Area Brand Spends Entire Budget On Banner Nobody Reads
"It was very well placed," says marketing manager, gesturing at a wall behind the escalator. Banner has since been seen by 3 people and one cleaner, who liked the font.
Issue No. 01 · DubaiThe size issueAED 0.00 (free, like most good ideas)
We want to be the medium
for your
largeness.
A Dubai agency for brand activations, live events, entertainment marketing and the occasional skyscraper. You bring the brand. We find the biggest stage it fits on, then ask if there's a bigger one.
The MediumLarge Times
All the news that's fit to inflate · Dubai editionAgency Named MediumLarge Still Unable To Explain Name At Parties
"It's about scale," founder says for the ninth time this evening, as the guest edges toward the buffet.
Agency Asked To "Make It Go Viral" Nods Confidently, Googles "How" In Bathroom
Sources confirm the answer was "make something people actually want to film." Agency pretends it knew.
Study: 9 Out Of 10 People Don't Remember Your Leaflet. Tenth Is Your Mum.
Researchers confirm she kept it. It's on the fridge.
Agency Promises "Out Of The Box" Thinking, Spends Three Hours Choosing The Box
Team settles on a medium box. Founder asks if it comes in large.
Man Films Burj Khalifa Projection For Four Minutes, Shares It With 212 Contacts
Man's aunt in Kerala now "very well informed" about the launch. Agency responsible takes full credit, again.
Agency Writes 40-Page Strategy Deck; Best Idea Found On Slide 38
Slide 38 reads "Burj?" in a font no one approved. Team agrees it is the one.
"We Could Have Just Sent An Email," Admits Agency, Building A Stage Anyway
Stage is reportedly very good. Nobody misses the email.
By the numbers
Facts we're weirdly proud of.
828mHeight of the tallest screen we've booked. The Burj Khalifa. Yes, that one.
7Bollywood film campaigns run across the UAE, before we got into buildings
0Leaflets we're proud of
1Founder who refuses to say the word "small"
Tired
- A banner at the mall entrance
- A press release nobody opens
- "Let's boost the post"
- A launch with a ribbon and a big pair of scissors
Wired
- Your name on the world's tallest building
- A crowd filming it on 4,000 phones
- A beach full of people on your spin bikes
- A premiere the stars actually turn up to
A two-minute game
How well do you know yourself?
Six quick questions about your brand. You get a size, a self-awareness score and the medium that suits you. No email required.
Our own show
Dansation Arabia
The UAE dance platform we built for 6 to 21 year olds. Online duels, a live grand finale, international headline acts and a talent pool that brands can work with all year.
Work
Things we made large.
We also made some things medium. Those aren't here. Press play on any of these. Sound is on inside the player, so check whether you're in a meeting first.
From the archive
Box-office regulars.
Before the Burj, there was Bollywood. Film campaigns we ran across the UAE: star tours, screenings, club nights and mall takeovers. We were younger. The superstars were not.
| Film | When | What we did |
|---|
What we do
Good content can take any form.
We're here from the first idea to the last confetti cannon. Four mediums, one team, and a habit of saying "what if it were bigger?" that our accountant has asked us to stop.
Behind the scenes, we also do
Marketing strategyCreative positioningMedia planningDigital roadmapsPromotional toursContent & video productionSponsorship packagingPR & talent
Not sure which one you need?
Take our six-question test. It's quicker than a briefing meeting, and nobody will say "let's take this offline."
Now testing
MediumLarge Labs-ish
Where we test things that probably shouldn’t work. Most of them do. Ish. Brands and agencies: these are open for the first brave partner.
Testing
The Flying LED Carpet
It lies flat. It glows. Then it stands up and becomes a giant screen. Red carpets are so last season.
Try it on firstBuilding
Dansation Arabia, Season 2
Season 1 brought 1,200+ dancers to the stage. Season 2 is bigger, louder and looking for a title sponsor.
Sponsor Season 2
Ready to try
Phone to Screen
Scan a code, take a selfie, and see yourself on the big screen a few minutes later. Every fan becomes the poster.
Book a demo
Coming soon
12 Yards
A football challenge Dubai hasn’t seen yet. Details when we’ve stopped arguing about them.
Get early accessEverything in Labs-ish is in development. Formats, dates and details may change. That’s rather the point.
Coming soon
MediumLarge Merch-ish
Clothes for people who prefer MediumLarge. Small batch, few pieces, plenty of opinions. Want one? Get on the list and we’ll tell you first.
Coming soon
The Size Label Hoodie
Looks like a good hoodie from the front. The back tells everyone what size you are. Fits most ideas.
- Embroidered M/L chest label
- Size-tag print on the back
- Woven care label at the hem
Colour
Put me on the list
Coming soon
The Care Label Tee
Care instructions, printed where everyone can read them. Mainly: do not iron out the quirks.
- Embroidered M/L chest label
- Care-label print on the back
- In all three logo colours
Colour
Put me on the listPictures are mock-ups. The real ones will be softer.
A MediumLarge original
Dansation Arabia
Dance isn't only a performing art anymore. It's pop culture, and the talent is everywhere. Dansation Arabia finds it among the young and restless and gives it a stage. It's on its way to becoming the UAE's biggest dance platform.
6–21Age range, solo and group categories
4Emirates: Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain
1,200+Dancers in Season 2
175KYouTube views, Season 2
How the show works
- Phase 1RegisterDancers sign up on dansationarabia.com and upload a 60-second performance.
- Phase 2The duelEntries are shortlisted online. Every video lives on the YouTube channel and the website.
- Phase 3Pre-finaleTop 20 per category go head to head. Ten make it through.
- Phase 4Grand finaleA ticketed live night with international acts, a UAE twist on every routine and prizes.
Plus Dansanama: workshops with some of the biggest dance names from around the world.
For brands
Dance with us.
Sponsors get the event plus a talent pool for year-round brand videos and mall or retail activations. Co-branded features include Dance Video of the Day, Hot Stepper and Popular Choice.
Title sponsor
- Product integration
- TV sponsor tags
- Sponsored ads + 3 social contests
- Product placement and logo at the finale
Presenting sponsor
- Product integration
- TV sponsor tags
- Sponsored ads + 2 social contests
- Logo on all print
Associate sponsor
- TV sponsor tags
- Sponsored ads + 1 social contest
- Logo visibility on ground
The MediumLarge self-test
How well do you know yourself?
Six questions about your brand. Answer honestly. Nobody's watching. (We're watching a little.)
1 / 6
Tip: you can press 1–4 on your keyboard.
About
SmallMediumLarge
Why the name?
Because "Small" was never on the menu. We're the medium: the stage, the screen, the beach, the building. You're the large part. Our job is to put the two together where people will notice.
Also, every good domain name was taken.
We've been called many things. "Small" isn't one of them.
MediumLarge is a creative and experiential agency in Dubai, founded by Chetan Fernandes. We've run film campaigns for some of the biggest releases in Indian cinema, turned the Burj Khalifa into a screen for sport, aviation and Bollywood, and got a beach full of people on spin bikes at Kite Beach.
We're a tight team with a long contact list. That means you talk to the people doing the work, and the people doing the work know who to call. Sometimes it's us. Usually it's someone with a crane.
Chetan Fernandes, Founder & CEO
Bigger, not louder
Large isn't about volume. It's the moment people film, share and still mention next week. (We have, admittedly, also tried louder.)
Touch, feel, try
The best brand conversations still happen in person, one hand-off at a time. Nobody has ever hugged a banner ad.
Start at genesis
Bring us in at the idea. It's cheaper than bringing us in to fix it, and we're less smug about it.
The founder
ChetanFernandes
Two decades and then some in Dubai media. Built radio stations, made ads, rescued a few brands, then started an agency named after a T-shirt label.
Founder & CEO. Still can't do small. Has stopped trying.
- 2002Arabian Radio Network, DubaiHead of Programming, Head of Asian Stations, Group Programming Director, then COOLaunched radio stations for ARN and kept climbing until he ran out of titles. Dubai traffic has sounded better ever since.
- NextConcept MediaAdvertisingTried his hand at advertising. Discovered he preferred making the ad to arguing about the font.
- 2010105.4 Radio SpiceGroup Creative Director & Creative ConsultantWalked in, rebranded, reformatted and generally house-cleaned. Strategy for six stations at once. Brought his own broom.
- 2016MediumLargeFounder & CEOFounded in a moment of frenzied stupor. Has not recovered. Neither has the Burj Khalifa.
Talked shop at
NAB in London, Lisbon and Rome. Mostly at the coffee stand.
Favourite size
You already know.
Contact
Let's make it large.
We answer our phones. We know. It confuses people too.
- chetan@mediumlargegroup.com
- Mobile
- +971 50 634 3322
- Office
- +971 4 396 8384
- Find us
- Spider Business Centre, 19th Floor, Conrad Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
P.O. Box 7177