Blogged by TONIC

Tonic Blog Moves to Wordpress

2011-03-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

We've recently relocated our blog to Tonicinternational.wordpress.com Not only will our blog take on a fresh new look, but our content will be overhauled a little too. We'll still bring you all the happenings from the Tonic world, but we'll also be bringing you interesting articles, opinions and views from our new offices in Singapore, South Africa and Cairo. See you on the other side)))

Absolut Vodka Tonic

2011-03-02T11:18:00.000-08:00

Ok, we couldn't help ourselves with the title))

For over 30 years, Absolut has collaborated with some of the greatest artists of our time, and today the Absolut Art Collection compromises more than 800 works. An exhibition is being held at Carbon 12 gallery, where some of the finest pieces are being displayed for the first time in Dubai. The event is also launching Absolut Articulation Art Competition, to give Dubai's creative community the chance to follow in the footsteps of artists like Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. Tonic was there in force and you can guarantee we'll be entering the competition to try and win that grand prize to Stockholm.

Design Indaba 2011 Cape Town

2011-02-27T04:28:00.001-08:00

This year we were lucky enough to take part in The Design Indaba 2011 at the Cape Town Convention Centre. Since 1995, the Design Indaba Conference has invited the world’s top creative minds to address professionals from the creative, corporate and educational sectors alike. Championing creativity that enhances every aspect of the world around us, Design Indaba recognizes graphic design, advertising, film, music, fashion design, industrial design, architecture, craft, visual art, new media, publishing, broadcasting and performing arts shoulder-to-shoulder.

For more info visit designindaba.com

Celebrating the year of the Wabbit

2011-02-21T09:23:00.000-08:00

Tonic Asia thanked their Singaporean clients in style to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Rabbit. Nicely designed bags, filled with goodies were hand delivered to each client. The little perks of working with an Agency like Tonic))

Happy Holidays from all at Tonic

2010-12-22T04:03:00.000-08:00

TDIC Abu Dhabi Art 2010 held at Emirates Palace

2010-12-22T03:59:00.000-08:00

After winning the creative pitch, our objectives were simple: develop a credible brand that could stand up and be counted on the modern art fair calendar. Our team delivered everything, from the brand identity development, brand activation, environmental branding, merchandising, collateral all the way to advertising. It was an incredibly manic and fun 4 months – we’re pretty sure we can now drive to Abu Dhabi and back in our sleep, which is what we often did!

Rolex Tower

2010-12-22T03:57:00.000-08:00

One of our most exciting wins this year was a new project from Ahmed Seddiqi and Sons and Rolex, which required us to create a distinguished urban address for the Rolex Tower on Sheikh Zayed Road. It included everything from positioning the brand, activation, photography and all ongoing communications. We are so proud of being involved with this project and the work we’ve produced. Now all we’d like for Christmas is that penthouse with the jacuzzi on the balcony!

Dubai Taxi 1 - iPhone 0

2010-12-21T00:49:00.001-08:00

After only having his iPhone for two weeks, Dario our Copywriter decided to find out if his phone was tough enough to withstand being driven over by a Dubai taxi. Needless to say, the iPhone lost. We have however restored the phone back to its original condition. It took a few spare parts and some DIY videos off YouTube to bring it back to life and it will probably fetch around 2k off Souk.com… any takers...

Tonic Animal Shelter

2010-12-21T00:32:00.000-08:00

It's not only humans that need some festive cheer this time of year… We decided to adopt a little kitten that has been living in a dumpster nearby. It took us week to find out whether it was a he or a she, so we still haven’t named the poor little thing. We also had a dog for a day. We found the little guy wondering around in the street. Fortunately he had some tags and we managed to reunite him with his owners. Having animals in the office really changes the dynamic of a workplace. It's as if these animals have the magic ability to dissolve away office stress.

Staff with heart

2010-12-21T00:30:00.000-08:00

Every year, MSF organizes a charity swim around the Burj AL Arab. Unfortunately most of us were stuck in bed with flu. A few brave souls from Tonic managed to drag themselves out of bed at 4:30am to lend a helping hand.

Tonic Singapore update

2010-12-21T00:04:00.000-08:00

Our office in Singapore is finally looking like an agency… signage and all. It's been quite a year for the little office, with quite a few new business wins to keep everyone busy well into 2011.

Tonicinternational.com goes live

2010-08-09T05:23:00.000-07:00

It has been months in the making, but our new improved super duper website - tonicinternational.com is finally cruising the world wide Interweb… well almost, there are still a few bugs in the system that we need to work out. Beautifully designed by Tonic Branding with the help of the guys at Indivirtual, the site is structured with simplicity in mind, which allows for fast and user-friendly browsing without compromising the valuable metadata. Feel free to let us know if you spot any mistakes or if you find things could be improved.

That's tonicinternational.com

Born on the 11th July

2010-08-09T05:13:00.000-07:00

Léopold Takeshi Timothé Verchère took his first breathe on the 11th July 2010. At the time of his birth, a total solar eclipse occurred over the southern Pacific Ocean. It was also the day that Spain defeated third-time finalists The Netherlands 1 – 0 after extra time in the World Cup Finals in South Africa. We're expecting a few other little ones shortly - The competition between the Frenchman and the Egyptian is heating up. Looking at their little broods, you'd think they were both going for a record or something...

The big Dog gets hitched

2010-08-09T05:10:00.000-07:00

Yes girls its true… Dogboy aka Rollan Rodriguez is no longer on the market. Our talented Art Director, recently tied the knot with the lovely Lou Jean. We wish them many, many years of happiness and hopefully we’ll soon see a few mini Rollans running around :)

New Business Wins

2010-08-09T05:02:00.001-07:00

It looks like the economy is on the up if we judge it by the new business we’ve won in the last few months - Abu Dhabi TV in May, Cussons in June, National Bank of Fujairah in July and Forever 21 in August for Tonic Communications. Rolex Tower in May and TDIC’s Abu Dhabi Art in June for Tonic Branding. Microsoft’s Windows Live for Tonic International Asia (Singapore). Pfizer Nutrition, Iffco, and Sinarline for Tonic Media. Enough work to keep us busy until the end of the year and beyond.

Shooting Lions in South Africa

2010-08-09T04:15:00.000-07:00

Working with animals is always difficult, working with a 200kg fully grown Lion is quite a challenge. With the help of two of the world’s best lion trainers and Clive Stewart’s well-trained eyes and quick reflexes, we managed to get every shot we were after. Wallace the lion is no stranger to the limelight. His father made his name in the 1980 film The Gods must be crazy and son Wallace has been in front of the camera many times. The trainers have trained 17 generations of lions and when it comes to looking after their animals, you won’t find a better run reserve than the one we shot on. It was also Khaled’s first trip to South Africa, but definitely not his last.

Waka Waka

2010-08-09T04:03:00.001-07:00

Ok, ok, we’ve been pretty slack updating our blog, but when you’ve had this much fun and worked this hard in the last few months you would forgive us. During June and July, while most of the world watched the World Cup on their flat screen, HD TVs or in crowded, smoke filled bars and clubs, we were there live :) Organising a shoot that could only have been produced in South Africa didn’t hurt either. Then again, I didn’t see the client complain when he received his semi-final tickets!

Tonic Wins UAE Young Lions Competition

2010-05-22T13:08:00.000-07:00

Congrats to our young ones for coming up tops in the UAE Young Lions held last week. Ashraf and Dario managed to come through with a pretty ‘tight’ ad for Helping Hands that will see them compete in June with the rest of the Young Lion winners from around the world in Cannes. To see how they do and for more details, visit Young Lions Competition.

Chuck Porter pays us a visit

2010-03-22T06:54:00.000-07:00

Chuck Porter from Crispin Porter Bogusky was recently in town to do a seminar at the Dubai Lynx Awards. He is without a doubt, one of the most influential minds in this industry and it was an honour having him in our agency. Having had close ties with CPB in the past through Burger King, it was really nice to have him share some of his wisdom with us and the Tonic team. It's amazing the effect a few words can have.

Burger King spots featured at Dubai Lynx

2010-03-22T01:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we've posted some TVC's on our blog. Wait no more. Our latest offering, 3 spots for Burger King that bring an emotional and pretty funny spin on "Have It Your Way". The spots are about two Saudi friends on holiday in the States. They're having burgers with two typical American girls and we follow their conversations. The spots were shot and produced in Beirut by Zoe and Directed by Chadi Younes.

Rainy Tuesday

2010-03-02T00:03:00.001-08:00

It doesn’t rain often in Dubai, but when it does, it pours down. It may dampen everything in its path, but certainly not the spirits of the average folk in Dubai. We took this pic opposite our office. When approached, the guy simply said he wanted to make it into the local paper. We might not be the National, but you read it here first :)

Tonic Asia launches Charles Worthington

2010-02-06T04:42:00.001-08:00

Our office in Singapore recently launched the Cussons brand of designer haircare products Charles Worthington. The event came to life in Ngee Ann City where the brand was repositioned as a lover of Asian hair. Tara Roux from Cussons was absolutely delighted with the launch saying that this is a big step forward for the brand in the region. I see Jef Tan from Tonic Asia seemed pretty excited too, but I think it had more to do with the male models than the launch itself :)

Tonic Asia finds a home

2010-02-06T04:39:00.000-08:00

Finally we can show you some pics from our new office in Singapore. Smack bang in the middle of the central business district on Pickering Street, Tonic Asia will service the South East Asian market as well as concentrate more on our online and marketing consultancy capabilities. We wish them every success for 2010 and beyond. In picture, Jef and Jean Tan.

High in Dubai

2010-01-17T06:12:00.000-08:00

This morning we did some aerial photography for Dubal. It was a great opportunity to see Dubai from the air. Although the weather wasn’t perfect, we managed to get some great shots. Ali Azami from Joy Films is the photographer hanging out the open door of the helicopter. The shots I’ve posted here, are the ones I took from a small digital camera.

Abu Dubai?

2010-01-11T00:18:00.001-08:00

It came as quite a surprise that the Burj Dubai was renamed Burj Khalifa, spare a thought for those poor souvenir sellers. There are those that will benefit from such a change. I just wish we were the branding agency in charge of rebranding all the signage – Ca ching!

Here's to 2010

2010-01-10T22:41:00.001-08:00

Ok, we've been a little slack updating the blog in the past few months, but with a new year comes a new sense of energy. I don't think we're the only ones happy to say goodbye to 2009 and hello to 2010. If the New Year parties we had are any indication of what type of year this will be, then bring it on!

Dennis and Emy sitting in a tree...

2009-10-21T01:04:00.000-07:00

A big congratulations goes out to our favourite Designer, Dennis Andrews (Bachelor of the year 2003), who secretly tied the knot this month to his long-time sweet heart Emy (I swear white doves just flew past my window). We don’t know whether to be happy or sad for Dennis, but we do wish them all the best in the future.

Night of 1000 Drawings

2009-10-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

We’ve always known that our employees have heart, but this year two of them, Renata Giovannoni and Rollan Rodriguez together with a few more volunteers have come together to form a non-profit collective called Legion DXB.

Their first order of business… a charity exhibition in honour of Gulf for Good, called Night of 1000 Drawings. The brief is simply "Draw anything, with anything, on anything A5". Drawings are then donated over the next month and will be sold for charity on the 24^th November at Art Sawa Gallery in Al Quoz. Mini doodling events where you can put your artistic skills to the test and submit your entry for the main exhibition, will be held at various locations around Dubai building up to the main event.

So grab your markers and join the fun at the next doodling event on Halloween called Doodle in the Dark to be held on the 31^st of October at The Jam Jar.

For more join Night of 1000 Drawings Group on Face Book or visit www.1000drawingsdubai.wordpress.com

Stuff Up

2009-10-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

When our own industry publications make mistakes like the one below, you know that journalism in this country is in a sad state of affairs. I’ve posted this one because it directly involves us, but occurrences like these are far too common. Even this story was placed right underneath a clarification from their last issue.

After this story was published, we received e-mails from around Dubai enquiring if Tonic and The Tribe had merged or if I had migrated to a new agency… As amusing as it is, mistakes like these could have dire consequences. It’s a good thing we have a sense of humour and a couple of tickets to The Killers concert in December courtesy of Media Week ;)

Another one bites the dust

2009-09-01T01:57:00.001-07:00

Its old news that many expats fled Dubai when the crisis started leaving behind enough abandoned vehicles to make some really awesome Transformers (sorry, just watched the movie last night). Some reports say that more than three thousand cars were left at the airport alone. I’m sure it’s more.

Even months later, I can’t help but laugh at some of the messages written on dusty abandoned vehicles. Here are a few of the better ones :)

Phishing in the Middle East

2009-09-01T01:15:00.001-07:00

Khaled received this phishing email asking him to “verify” his bank account details. We receive these e-mails on a regular basis, but this one was pretty bad. Even if this were sent to the dumbest person in Dubai, they would have noticed that the bank name was incorrectly spelled.

Well things change pretty quickly in this town, maybe Dubai has been renamed Dubia… who knows!

Vodka Tonic

2009-08-17T05:30:00.000-07:00

One of our friends decided on curing his summer boredom (in an inebriated state of course) by getting a cat and appropriately naming him Tonic. We though the name was in homage to the agency, but then we found out that his dog is named Vodka!

New Business Win - Dubai Golf

2009-08-17T03:28:00.000-07:00

In these difficult times, it's always good to announce a new win especially if it involves us spending time off work to take out our frustrations on a little white ball :) It was a hotly contested seven-way pitch (we always love a good challenge) which ended in us naturally taking care of all the creative, branding and digital work for Dubai Golf. It's a good thing the pitch wasn't decided on our handicaps.

Most ‘Pop’ Irritating Web ‘Pop’ Banner EVER!

2009-06-15T04:07:00.000-07:00

Don’t you ‘pop’ hate it when ‘pop’ you’re trying ‘pop’ to view a video on ‘pop’ YouTube or chat ‘pop’ to a friend on FaceBook ‘pop’ and your conversation ‘pop’ is interrupted by the most ‘pop’ annoying sound ever ‘pop’.

It’s annoying enough having to look at these crap banners on every page we visit, do we have to listen to them too!

Portfolio Night

2009-06-12T10:03:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, the first ihaveanidea Portfolio Night was held at the Ritz Carlton in Dubai. I was pleasantly surprised to see some very talented young students from around the region. Some of us were even fighting to get the details of an awesome Designer from Iran that would have put even the most senior Designers to shame.

ihaveanidea’s Portfolio Night is the largest simultaneous advertising portfolio review ever held in the world, featuring a uniquely designed portfolio review process in a “speed-dating” setting. The event helps students and aspiring young creatives around the world break into the ad industry by involving the top Creative Directors in each participating city.

For more info go to www.portfolionight.com

The Vendor Client relationship with a twist!

2009-06-03T05:13:00.000-07:00

We came across this video doing the rounds online. It's pretty sad how accurate it is. "We're not the Taco stand" seems to be a good response.

Tonic Branding

2009-05-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

Finally we can announce the launch of Tonic Branding. Although they’ve already been open for a few months, we just wanted to see if they could make some real money before saying anything :) Only joking. Seriously though, Stuart Harris and Scott Clephane have already managed to steal substantial business away from the big boys. Not only are these guys wizards at what they do, but they’ve added a new and exciting component to the Tonic Brand. If you really want your brand to stand out and you’re tired of the cookie cutter solutions offered by other agencies, then give Stuart or Scott a call.

Wyeth Shoot Cape Town

2009-05-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

We recently went to Cape Town to shoot our latest spot for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Between having my credit card details stolen, having our Camps Bay villa broken into and being robbed by the security guards hired to watch us, you would think we were shooting an ad for Vaseline. I know, I know, why go all the way to the tip of Africa to shoot an ad. Well, I think the pics speak for themselves. Thomas vowed that he would get a shot of Lawrence “the plumber” Jacomelli’s ummm assets, but he failed dismally. Maybe it’s a good thing.

A big Thank You must go out to Rudi and the guys and gals at Stillking Films for making this a very memorable production and delivering a well-produced spot.

Tonic Rocks

2009-05-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

Rock Me Leonardo Guitar Hero design competition.

Although we didn’t quite win (hats off to the Brand Union guys) I have to hand it to Rollan and his team on an awesome effort. The judges said that the Brownmonkeys/Tonic guitar was by far the most colourful and energetic of all the entries! The controller has been hand-painted back and front with this lively and humour-filled design based around a rocking devil. Damn cool if you ask me.

A Moment

2009-03-12T04:58:00.000-07:00

We were up till the early hours of the morning shooting some print ads for Burger King when we came across this sight on our way home. We took this photo from within The Lakes area with the moon setting over the Marina. We all lead pretty fast-paced lives here in Dubai and sometimes it's nice just to stop and enjoy little moments like these.

Eco-Status

2009-03-03T21:57:00.000-08:00

Around the world, being eco-conscious has become a status symbol for consumers, partly replacing traditional status symbols that are now associated with pollution, waste and excess. Two ECO-STATUS developments to watch: ECO-ICONIC (create an eye-catching green brand/product, advertise the hell out of it and make it very recognizable to the masses, which in turn makes it easy for buyers to get respect from strangers) and ECO-STATUS-STORIES (which involves providing buyers of little known/niche eco-brands with conversation starters and story details to make sure they’ll get a status fix from their peers).

www.trendwatching.com

Square Root Day

2009-03-03T13:55:00.000-08:00

Once a month, or pretty much, we get subjected to topical ads. You know mother’s day, pre-summer check-ups, back to school promos... I can’t stand them. I always thought they were a lame excuse for a brand who has nothing to say to its consumers but tries anyway. Now of course it can be done properly. I can't help thinking about how Coke took over Christmas or Hallmark invented Valentine’s Day.

Today however I heard on the radio something that topped ‘em all. Square Root day... Think... yes we are 3/3/09. Which means, as it occurs nine times per century we should all celebrate the fact that the day x the month = the year! Bath in the glory of Square root day and thank God it will not happen again until 4/4/16! Don’t forget your root beer for appropriate celebrations!

Burger King Open Late, Beware!

2009-02-25T00:36:00.000-08:00

Our latest offering to Burger King, comes in the form of these press and outdoor ads. We were asked to communicate that Burger King stays open until the wee hours of the morning. Thomas and Kris came up with the following campaign showing the villains of the night that we know all to well, enjoying their favourite meal after a umm night out. The ads were shot in South Africa and Dubai by French photographer Ben Dauchez and retouched by Thomas himself. A job well done! The series comprises of four ads which will run in press and outdoor.

Creative Director: Vincent Raffray
Art Director: Thomas Derouault
Copywriter: Kris Richardson
Photographer: Ben Dauchez

Nando’s Bus-ted by CID

2009-02-23T03:39:00.000-08:00

In the early hours of yesterday morning the police mistakenly confused the Nando’s Staff bus for an Israeli tank and promptly impounded it. It’s the military style design that seems to have upset them even though we received full RTA permission for the design to be used on the bus. Unfortunately the Nando’s staff, aka the Nando’s Commandos, will have to find their way to work using ordinary civilian vehicles.

Kill The Red With Croma Eye Drops

2009-02-18T04:37:00.000-08:00

Our latest campaign comes in the form of these three lovely little print ads (if I don’t say so myself :) for Croma Eye Drops. Communication for pharmaceutical products has never been easy due to the fact that there are so many restrictions attached and so many levels of approval to get through. It doesn’t mean that the work has to be boring.

Client: Croma Eye Drops
Creative Director: Vincent Raffray
Art Directors: Valerio Battagli And Thomas Derouault
Copywriter: Dario De Albuquerque
Photographer: Tejal Patni
Illustrator: Amin Faramarzian

Tonic Cairo - An Office With A View

2009-02-17T23:29:00.000-08:00

This could soon be the view from our new office in Cairo. OK, I admit it's been through a few Photoshop filters to remove the smog, but you know... Let's hope the Nile brings us the same creative energy we've had here in Dubai over the years. If you're keen to come up with award winning ideas while staring out the window at this view, then call Khaled now and all of this could be yours :)

Burger King Ambient Stamp

2009-02-16T03:34:00.000-08:00

Burger King wanted to communicate that they are open until 4am. We wanted to target those that were up that late – the partygoers. To do this, we simply modified the entrance stamps that partygoers usually get when entering a club. This was our attempt to jog the inebriated memories of those looking for a late night snack. Not only did we suggest Burger King as a possible destination, since they are open until 4am, but we also gave partygoers simple directions to follow (or to mumble/show to a taxi driver)

Dubai’s main traffic artery is Sheikh Zayed Road. Six lanes in both directions (with the Sea on one side and a desert on the other) that are broken down into 7 major intersections (Int 1, Int 2, etc). When you give directions in Dubai, you must give the closest intersection to exit or you will be unable to find your way. On our stamp, we’ve given the locations of the Burger King Restaurants located directly off of the individual intersections that were closest in proximity to the bar selected.

Good Stuff For Your Ears

2009-02-15T04:37:00.001-08:00

We’ve always been great admires of the guys at BKP and we use them regularly for the production of our radio ads. We were recently ask to come up with some ads for them and in true Tonic style, we created the following campaign. Art Directed by Thomas Derouault and photographed by Thomas Derouault and French photographer Ben Dauchez this campaign simply cannot be ignored.

Instead of using models, we used BKP's target audience - normal agency folk like you and I, not that there's anything normal about these people :) The following three ads are running in print and the last three will be used as posters.

Happy ummm Valentines Day

2009-02-15T04:16:00.000-08:00

Our anti-Valentine cherub is at it again (guess who didn’t get any roses this year :) If you remember we shared some of her Valentine cards on this blog last year. This year Renata sent the agency this image – her latest creation against the conformists.

Burger King Mural

2009-02-12T00:50:00.000-08:00

This is the new "Have It Your Way" Burger King digital mural. It's a towering 2.7m height x 8.4m length installed in the food area at the biggest mall in the world, Dubai Mall. It's a massive print sandwiched in acrylic panels.

We pushed the idea of pop art into functional visual communication, attracting new set of customers, fun and outgoing, preaching the "have it your way message." Lines like I cannot imagine myself without onions, I'm an extra cheese kind of guy.

The mural was designed by our resident Brownmonkey, Rollen AKA Dogboy

The Italian Stallion strikes again

2009-02-04T01:12:00.001-08:00

Some compromising photos of our resident Italian Stallion – Valerio have surfaced. It seems like Valerio was having a great time at last years Campaign party. Now we know who was responsible for opening all those poofs.

Panty Fetish

2009-02-04T00:46:00.001-08:00

There’s a rumor that one of our Art Directors who we cannot name… ah what the hell, it’s Valerio :) has been spotted around town collecting women’s underwear. We usually turn a blind eye to our employees strange little fetishes, but when he started bringing his umm habit to work, we had to say something. It turns out, that Valerio was actually working on a secret project that will be unveiled in all it’s glory in the days to come… so he says…

Spot the difference

2009-02-04T00:03:00.000-08:00

The Tribe (next door to us) recently came up with a really nice ad for themselves. The ad implies that because we're right next door to them, we steal their ideas. Please, we use the old award annuals for that :)

Anyway, this was our response a day later. See if you can spot the difference.

Gulf Finance Win

2009-02-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

Starting the year with a new piece of business is always a good thing especially if that year happens to be 2009. The pitch was for Gulf Finance and after sprinkling a little Tonic magic, we were appointed to manage their strategic corporate communication, all re-branding aspects and corporate PR.

New Campaigns

2009-02-03T23:44:00.001-08:00

While some companies have been moping around because of the financial crisis, we’ve been pretty busy in the past few weeks. Yes we’ve seen some budget cuts and have had some clients “disappear” over night, but that hasn’t stopped us coming up with ideas that were pretty inexpensive to produce thanks to the skills of our Designers and Art Directors. The first set of ads is for the Kids Park Zoo in Abu Dhabi created by the Rio Brothers Valerio and Dario. These simple executions show us that you can keep costs down and still create a memorable campaign that kids will love and remember.

We’ve used illustrations in the past for Burger King with our BK Joe campaign and it worked wonders. There’s a lot of freedom with illustrations that you don’t necessarily have with traditional photography and here is another example. These illustrations were beautifully created by Renata Giovannoni and the stories written by Kris Richardson. Full of fun, full of drama and perfect for the product on offer – the deliciously indulgent Burger King Chocolate Soufflé.

The new face of Tonic

2009-02-03T23:40:00.000-08:00

While everyone is retrenching staff left right and centre, we decided to do the same so that we could afford to hire this guy – Thomas Derouault. He has the style and grace of a giraffe and the personality of a rock star and he’s French (we can’t all be perfect) and last but not least, he’s a brilliant Art Director who has already worked his magic amongst our ranks. Thomas joins our Obama lookalike Copywriter Kris Richardson.

Gone, but not forgotten

2009-02-03T23:38:00.000-08:00

First of all, apologies for the state of our blog. A few weeks ago every image that was posted mysteriously vanished into thin air and it’s taken weeks to find most of them. We’re still missing quite a few and I fear to say that we may never get them back. But that’s ok, there’s no use dwelling in the past because it’s today and tomorrow the future that is important. Here’s to the new posts that will grace these electronic pages and may the fleas of a thousand camels infect the crotch of the person responsible for taking away our precious memories :)

Little Teo

2008-11-24T22:59:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, Arnaud managed to clone himself and this was the result, a healthy bundle of joy :) Little Teo was born just two days ago and we'd like to wish Arnaud and Lavinia all the best with their second child.

Apocalypse Now

2008-11-22T12:21:00.000-08:00

My Troops make me proud! Tonic completely annihilated the competition tonight at the AdNation Paintball Tournament :)

Thanks to "Fast" Dennis, "You-Won’t-Have-Time-To-Say" Arno, "Rabid" DogBoy, "Precision" Makram, "I’ll-Make-It-Personal" Andre, "Wondering" Kris, "Late" Haytham, umm Iya's husband and Iya as official cheerleader and professional photo-reporter... we won both legs of the elimination round. We are therefore in the 1/4 finals and more if we continue kicking ass the way we did with the Active’s and UM7’s.

You see, we're not just an award-winning, super-creative, ridiculously good looking agency!

For more info visit adnationme.com/adnation-paintball-tournament.html

It's Good to be Evil

2008-11-19T05:23:00.000-08:00

This week, Rollan aka Dogboy of the Brown Monkeys, launched Evil Wear. This is what he had to say:

“With the rising concern of too much commercialism and profiteering, we have to rethink and go back to the basics. Evil is not only a shirt or a tag. It's a concept. The Evil Symbol is a combination of two fun characters: Mickey Mouse (USA) and Modhesh (UAE). Highly regarded for their entertaining attributes but a great vehicle of commercialism. Probably that's what’s happening now in UAE. Too much has been publicized about everything, but in the end, its not too pretty at all. Everyone's complaining. Too much of everything is Evil.

I hope by wearing a shirt, I can share the propaganda. I call the owners of the shirt an "Evil Doer." Every owner will email me back a picture of them wearing the shirt holding a knife. I will blog this daily and post it on our website, creating a small "EVIL community". In the future, Limited edition will be printed, customized by designers and artists. As a result, we create a mini hysteria.”

So grab a T-shirt for only 90 bucks and say no to ummm profiteering :)

http://brownmonkeys.multiply.com/

All hail the King

2008-11-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

It’s not every day you get to spend an afternoon with royalty. That’s exactly how some lucky shoppers spend their afternoon at the opening of the newest Burger King restaurant in Dubai Mall. After walking about 5km around the mall you tend to work up an appetite and what better way to calm that hunger than with a triple Whopper served by his royal highness. Long live the King!

Tonic sees RED

2008-11-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

As far as I know, and I know, we are the first agency to shoot a TV commercial on the new RED Digital Cinema camera in the Gulf. Undoubtedly, this is the best camera we’ve ever used. As far as resolution, functionality and design go, this camera takes it to the next level. I really feel that using this camera has simplified the process, especially when it comes to off-line. Amongst some of the advantages, is that you can grade and edit on site and the resolution is so good, you can rack into a shot 5 times more than you could of on any other camera. These are just some of the advantages of using this amazing new camera.

As Scott Billups said on their site, "It's not that the RED is really that far ahead of the technological curve, it's just that everything else is so far behind."

We used the RED to shoot four new spots for Burger King with Zoe in Beirut. Currently the spots are in post-production, but they’ll soon be on our site and the blog once they’re done, so watch this space.

Tonic gets a taste of Riyadh

2008-11-05T05:03:00.000-08:00

It took about six trips to the Saudi consulate and a lot of umm paperwork, but they eventually decided to give me a visa. It's not on the top of my list of must see cities, but our trip to Riyadh to see our Burger King clients was a fruitful and an educational experience. Apart from visiting the first Burger King ever in the Middle East, we had the opportunity to see the sights and sounds of a city that many people misunderstand. BTW, if you're going to drive, get life insurance :)

Diwali

2008-10-30T05:44:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it’s already been a year since we last lit up the office in colourful fairy lights and candles. This year we only had candles because he who shall not be named, tripped over them and broke them. Everyone, give a round of applause to Valerio.

Tonic Wins Global Sama Account

2008-10-30T05:35:00.000-07:00

It has been one of the biggest pitches we have ever had, beating more than 60 agencies (five of which were networks) over a period of almost a year. This win adds a lot of credibility for us as an agency because it shows that we don’t just do work on international brands, but that we can work on a global brand that has international reach.

So how did we do it? The planners sent the creative’s a video of dolphins blowing air bubble rings. It was the perfect representation of the core idea for Sama: Given the ideal environment, you will flourish. Dolphins left alone to express themselves are a million times more creative than when asked to perform tricks devised by humans.

We are all pretty excited to dig our teeth into this one.

Culture Pub

2008-09-21T05:09:00.000-07:00

Sacre bleu! One of France’s top online advertising communities Culturepub.fr is showcasing our old Nando’s Ramadan spot. After two years, it’s still as popular as ever with more than a million views online!

BK Joe

2008-09-07T06:08:00.000-07:00

For those of you who actually read our blog and don't just look at the pretty pictures, you'll know that we recently won the Burger King Account. A lot of people have been wondering what we'll be doing for them - wonder no more. Here are some of the first bits of creative done on this really great account with a lot of awesome work to follow.

These will roll out in Print, as Posters and Tray Liners.

Creative Director - Vincent Raffray
Art Director - Diya Ajit
Copywriter - Kris Richardson

Mural Drawing Fools

2008-08-28T05:22:00.000-07:00

Our senior designer Rollan (aka Dogboy of The Brown Monkeys) and Art Director Diya (aka VJ *Chroma*) have teamed up with urban underground maestro Ubik (of Cliché magazine) to form the city's newest art collective : M.D.F (**Mural Drawing Fools**)- collaboratively conceiving and executing original contemporary wall art.

M.D.F has started getting commissions from the likes of The Jam Jar and Dubizzle.com and is currently producing 10 hip-hop inspired murals for local hip hop act Diligent Thought's latest music video- to be aired on MTV by the end of the year. As part of The Apartment Lounge & Club's new venture "Just Kidding"- a platform for art, music and fashion hosted at the club every Saturday, M.D.F did a live mural performance on a 2 metre x 1.2 metre sheet of reject construction material.

M.D.F is available for commissions and events. Email diajitt@gmail.com

Creatives at work

2008-07-08T02:08:00.000-07:00

For the Rio Brothers and Andre, it was their first time in deep dark Africa. OK, it was South Africa and it wasn’t that deep or dark, but it was a great experience and enjoyed by all. The project - a new spot for Samsung Mobile. The location – Johannesburg. I guess their prayers were answered...

Although it was a tight shoot (in more ways than one), the boys did enjoy some downtime at a nearby reserve.

The "No Fun" Diet

2008-06-25T05:03:00.000-07:00

The after lunch “purge” wasn’t working very well, so a few creative’s have taken it upon themselves to get into shape using the Tonic “No Fun” Diet. I doubt any of them will manage to stay on it very long because they’re all sitting next to Dogboy and he loves food about as much as he loves design. Anything edible seems to vanish in the vicinity of his desk.

Maybe they just want to be healthy or maybe they’re anticipating all the work we’ll be doing on Burger King, whatever it is, as a supportive agency we’ll be sure to keep them as far away from anything that tastes good for at least a day, after that, they're on their own. Wish them luck.

What happens in Cannes…

2008-06-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

This year we managed to rub shoulders with the best in the industry and get some serious “networking” done… ok, ok, we partied till the sun came up and went down again. We drank rosé like it was water and did a lot of things that I can’t really mention on this blog. But for those of you that made it a week to remember (you know who you are), thanks for the laughs, the fun and the memories and please allow us to reciprocate next time you’re in Dubai :)
The UAE and the region is just getting better and better, with a number of agencies shortlisted and a few winning Gold and Silver. The Film Gold and Titanium still eludes us though, but there’s always next year. 2009, here we come (Burp)...

Have a Tonic with your Burger

2008-06-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

After many weeks of pitching, a shit load of Whoppers and a couple of trips to the States, we can finally announce the news that Burger King Middle East has appointed us as their creative agency… who's your daddy :)

This is probably the first time in the region that a global blue-chip brand has moved it’s entire creative account to an independent agency and hopefully it won’t be the last. We won against four other network agencies after a pretty intense pitch that included two rounds of reviews from BK regional head office and key franchises, as well as a final validation from BK’s US brand agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky.

The decision by BK to give their account to us as an independent agency is a sure sign that the region is evolving. Regional marketers are beginning to realize the advantages of dealing with creative agencies that are producing daring and effective communication that finds its way into popular culture.

So soon, we’ll be entertaining you guys with some fresh, appetizing work made to order, the way only Tonic can deliver. Ok, too many puns, my bad.

Robotonic

2008-05-04T06:18:00.000-07:00

Rob Gibbs, one of our Designers, recently designed the first designer toy in the Middle East. Only 800 pieces of this Limited Edition toy will be produced. The robot will come in various colours - pink, blue, black, cream and orange. A collaboration version will also be made with Dubai’s Design Collective, The Brownmonkeys. This unique toy will be available online at Kidrobot and various other designer toy retailers.

To commemorate the Middle East's first designer toy, the plan is to send out 100 blank robots to local and international artists, designers, typographers and agencies who will customize their robot and send it back where they will be exhibited and auction off for charity. For more info contact robot@tonicdubai.com

Designed by Robotandspark, sculpted by Tweekhed in the UK.

Samsung Vivace

2008-05-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you that have worked with Korean clients before, you’ll know how difficult they can be sometimes. Our first job for Samsung was no exception. We were briefed to develop a campaign for their Vivace Air-conditioners. One of the key benefits of the AC Unit is that it can monitor your body temp while you sleep and adjust the temperature accordingly.

This spot is a step in the right direction and hopefully we can do better work for them in the future. The commercial was Directed by Alain Lambert and Produced by Zoe in Beirut.

A view from the top

2008-05-04T02:13:00.000-07:00

This amazing shot has been doing the rounds and it gives you a pretty good idea how high the Burj Dubai really is. It's currently the tallest man-made structure in the world and it's due for completion in September 2009 (so they say).

Ummm

2008-04-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

OK, ok after 4 Gold’s and a Bronze last year we were expected to do a lot better this year. I keep telling everyone that we were pitching hard to win new business, but know one seems to believe me, they just think we’ve run out of ideas. Watch this space and you’ll see what I mean.

At least we won something and our Clients Bafco and Bic should be proud of their Silver and Bronze Awards. All in all we had a great evening and this time next year, Tonic will be back on top - oh yes we will prevail… Congrats to JWT and FP7 for a job well done!

How we recruit Account Directors

2008-04-07T07:38:00.001-07:00

It’s not easy finding great Account Directors in these parts, so in preparation for the Dubai Lynx Awards, we made some fake Tonic business cards. In place of the name, it read ‘your name here’ and Account Director underneath. We handed these out to all the good looking people during the festival, but during the actual awards evening, as JWT was announced Agency of the year, we ambushed their celebrations by throwing some of our fake business cards their way.

The response surprised even us :)

Talking the talk

2008-04-07T07:20:00.000-07:00

This year Arnaud and I were invited by The Network One to speak at the Dubai Lynx Awards about all the fun we have being an Independent agency in The Middle East. In true Tonic style, Arnaud and I arrived a little unrehearsed to say the least, but we got our message across and judging by the laughter and the applause, our speech was well received. We hope our talk was a little inspiring if not entertaining. A big thanks to Julian Boulding from The Network One and everyone who attended the seminar.

Tonic Mascot

2008-03-18T01:40:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia describes the term Mascot as any person, animal or object thought to bring luck. And after the month we’ve just had, we have to thank Lucy (the unofficial Tonic Mascot) for sharing some good luck and good old fashion Labrador love around the agency. Lucy has been at the office for more than a week now and we are seriously considering making her an official employee. The other day she even growled at a client when he asked us to make his logo bigger.

Radio for Art Directors

2008-03-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

Recently, Tony Hertz was in the UAE doing his Radio for Art Directors workshop and if there's any place in the world that needs more help in producing better radio, it's Dubai. The workshop helps advertising agencies and clients alike find better ways of approaching radio advertising. I couldn't help feel though, that Tony was preaching to the converted. I wish there were more clients and stations in attendance. Never the less, it was an inspiring day and everyone left the workshop ready to produce the next award winning spot. I pulled the following ad off Tony's website. Enjoy.

For more info visit www.hertzradio.com

Do we have the hottest chicks in town or what?

2008-02-28T05:21:00.000-08:00

Not only are our designers pretty hot, they can also do some amazing things with a piece of string, some tennis balls and a litre of petrol. They've taken their act from Diera, to Jebel Ali and for a small fee, they'll even do some private shows. For bookings, please contact the office.

For a good cause

2008-02-12T03:19:00.000-08:00

We take a lot of things for granted especially our sense of sight. For those people that are visually impaired, there are some wonderful organisations like the Al Noor Association for the Blind that are willing to lend a hand.

Our goal was to raise as much awareness as possible for the Al Noor Association for the Blind. Sleeping masks with a message that said, “What if you could never take these off” were placed in Business Class sections of selected airlines. Sleeping masks, which are handed out during most flights, represent a perfect opportunity to communicate with an affluent target audience. When these masks are placed over the eyes, you can just imagine what life must be like for a visually impaired person. A simple idea with a very powerful message.

Many thanks to everyone involved in making this campaign a reality.

Please show your support by visiting www.alnoor4blind.org.om

Bic Campaign

2008-02-11T08:46:00.000-08:00

In true Tonic style and simplicity, we bring you our latest campaign – Bic. What a great brand and what a great client for allowing us to do work like this. If you say Bic to someone, immediately you think pens. After this campaign, people will know that Bic are more than just stationery. Carefully illustrated by Satwik Saraswati and Art Directed by Diya Ajit and Peter Walker, these ads give new meaning to simplicity. Visit www.bicworld.com for more details on Bic and their amazing range of products.

Animal rights and wrong

2008-02-11T08:18:00.000-08:00

Not only are we lucky enough to live in a place where the sun shines almost every day, but we also get the opportunity to brainstorm on the beach and that’s exactly where we were when we came across this cheetah. Yes a cheetah on the beach, in the water, on a lead – only in Dubai. My dog was crapping itself. She belongs to one of the Sheiks that live nearby and her handler was taking her for a walk. The locals often keep wild animals and as an animal loving, vegetable eating (well almost) South African, I had a few words to say to the handler. A beautiful animal like this deserves to be running free in the bush chasing gazelles and climbing trees. It shouldn’t be someone’s play toy attracting attention on a public beach.

Fresh Stock

2008-02-03T10:34:00.000-08:00

Finally a Middle East stock library that we can all use without having to stick needles in our eyes. A lot of thought has gone into the production of these images and for this region, it’s a breath of fresh air.

DarylStock is an image library focusing solely on the needs of the region and was passionately created by Dubai based photographer Daryl Patni. Over the years of shooting, Daryl noticed that local image libraries were basically crap and he
wanted to change all that by offering quality images. We think he’s made a good start.

Visit darylstock.com and check out the site.

What if... Instead of pitching for clients we asked them to pitch for us?

2008-01-27T23:47:00.000-08:00

What would we ask? Is it really too arrogant? After all they do it all the time...even the most pathetic excuse for a client will dare ask 15 agencies to compete??? sometimes I wonder.

It’s not a joke, we are actually seriously considering asking clients to pitch for Tonic. Especially property clients who out number agencies 4 to 1 in this town. It could go like this:

Send us the CV of the people who will judge and approve our work? We want a full organisation chart. Referrals would be much appreciated.
What is your agency background? List the last three agencies you have worked with and the reasons the relationship ended?
Why do you contact us and the other agencies on your short (hopefully)-list?
What is the favourite campaign you have seen from us? The one you hate the most? Why? Please no less than 150 words per campaign, and no less than 3 per category.
Do you think you can buy the work we will send your way?
If you could work with any agency around the world, who would it be? Why do you think they would work with you?
How much do you think you will have to throw at us to make us swallow our creative integrity?
How much do you intend to spend in media, production, agency fees? What research model do you use to justify the breakdown?
What are the criteria you will use to judge / evaluate / consider / dismiss our work?
What remuneration principle do you recommend?

You might be laughing but wait until we start implementing this. In a town where every Tom, Dick and Harry thinks he can call an agency and have it begging to entertain him, it’s not so far-fetched a possibility.

Maybe it is time, we either introduce a pitch fee, like in any other developed market... or we introduce a client pitch concept.

What do you think?

A good dose of inspiration from Crispin Porter and Bogusky

2008-01-23T22:15:00.000-08:00

There’s nothing like starting the new year with a little inspiration. And for me at least there’s no better inspiration than visiting what I think is the best agency on the planet: Crispin Porter + Bogusky. If you don’t know them, they are the guys who reinvented Burger King, launched the Mini and VA in the US, made millions stop smoking with the Truth and all this out of Miami.

So while I was on holidays in El Salvador, I decided to hop onto a plane and accept Chuck Porter’s invitation to drop by. I first circled around their office feeling the vibe. The kitsch pink flamingo fountain on one end and the giraffe trying to French kiss a horse on the other where good signs. Yet they did not prepare me for the gentle and humble attitude I found in CP+B. I guess these guys are so good they just don’t care about false airs of grandeur anymore, they are just chilled, polite and fun to be with. Mr. Porter was a pleasure to talk to and I almost wet myself when he said he liked our work. I only spent 90 minutes with him but this is going to stay with me until I am 90. Although he kept saying that they were only a small agency, I could not help thinking that I was in one of the biggest creative centres of the world. If they call themselves small...who the hell are we...

A few lessons for all of you aspiring to greatness out there: when you get there, don’t forget where you came from. This way I guess you can continue growing with the things that got you there in the first place.

Enjoy the pics from a humbled planner.

Posted by Arnaud Verchere

New Bafco Campaign for 2008

2008-01-23T22:05:00.000-08:00

Finally a new campaign for 2008 worth posting. We've been so busy working on property clients that we're going a little crazy (ok, maybe alot crazy). Anyway, Bafco have always given us creative leeway and this year was no exception. This was a campaign that we wrote and rewrote because we never knew where to draw the line. Here are the first three ads, there might be more depending on how well they are received. All pics were shot by Peter Walker and the styling, props and locations were provided by Nadia Marto from Production Planning Solutions in Dubai.

This is Elliot. He still lives with his mother. This is his car. This is his best friend. His idea of fun. How he spends most of his evenings. And this is his job. The only thing that stops Elliot from putting a bullet through his middle-aged balding head is coming to work everyday where he can be more productive in his ergonomically designed office chair and feel like a real player.

Copywriters Wanted

2008-01-09T12:42:00.000-08:00

Tonic's first ad of 2008 is a follow up to our much-loved or much-hated but much-responded "Apple core logo Art Director Wanted” ad. This time we’re looking for copywriters. Borrowed from a clever wordplay, we thought this simple sign would make a great recruitment ad for writers.

If you’re scratching your head thinking WTF, read each word carefully :) If you got the ad immediately, send us your book.

The UAE is one of the most awarded countries in the world

2008-01-09T04:58:00.000-08:00

I just arrived back to work fresher than ever, thanks to a solid holiday and after opening up all the mail stacked on my desk and taking care of all those unanswered e-mails I took a brake to read the 2007 Gunn Report.

Although we narrowly missed being listed as one of the top 45 advertising agencies worldwide for our wins on Nando’s, Sony and Wonderbra, I did notice that the UAE made its début in the top 20 award winning countries – Only three below South Africa. Who would have thought.

The Gunn Report is the only independent report on creativity for the advertising world. It is based on a very simple idea. It combines the winners' lists from all of the major advertising award contests in the world - national, regional and global.

For more info, visit gunnreport.com

Clouds in Dubai

2007-12-08T23:47:00.000-08:00

Some people say we have our heads in the clouds, and at the moment, nothing could be further from the truth. All over the world, others take these fluffy white objects for granted, not us. Here in Dubai, a cloudy sky is rare indeed and when days like this arrive, all we feel like doing is lying on the beach and watching the clouds drift by.

Practicing what we preach

2007-12-05T05:42:00.000-08:00

We at Tonic believe that ethics is the best way to succeed in our advertising world and we serve our clients with a lot of passion because we love what we do.

A leading shipment company , one of our biggest clients, or should I rather say x-clients, is no longer with us because we had an incident that involved ethical behavior. We just stopped working with them. The client was basically rude and abusive with one of our colleagues. We therefore decided to stop all the plans that were approved for 2008.

We care and respect each other at Tonic and don’t tolerate any behavior that mess with our dignities as human beings.

Trends

2007-11-27T00:51:00.001-08:00

We’re often asked to do barter deals with some of our suppliers. Obviously budgets are small, but sometimes you can do some cool work. This spot for Trends Magazine had to be dead simple – some people have said too simple, but I think it works well and it will get noticed.

The print ad was shot by Tommy Morris and the TV spot was digitally done by Modelcraft.

Excuse the low res quality

Magic Energy

2007-11-26T23:34:00.000-08:00

These are two spots from a campaign of ads we recently shot for Magic Energy Drink.

The spots were produced by Commercials in Istanbul, Directed by Olaf van Gerwen and Art Directed by Diya Ajit. The titles were done by Greg Meeks from Flic, South Africa and the music and sound design were done by MassiveMusic, Amsterdam.

I think they turned out really nicely and they’ll do the job. Shooting in Istanbul was a great experience. The crew and production were good, but they fell a little short in their post. Maybe our miniscule budget had something to do with it.

Dogboy for Tonic

2007-11-26T00:23:00.001-08:00

Our latest addition to Tonic, Rollan Rodriguez aka Dogboy is known for the prolificness of his work. Abstract expressionist, pop-artist, sometimes musician and sometimes a film maker. His influences are deeply rooted from early childhood daily cartoon characters to the great visual artists. His work is described as ubiquitous as it is, in your face. Found objects, demented photos, carton boxes, felt-tip pen, packing tape and paint are the weapon of choice. Though he is a slave worker at design studios and advertising agencies, his romance with his art and self-expression are still at large. He believes that he was a war robot of the 1920's at his early life.

He is a co-founder of the Brownmonkeys, a design collective based in Dubai. They consist of graphic designers, illustrators, painters, musicians, photographers and videographers. Brownmonkeys believe in the idea "creativity without borders". On a lighter side, they believe Astroboy can save the world; they believe in the power of monsters, robots and Apple computers.

Respect

Check out their work at www.brownmonkeys.com

Jam Jar

2007-10-23T01:09:00.000-07:00

Diya, Fionn, Pete and Renata decided to venture off to The Jam Jar to do a
little creative expression OUTSIDE of the agency.The Jam Jar is a painting
studio where you are provided with a choice of various sized canvases, an
easel, paint, brushes and even a little music to help get the creative
juices flowing.

Diya had a vision of exactly what she was going to paint. "A mish-mash of
swirling grey forms"

Pete painted about 5 versions on top of eachother but eventually settled on
this master'peace' He describes it as "Depressing but hopeful" Blue skies up
ahead if you will...

Fionn did what he describes as "The Bumble-Bee Vagina" err...it was meant to
be a shell but it's new evolution was way more entertaining.

Renata painted some sort of emotional explosion of heartache and sorrow.
Painting titled "Everyday I Get Better"
hehe...some serious issues underlying there somewhere...;)

All in all it was a fabulous bonding session for the creative minds at
Tonic.

Designers and Art Directors Wanted

2007-09-25T07:50:00.000-07:00

It's not often that we get to do ads for ourselves and when we do, it's often done in a rush. Here was our attempt to get Designers and Art Directors to send in their portfolios. The ad was put up on adsoftheworld.com last week and since then we have had about 300 respondents.

If any client's are reading this, notice how big we've done our logo ;)

In the spirit of Ramadan

2007-09-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

Music has the power to connect people, inspire, motivate, uplift and empower. At a recent visit to Sparrow Rainbow village, music began to fill a once empty room and the smiling faces of children, some as young as five began jiving to the beat of local South African hip hop and house music shadowing the reason which brought them all together to start off with, HIV/AIDS.

On a recent Velocity shoot for Sony with director Jeana Theron, Sony donated the incredible sound system used in the shoot and Velocity chose the Sparrow Rainbow Village as its beneficiary.

Sparrow rainbow village is the only HIV/AIDS dedicated hospice care-facility on the West rand of Johannesburg (South Africa). Through housing, education, training and counseling the Village cares for over 350 men, women and children who have been diagnosed with or directly affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The construction of a hall to be used for music, song and dance initiatives has recently been completed. The hall boasts drum kits, a full compliment of instruments for a marimba band, and guitars. The Villages’ motto is “Get up and live” and this is exactly what happened as the Sony Hi-Fi was plugged in and turned up to full blast.

Dawn Bell, Head of Fundraising and PR at Sparrow Rainbow Ministries was overjoyed and said, “the Sony Hi-Fi could not have come at a better time. It would be used in the official opening of the Music hall and later used for teaching dance and used in various Sparrow rainbow village initiatives.” The Hi-Fi apart from being a gift would go a long way to bringing joy into the lives of the adults and children at Sparrow Rainbow Village and was the perfect way to help inspire and uplift the children who face a difficult life each and every day.”

Thanks to Client: Sony Gulf FZE, Agency: Tonic communications, Dubai and Production Company Velocity Films, South Africa for an amazing end to a great shoot.

For further information or much needed aid:
Sparrow Village
Tel (011) 472-6628
Fax (011) 672-1000
E-mail : shospice@metroweb.co.za
Website : http://www.sparrowvillage.co.za/
004-335 NPO

AWOL

2007-09-10T04:18:00.000-07:00

It’s not often that we go on holiday (because we love our jobs so much), but recently quite a few of us went on leave. Tonicians were spread on nearly every continent on earth and some weren’t even on this planet ;)

I love you not

2007-09-06T08:53:00.001-07:00

We’re months away from Valentines Day, but there’s always some relationship drama in the agency. I thought these unique cards conceived and designed by Renata, our new creative soul, are brilliant. She wrote all the lines herself and hand painted each card in watercolours (I’d love to know where she got her inspiration from). I’m sure you’ll find them stocked at Magrudy’s pretty soon.