Short film from Leo Burnett Dubai follows four domestic workers and Home Box’s latest collection of furniture for small spaces
Expat domestic workers are employed in many homes in the Middle East, but it is a segment that the home furniture and furnishing category, in general, has always left out.
To understand the living spaces of domestic workers, furniture retailer Home Box asked 329 domestic workers about their favourite place in the homes they work in. Out of all the places they spoke about, one space remained unmentioned, hidden from view: their own room.
This insight inspires ‘The Hidden Room’, a short film by Leo Burnett Dubai about four women – Wasanti, Melat, Queenie and Resha. Like many domestic workers, they have come to the Middle East from all over the world, and are living away from their own families.
Many domestic workers are employed in towering skyscrapers and big villas, but their rooms remain very small spaces – typically 7 feet x 10 feet, but sometimes even smaller. To address this issue in a sensitive way, Home Box partnered with Leo Burnett Dubai to launch ‘The Hidden Room Collection’ – a specially curated collection, designed in collaboration with Home Box’s design team.
The Hidden Room Collection provides beautifully designed furniture and furnishing items for the small spaces where domestic workers typically live. It launched over the weekend during Eid al-Adha, one of the biggest shopping periods of the year.
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.
“It has been incredibly rewarding working with the design team at Home Box to launch The Hidden Room Collection,” explains Tahaab Rais, Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis Groupe Middle East & Turkey. “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.”
CLIENT: Home Box
CREATIVE AGENCY: Leo Burnett Dubai
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Liwa Content.Driven
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, HOME BOX’: Ajay Antal
MARKETING MANAGER, HOME BOX: Kunal Kapoor
DIGITAL MARKETING SPECIALIST OMNI-CHANNEL, HOME BOX: Shahzeen Rizvi
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
FILM DIRECTOR, STORY AND SOUND DESIGN: Tahaab Rais
HEAD OF PRODUCTION, LEO BURNETT: Shereen Mostafa
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, LIWA CONTENT.DRIVEN: Sagar Rege
DOP AND CINEMATOGRAPHY: Aeyaz
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
CREATIVE: Smit Agrawal
CREATIVE: Vaibhava Bhatnagar
1ST AD: Remy Haddad
EDITOR, COLD CUTZ: Neda Zag
GRADING AND COLORIST, LZRD: Karim Mira
STRATEGIC AND CREATIVE EXCELLENCE DESIGNER: Khushboo Sawlani
ACCOUNT MANAGER, LEO BURNETT: Asma Zaghdoud
ACCOUNT MANAGER, LEO BURNETT: Nadine Raad
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, LIWA CONTENT.DRIVEN: Shane Vessaoukar
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR, LIWA CONTENT.DRIVEN: Neha Jaswani
PRODUCTION DESIGNER, LIWA CONTENT.DRIVEN: Charbel Zgheib
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR, LIWA CONTENT.DRIVEN: Puja Chatterjee
ACCOUNT MANAGER, LIWA CONTENT.DRIVEN: Nishqa Pillai
NIKHIL SOMAN, TALAL DAKKAK, POST-PRODUCTION, LIWA CONTENT.DRIVEN: Shoaib Ischtiyak
CLIENT OPERATIONS DIRECTOR: Raed Hakim
SENIOR MANAGER – DIGITAL DELIVERY: Sheni Meledath
SENIOR USER EXPERIENCE SPECIALIST: Venkat Krish
SOUNDTRACK: ‘Art of Silence’ by
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