One of South East Asia’s most awarded production houses, Director’s Think Tank (DTT), is rounding up yet another successful festive season, having produced eleven of the region’s most loved Ramadan and Raya commercials this year.
With their headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and offices in Jakarta and Singapore, DTT’s festive spots cut-across a number of different brands and categories including banking, retail, F&B, electronics, telecommunications and travel in both the Malaysian and Indonesian markets. In recent years, the trend has been for Raya spots to fall into two distinctive camps – eliciting nostalgia to pull at heartstrings or the use of humour to keep the audience amused. DTT have been working to specialise in bringing to life stories covering both sides of the spectrum as evident by the breadth of their work this year.
Keeping viewers entertained by injecting a comedic spin to the routines of the Raya preparation were spots such as Jakel’s Ragam Isteri Beraya and Prego’s Siapa Makan Pasta Raya, both by Hyrul Anuar, and Nando’s Bulan Beri-Beri by Zaim Rosli. On a more heartwarming note, Sharp’s Kejutan Raya Sure Suka untuk Zahirah Macwilson by Tan Wei Peow and CIMB’s Seribu Erti Kesyukuran by Maurice Noone explored the rich and intricate bond between mother and daughter during the festive season.
Still within the territory of family dynamics and digging deeper into the endearing relationship between siblings is Rajay Singh’s Janji 30 Hari Abim for Tokopedia Indonesia. “Despite the customs being unique to the specific markets, when you dig deep down, the powerful human emotions that surface during the festive season share similarities across both Malaysia and Indonesia. We work with our local agency partners and teams to do justice in making the story relevant to the specific market but at the core of it, it is the values of the season that connect us all regardless of where we are from,” explained Rajay Singh, Co-founder and Film Director at DTT.
The journey home, a common value that is intrinsic to us all, was a key area of focus for director Sling Ng this season. Giving a fresh take to the yearly act of balik kampung, her spot Sama Sama Balik Kampung for Malaysian Airlines Berhad is a reminder that the journey home is always refreshingly meaningful despite the fact that it is something many perform routinely every year. Her other balik kampung spot, Raikan Kemurnian Hari Raya for Coway, tells the heartfelt story of an elderly gentleman who initially is adamant that Raya celebrations can only happen in the kampung, softening his heart to realize that a blessed celebration lies wherever loved ones are.
The climax of DTT’s roster of festive ads is Maxis’ Deria Takbir Raya by Maurice Noone. The film highlights a technology by Maxis, who created an app that allows deaf Muslims to experience the Takbir Raya. The story revolves around a little boy, Faiz, who is deaf mute in real life. On Raya, with the Deria Takbir app, he is able experience the feeling of being present during the Takbir and joins his father for Raya prayers. “Being able to tell this true story and capturing Faiz’s joy at experiencing the Takbir for the first time in his life was extremely heart touching,” said Maurice Noone, Co-founder and Film Director at DTT.
“More than ever, audiences are on the active look out for content during the festive season and can figure out when a brand is being too hard sell or is jumping on the bandwagon. Viewers are looking for genuine stories that they can connect with. As a production house with a diverse range of directors and teams, we have the privilege of being able to bring these stories to life. We are proud to be able to create content that inspires and delivers real emotional connections,” he continued.
Intan Sham, Marketing Executive Producer, commented “It was certainly a busy period for us but looking at our compilation of films, I’m happy that we were able to play our part in entertaining audiences this festive season. We want to thank all our agency partners, crew, and other team members for giving their complete dedication in bringing these stories to life.”
Rounding up the list of DTT’s festive spots include Kicap ABC’s Juadah Yang Tiada Bandingannya and Alliance Bank’s Raya Ceria both by Zaim Rosli. This brings total YouTube views of spots created by DTT to over 31,000,000 views.
