February 25th - Kuwait’s National day - is the Super Bowl of advertising in Kuwait. Every year brands celebrate love for Kuwait through songs, dance and advertising that pushes an empty sense of national sentiment. In 2022, Ooredoo, Kuwait’s largest telecom operator, wanted to break this yearly repetitive cycle of advertising, which Kuwaiti youth –in particular– have grown tired of. In addition, Ooredoo sought to reach young Gen Z Kuwaitis, a demographic among which the brand is losing relevance. Our goal was to create a campaign for Kuwait’s National Day that steers away from empty national rhetoric and that touches the hearts and minds of young Kuwaitis.

Young Kuwaitis look around them and find neighboring countries excelling globally, while Kuwait lags behind. Here is the hard truth: They are jealous. But it’s not any kind of jealousy. It’s a ‘Good Jealousy’ that makes you want to dream big. We introduced “Kuwait’s Good Jealousy”, the first fashion brand that depicts the dreams and aspirations of young Kuwaitis. Through a microsite, we asked Kuwaiti GenZers to submit their ideas for their country, which we then re-imagined and designed as brands, each with its own visual identity and all under the umbrella of “Kuwait’s Good Jealousy”. Using these newly-created brand ideas, we designed merch, including T-shirts, hoodies, caps and more, which could be ordered online. On Kuwait’s National Day we simply released a film showcasing young Kuwaitis presenting their own dreams and aspirations for their country.

To truly speak to Gen Z Kuwaitis traditional top-down advertising was not going to cut it. We had to understand their frustrations and aspirations.

Quick background: Kuwait used to be the center of arts, culture, and sports in the Gulf. It was even referred to as the “Hollywood of the Gulf”, while Kuwait’s national football team was the first ever to qualify to the World Cup in 1982. Yet today, young Kuwaitis look around them and find neighboring countries in the Gulf excelling on the world stage: Qatar hosting the World Cup, Dubai hosting the 2020 Expo, Saudi Arabia launching the Red Sea Film Festival. Through social listening on Twitter and Instagram it was clear young Kuwaitis are jealous.

Instead of another advertising campaign celebrating Kuwait’s National day, we followed a bottom-up process asking Kuwaiti youth to submit their own aspirations for the country, which we turned into fashion items.

The starting point was to give GenZers the mic. Two weeks before Kuwait’s National day, we created the microsite kuwaitgoodjealousy.ooredoo.com.kw for young Kuwaitis to share their dreams. We received endless entries. From young sports lovers wanting Kuwait to host its own Tennis Open, or racing tournament, to arts and entertainment fans who want Kuwait to become a film and music hub, and even young future scientists whose dreams range from having the best science and technology institute, to Kuwait’s own NASA. We then grouped similar ideas together into broader categories such as music, film, theater, sports, science, sustainability, etc.. and created brands out of them–each with its own logo and visual identity. We then turned these brands into fashion items and merch that could be bought online. On Kuwait’s National Day, we simply released a film showcasing young Kuwaitis as they expressed their own ideas and dreams for their country.

Participation on the microsite exceeded all expectations. We received hundreds of entries on the website. The merch we created sold out instantly. From Hoodies, t-shirts, caps, to even baby wear, we sold over 16K merch items. We saw an increase in Social Engagement by 350% and Media Impressions exceeded 25M+. Beyond the brand, “Kuwait’s Good Jealousy” started debates on social media about the future of Kuwait and how to harness the beautiful energy of a new generation of young Kuwaitis who are jealous for their country. When a member of Kuwait's royal family joined in on the conversation on social media, more discussions were sparked raising the brand positive sentiment by 96%. “Kuwait’s Good Jealousy” was covered extensively by 50+ media outlets, with one radio host even calling for the ideas and dreams of young Kuwaitis to be submitted to the parliament. A call we intend to follow through.