Lingerie is all about sexy. Women. Curves. Passion. Love. And did we mention sexy? But hold your thoughts; this is lingerie in Saudi Arabia we’re talking about. Sexy is very definitely off the menu.
That’s not to say marketing lingerie can’t be creative just because you can’t flash the flesh; Dubai agency Pirana proved that with Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson’s lingerie brand, Bendon. Using fully typographic ads inciting married women to have affairs with their husbands, or to be the other women in their husbands’ lives, they sidestepped cultural – and legal – sensitivities.
Another Dubai-based agency played on the country’s infamous use of black markers for censorship. The practice is no longer as prevalent as it used to be in the UAE, but magazines were at one time filled with thick pen covering any bits of skin deemed too daring to show to the public.
A Tonic Communications campaign featured a model whose protruding breasts (thanks to the magic of the Wonderbra) are censored. But the inside joke proved too daring for Saudi Arabia, where Ogilvy Jeddah tried to use the tactic to sell Danish lingerie and swimwear brand Change.
Ogilvy used taglines like “Censor anything but the bikini,” and “Edit anything but the bra,” accompanying photos of a model wearing Change products with any skin apart from her face and hands censored with marker. The campaign never went ahead in Saudi Arabia, with the client deeming it too edgy for the Kingdom, despite having loved the concept.
“We couldn’t run it as an above-the-line or press piece, so we kept it as in-store posters,” says Mazen Hassan, creative director at Ogilvy Jeddah. “But we submitted it to several local and international blogs, and it was a huge success. Ladies used to e-mail me telling me they really liked it and that they thought it was really smart, because it bends the rules in an acceptable way.”
But the black marker joke proves a little lacklustre for Milos Ilic, executive creative director at TBWA/Raad in Dubai, which handles the Nayomi brand. “I think I did that, like, nine years ago for Galaxy chocolate, where the woman is so passionate about the chocolate that we had to censor it,” he says. “I think every agency in town has done it, so is it really that revolutionary? I don’t think so. Also, I think it’s a very narrow campaign idea. I don’t think it’s something you can go with for years and years.”
So what is TBWA/Raad doing for Nayomi – a Saudi brand established in 1992 – in its home country? “You know, the big thing for TBWA is disruption, so in our pitch material we really tried to disrupt the convention,” says Ilic. “I think many brands in the region have a similar problem; they’re so close to their product that they forget about the brand. So we tried to break it up a little bit, to create more about the world of Nayomi that is recognisable straight away, that you want to come back and discover. We managed to do a little bit of that, but perhaps not to the extent that we wanted to.”
TBWA/Raad pitched images of what they imagined to be the world of Nayomi for the Purity range of lingerie the manufacturer was promoting. Despite his efforts to give the brand a narrative, Ilic says the client did not go with the idea. “The client thought this was completely overboard, like, ‘Whoah!’” he says. “They wanted the product to be in focus. So it’s pretty commercial. It has a bit more story in there than usual, and we tried to give it more polish and gloss stylistically, but when it comes to brand narrative, it didn’t go really far unfortunately.”
Mark Pilkington, Nayomi brand director, says the Saudi market is governed by its own rules, which are in line with the more conservative culture, in comparison to other Gulf countries such as the UAE. “Nayomi is extremely conscious of the restrictions this market has, and as such follows diverse visual executions to abide by these,” he says. “For example, all Nayomi in-store images are only product related, however, advertising and online offers Nayomi the opportunity to share with their Saudi customers the visuals of women in Nayomi products, keeping in mind the restrictions of modesty.”
Both Pilkington and Ilic agree that online offers a new avenue for marketing lingerie. “With online penetration increasing among Saudi women, this avenue is something that Nayomi will be considering in the near future,” says Pilkington. Ilic says digital is a “fantastic” opportunity. “Customers could interact with the brand, immerse themselves in it. They could do wonders in Saudi with digital.” He identifies Diesel and Nike as models to aspire to when using the medium, with both brands building a narrative around their products. These companies engage the consumer, he says, with Diesel creating a brand “cult,” and marketing pages for men, women and children on NikeID, where customers can tailor-make their running shoes and save them in “myLocker.” With the Internet allowing for more creative freedom, digital could prove a highly effective bypass route for the Saudi advertising market.
As a creative director based in Jeddah, Hassan says he used to think he could get away with a lot of things before moving to Saudi Arabia, but now realises there are many limitations to work around. “Sometimes it’s frustrating, but overall, things can be done. It’s so limiting, especially on outdoor media. Print media is much more relaxed; if you browse through any female title, you can’t see nudity, but at least you’ll see female models. Stuff like what we did for Change, even if it doesn’t go into the mainstream media, pushes the envelope slightly, especially in the lingerie category where nobody is doing anything in Saudi. So you get noticed by default.”
Unfortunately, the advertising restrictions aren’t the only hindrance to lingerie retailers in the Kingdom. “What’s funny about lingerie in Saudi is that the sales people in the shops are guys,” says Hassan. “So to me that’s really contradictory.” It is a fact that most lingerie shops in Saudi Arabia are currently staffed by men, but change is in the air here too; women have launched a campaign to change the way underwear is sold in the country, and to convince companies to replace male staff with female shopkeepers.
One person who’ll surely be supporting the saleswoman campaign is Ilic, who thinks the controversy is “hilarious.” “That’s really cool man,” he says. “That’s really disruptive.”
It seems that little by little, the boundaries of censorship in the Kingdom are being pushed and prodded; by the digital revolution, by brave agencies and clients, and most importantly by the female consumers of Saudi Arabia themselves.