When all brands celebrated Kuwait’s National Day with songs, dance and advertising that pushed an empty national rhetoric, we created “Kuwait’s Good Jealousy”- a fashion brand that spoke to young Kuwaitis whose dreams and aspirations for the country remain unfulfilled. Our approach created unprecedented media coverage and sparked a nation-wide conversation, with a member of the Royal family joining in on the conversation on social media and a call from a radio host to submit the ideas of young Kuwaiti’s to the Kuwaiti parliament.

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. We were asked to help with a brand action on 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. 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, 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 first phase was the launch of the microsite for young Kuwaitis to share their dreams and ideas two weeks before the National Day. With the help of social media influencers on Instagram, participation on the microsite exceeded all expectations. We grouped similar ideas together into broader categories such as music, film, sports, science, sustainability, etc.. and created brands, fashion and merch items out of them. We documented young Kuwaitis wearing the new “Kuwait’s Good Jealousy” fashion items and reached out to media outlets for increased coverage. Capitalizing on the social media success, we further amplified the campaign on one of Kuwait’s most prominent radio programs. Then, on the National Day we released a film that simply showcased the newly-created fashion items that represent the ideas and dreams of young Kuwaitis.

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.