Aurora Magazine

Promoting excellence in advertising

A Few of my Favourite Things

Published in May-Jun 2015

The Creative Head of Pirana shares his favourite ads.

1) Wi-tribe’s ‘Horror film’

Category: TVC

Let’s face it; with so much run-of-the-mill and voiceover-enriched advertising on TV, this commercial catches your attention instantly. An interesting horror storytelling, reasonable execution and a fascinating way to showcase the product benefit. It definitely catches your eye.

Agency: Synergy Advertising, Pakistan


Bakeri Nankhatai

Category: Packaging

This is my favourite conceptual packaging design. With plenty of research beforehand, the design intelligently showcases the rich heritage of the Mughal era, from where these biscuits have their roots. This is a perfect example of a copywriter and an art director working closely as a team, which should always be the case.

Agency: Spectrum Y&R, Pakistan


Star Sports’ India versus Pakistan

Category: TVC

Wow! Loved it. Patriotic though I may be, this idea was spot-on. Targeted at an Indian audience, it picks on a sensitive topic for Pakistanis and a delight for the Indians. What I love about this was it can have a follow up campaign in the next World Cup based on the same messaging – replace the last scene and you are done.

Agency: Star Sports’ inhouse agency, India


MCB Home Remittance

Category: Print

Most home remittance communication is based on monuments. This one breaks the clutter and instead of showing buildings and monuments, it shows our local bus in a western setting with a caption that sums it all up.

Agency: The D’Hamidi Partnership, Pakistan


DIB Dubai Lounge Priority Banking

Category: Print

One of those situations where the copy is visual-driven, I asked my art director to ‘visualise’ the idea and let the caption come after. He cracked the visual based on the product offering. I saw the visual and the first caption that came to mind was the one above. What I loved about this was it came out brutally simple (kudos to the art director), and the visual and copy showcased the brand Dubai Lounge (somewhat) intelligently.

Agency: Pirana, Pakistan





ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Category: Digital

A simple, unique and memorable idea that became a viral success. I think great advertising makes people act, move and think – and this is precisely what this campaign achieved.

Agency: N/A


UNICEF World Food Day

Category: Print

Brilliant visual idea! You don’t need copy to explain the idea, the visual does the talking. The execution is great and the message is delivered. Period.

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Switzerland




Hussain Shafiq is Creative Head, Pirana. hussain@piranagroup.com