KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — Global brand and customer experience agency, VMLY&R together with client Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), produced a film and innovative Kufi (early Arabic calligraphy) generator that unites traditions of the past with the technology of the future.
Entitled “Dari Hati” (From the Heart), the film is part of the TM’s wider Festive Campaign for 2022, which encompasses all the main festive celebrations in Malaysia, including National Day.
VMLY&R’s proprietary “Muslim Intel Lab” shared a valuable insight that helps shaped the idea, that Malaysians have one intangible heritage that is passed on from one generation to the next: Words of wisdom. This is an important pillar of the Malay community as these words of wisdom form and guide everything that they do in life. Based on this insight, the agency found a way to turn this intangible heritage into a tangible end product with the Kufi generator.
Together with TM, VMLY&R co-created a proprietary platform, Artificial Intelligence Visual to Extralinguistic Experience (A.I.VEE) that allows users to key their words of wisdom into the website that then converts their submission from text into beautiful Kufi. They can then customize, download their personalized Kufi design and share them with their friends and family.
Since its launch for Hari Raya, the film has garnered over 2 million views, and over 700 pieces of original Kufi art have been created. VMLY&R’s scope of work included the creative development and execution, developing the first of its kind Kufi generator using Artificial Intelligence Visual to Extralinguistic Experience (A.I.VEE) technology, and building the microsite. Plus, campaign materials across TV, print, digital and social media.
“At VMLY&R it’s our mission to build connected brands. Our proprietary ‘Muslim Intel Lab’ provided a valuable insight that inspired us to find a solution that could convert the intangible, heritage passed down through the generations, into the tangible. Our goal was to honor and celebrate Aidilfitri in a unique and interesting way and get our audience to not only enjoy the touching and meaningful Raya film but also share their own words of wisdom thanks to the world’s first Kufi generator,” said Kenni Loh, chief executive officer, VMLY&R Malaysia.
KC Aui, executive creative director, VMLY&R Malaysia said, “Many brands just produce a TVC for Raya, but we wanted to build on that in an innovative way. We wanted to celebrate the culture of sharing words of wisdom from our elders by converting them into another form of Malay heritage: turning Jawi (traditional way of writing Malay script based on Arabic letters) into beautiful Kufi art.”
“We want to highlight and celebrate Malaysia’s many cultures and heritage during a festive season when people are more attuned to the idea of how culture connects our humanity and brings families closer together. We also want to demonstrate TM’s role as the enabler of technology, by empowering Malaysians to use technology to create art pieces,” said Shanti Jusnita Johari, chief marketing officer Telekom Malaysia Berhad.
