‘Sounds of Honda’ story, it certainly feels like some of the world’s top talent and the best of the local creative scene have gathered. According to some local creatives we spoke to, this festival is an important part of the industry calendar, as there aren’t that many regional platforms to share the best work and thinking.

Sitting in a packed room as the day went on, it was clear that the MENA region is wrestling with the same old questions we all are, in whatever part of the world we may sit: how can brands stay relevant and connected to consumers in today’s world? We all know by now that the prize doesn’t lie in just one tool or platform, it lies in dramatically changing the approach we take. For me, Shing put it beautifully and powerfully, urging us to "Dream digitally with the 'primary colours' of technology, content and distribution".

I keep referring to his talk as it seemed to encapsulate most of themes from many of the speakers – that we have the tools at our disposal to engage with consumers like never before, but we can’t leave the human experience behind. I’m here because Fitch's associate design director, Shaghig Anserlian, is on the programme talking about the Importance of Play. She reinforced that point in her presentation, demonstrating how brands can create rich experiences with consumers that drive loyalty and commercial value.

All of these messages hit home to us when we visited a development called The Beach later that evening. We encountered six towers, each with a digital screen. They contained cameras that allowed us to take a picture on the promenade and then email or post the photo to social accounts. How great is that? I don’t even have to search for my phone to capture a moment. We played with it for a little while, and the other stands had small clusters of people gathered round too. What a simple, generous thing for The Beach to do and it kept us lingering in the area rather than walking on through.

Unfortunately, the resulting email was disappointing – it contained the image along with a thank you message for using ‘Hills Media Pole’. It’s not a pole, to start with (I’m a pedant) – but what is Hills Media? Google tells me it’s an agency…what about The Beach? Where did you go? It feels like a missed opportunity for the brand when I’m feeling so warm towards the experience made possible by the brand and the memories connected to it. Context matters.

So here I am, living the point that Dubai Lynx speakers were making just a few hours earlier; here was the right use of technology, in the right location, providing the right experience. It’s a real shame the follow through was so lacking.

I’ll finish with a few words from graphic design icon David Carson, who rounded out the day with a look at his career. One of his slides will stay with me for a long time: ‘Don’t mistake legibility for communication’. Today’s over-riding message could paraphrase this: Don’t think because you use the right tools that you’re truly engaging with your audience. Make it meaningful.

Maeve O'Sullivan is global marketing manager at Fitch