Drive Defines Her
Explore our in depth case study where we take you through our process, from pre-production to execution & final delivery of Porsche Middle East’s flagship campaign “Drive Defines Her”. This powerful & trail-blazing project aims to shine a spotlight on successful women in business in the UAE & wider region by sharing their inspirational stories, while encouraging others to pursue careers in male-dominated professions.
Services
Provided
Project
Deliverables
Project
Overview
In October of 2023, Porsche Middle East & Africa commissioned us to take the lead in launching Season 2 of Drive Defines Her, the incredibly successful campaign they started a year prior (source).
‘Drive Defines Her’ was geared towards uncovering empowering stories of successful women from across the region, each making significant strides within their respective lines of work, aiming to support, highlight and celebrate the determination of female leaders across the Gulf.
Our brief was to deliver a cinematic production which showcased our hero, SuaadAl Shamsi (the first female Emirati aircraft engineer) as a trailblazer, innovative leader, & fearless woman who serves as an inspiration to those around her. Click here to read the full article we wrote to accompany the release of the video.
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Concept
Development
After an initial meeting with our hero, Suaad AlShamsi, our copywriter Dana Cheaib set up a one-on-one interview and got to know the protagonist of this campaign. From this interview she gathered many valuable insights which allowed us to begin conceptualizing the overall story arc. Once she had a good grasp of the key story elements the narrative started to take shape and we presented an initial draft to Porsche Middle East.Once the script was approved, we then met with Steph our storyboard artist, to explore the various frames we felt would best tell this story. This storyboard, once completed, helped us all to visualize Suaad’s narrative. It was clear from the outset that this story revolved around Suaad’s passion for aviation, & as such, we made sure that the locations we chose to film reflected this. We narrowed it down to three key locations which we felt would fit seamlessly into the narrative, the Al Mahatta Aviation Museum in Sharjah, the Garhoud Sarsan Aviation Academy, and the Al Jazeera Aviation Club in RAK. We didn’t want to only focus on Suaad’s professional career, but also shine alight on her role as a mother, in the hope of informing the viewer that there are several different components as to what makes her a successful woman.
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Project
Challenges
One of the biggest creative challenges of this project was how to visualize our protagonist’s passion for both the automotive industry & aviation. As such, to connect the automotive scenes to our overarching theme of aviation we decided to have the GT3 driving scenes filmed on a runway, and then to also capture aerial footage of the airfield as Suaad was behind the wheel of one of Porsche’s most high performance cars.
In the more serene moments of the film, & in order to continue this connection to aviation, we decided to film Suaad in the historic Al Mahatta Aviation museum. This is where we conducted her interview, as well as capture unique footage of her walking amongst the lineage of various aircraft that have serviced the Gulf region over the past 7 generations. We also filmed in the Sarsan aviation academy to showcase Suaad passing on her skills to the next generation of young female talent, helping the viewer to identify our hero as a woman who is intent on sharing her story of success with others and helping to inspire them to follow their own path.The main challenges of this project from a production perspective where logistical. We had to obtain permits to fly the DJI Inspire 3 & FPV drones in active airspace, & this meant closing the airspace to all other aircraft but our own for the duration of the filming. Additionally, to safely film the aerial shots of Suaad flying the plane we had to very carefully plan the route of the aircraft as well as the flight path of the drone, to enable us to capture that hero shot of Suaad flying the plane at sunset across the horizon.
Project
Solutions
Once we had solved any and all issues relating to obtaining permits for filming on the runway, flying drones in an active airspace, filming in the Al Mahatta Museum, etc, we were able to focus more on the cinematography. We knew that the only way to capture all the footage we would need to help visualize our narrative was to carefully craft a hand-sketched storyboard we could follow on set. Once this was completed, we could begin working closely with our DOP to think of various key grips, rigs& filming equipment we would need to capture the desired frames.
We knew we wanted to portray Suaad as someone who was in wonder of the aviation industry, and a person whose passion for cars& airplanes drove her to carve an entirely new, unfamiliar path for a person typically from her culture or upbringing. In order to do this we had to intimately connect the script to visuals that would help the viewer see her as having not only an authentic passion for aviation, but as a confident women who didn’t always entirely knew where this passion would take her.
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Project
Deliverables
In our succinct, social media-ready snippets, we captured the spirit of the full video, highlighting the incredible passion of Saaud Al Shamsi, an Aircrat Enigeer with a love for fast cars. Each moment showcased her unwavering dedication to safety and her thrilling adventures for speed. These bite-sized glimpses acted as digital accelerants, igniting conversations on social media and inviting viewers into her captivating world. Recognizing the power of brevity in today's digital realm, these vertical cut-downs were instrumental in sparking interest and boosting engagement around Saaud's remarkable story.
Photo
Gallery
Alongside the video content, we curated a collection of top-tier images featuring Saaud, an Aircraft Engineer with a passion for fast cars. These images serve as a robust toolkit ideal for PR and marketing endeavors, offering a diverse array of visuals to convey the narrative of Drive Defines Her. Whether utilized in press releases, promotional materials, or online campaigns, our image gallery showcases the Saaud's commitment, advanced technology of both planes and cars.
These images stand as adaptable assets, solidifying the service's brand identity and simplifying the effective communication of its core message across various media platforms. Our goal is to present a comprehensive package for dynamic storytelling and brand elevation
Project
Results
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“A GOOD DIRECTOR CREATES AN ENVIRONMENT WHICH GIVES THE ACTORS, ESPECIALLY THE KIDS, THE ENCOURAGEMENT TO FLY WITH A BIG SMILE. A DIRECTOR IS THE CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP; HE GETS THE VISION OF THE PROJECT BEFORE ANYONE ELSE CAN. LEWIS IS NOT ONLY A DIRECTOR BUT AN AMAZING SOUL.
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