Expat live-in domestic workers are employed in many homes in the Middle East, but their room is rarely considered by the home furniture and furnishing category. Leo Burnett Dubai and furniture retailer, Home Box, asked 329 domestic workers about their favourite place in the homes in which they work. Out of all the places they spoke about, one space remained unmentioned, their own room. It was always “the hidden room”.
Many domestic workers are employed in towering skyscrapers and big villas, but their rooms remain very small spaces – typically 2.3 metres x 3.3 metres, but sometimes even smaller. To address this issue in a sensitive way, Home Box and Leo Burnett Dubai, launched The Hidden Room Collection, a specially curated collection, designed in collaboration with Home Box’s design team.
The collection was launched with a short film by Leo Burnett Dubai that documented the agency’s survey. Four women – Wasanti, Melat, Queenie and Resha, were asked about their favourite place in the homes in which they work.
Like many domestic workers, they have come to the Middle East from all over the world, and are living away from their own families.
A second film shows how The Hidden Room Collection transforms small rooms by adding smart storage solutions, enlivened with prints, textures, and colours.
Both films direct people to The Hidden Room website, where people can shop for The Hidden Room Collection, which is also available at Home Box stores across the Middle East. The campaign launched over the weekend during Eid al-Adha, one of the biggest shopping periods of the year.
“It has been incredibly rewarding working with the design team at Home Box to launch The Hidden Room Collection,” explained Tahaab Rais, chief strategy officer, Publicis Groupe Middle East & Turkey, who also directed the films. “While we cannot change the size of domestic workers’ rooms, we can advocate for smart living solutions, and we are proud to have contributed to such a meaningful initiative across the Gulf region.”
Credits:
Client: Home Box
Chief Executive Officer: Ajay Antal
Marketing Manager: Kunal Kapoor
Digital Marketing Specialist Omni-channel: Shahzeen Rizvi
Creative Agency: Leo Burnett Dubai
Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Groupe ME&T: Bassel Kakish
Chief Creative Officer and Creative Direction, Leo Burnett: Kalpesh Patankar
Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis Groupe ME&T: Tahaab Rais
Director, Story and Sound Design : Tahaab Rais
Head of Production, Leo Burnett: Shereen Mostafa
Senior Creative Director, Copywriter, Leo Burnett: Aunindo Sen
Creative Director and Art Direction, Leo Burnett: Kapil Bhimekar
Senior Copywriter and Dialogues, Leo Burnett: Paurav Shah
Creatives: Smit Agrawal & Vaibhava Bhatnagar
Strategic and Creative Excellence Designer: Khushboo Sawlani
Account Managers, Leo Burnett: Asma Zaghdoud & Nadine Raad
Client Operations Director: Raed Hakim
Senior Manager – Digital Delivery: Sheni Meledath
Senior User Experience Specialist: Venkat Krish
Production Company: Liwa Content.Driven
Executive Producers: Sagar Rege & Shane Vessaoukar
DoP and Cinematography: Aeyaz
1st AD: Remy Haddad
Production Coordinator: Neha Jaswani
Production Designer: Charbel Zgheib
Account Director: Puja Chatterjee
Account Manager: Nishqa Pillai
Post-Production: Shoaib Ischtiyak, Nikhil Soman & Talal Dakkak
Editor: Neda Zag @ Cold Cut
Grading and Colourist: Karim Mira @ LZRD
Soundtrack: Art of Silence by Uniq featuring Onio
