During Lebanon's economic crisis, Puck donated thousands of cream cheese jars to rural women to package and sell homemade preserves - then gave away its own shelf space in Carrefour. Over 20,000 jars sold in two months, 300% income increase. 3 billion impressions across 30 countries.
Hey there! I’m Karim Kazan, a lover of cinema, music and sports.
In my spare time I work in advertising as an Executive Creative Director.
Karim Kazan
FP7 McCann | Dentsu | Y&R | Impact BBDO | Grey
A radio campaign for McDonald's. What did we do when they released the new chicken wraps? We made chickens…rap.
A 47-second single-take film set in a Lebanese hospital captures the moment the power goes out - symbolizing 47 years of energy crisis.
Music video for Mashrou' Leila's 'Roman', showing empowering Arab women like never before. Women in hijab and colorful abayas dance on an abandoned construction site. Trended #1 on YouTube for a week.
With 5x more Lebanese living abroad than at home, Byblos Bank's Expat Housing Loans campaign targeted diaspora during summer visits - timed to the moment homesickness peaks.
Audio Kultur is the only magazine in the Middle East that promotes musicians and artists. We rigged magazine boxes with cameras and motion sensors to blast music from underground when people walked by.
For the 100th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, Audio Kultur's 12th issue was printed in real blood drawn from 5 Lebanese-Armenians.
On Ashura, Shia Muslims draw their own blood in mourning. DSC convinced imams to redirect this act toward blood donation, setting up pop-up stations along procession routes. 655 blood units collected (400% above target), saving 1,965 lives.
Aligned with Pepsi Max's global 'Max your life' strategy. This campaign encourages you to make the most out of your youth and speed up your bucket list.
A few months after launching the brand, we took the category by storm by launching the first fashion runway in the sky through our cabin crew's uniform collection.
Hitachi wanted to increase the sales of their unusually big fridges. So we decided to go after the only possible target: unusually big families.
Since Lebanon never qualifies for the World Cup, people support other nations. When Master Chips came up with different new flavors for different national teams, all hell broke loose.
We placed the Land Cruiser in various rough terrains across different time periods - past, present, and future.
Diet Pepsi could still claim that they could keep a girl slim, even a Botero girl.
Contrary to popular belief, McDonald's get only the freshest fish from under the sea. Here's proof.
A follow-up to the Botero series. And yes it is just an ad featuring a trampoline. But did you notice the feet?
About
I'm a multilingual creative director who has spent 25+ years building brands, crafting campaigns and leading teams across the Middle East, Europe and beyond.
I was forced into advertising. Really. My dad was in the business. My mum wanted me to follow in his footsteps. And my illustrious painting career wasn't exactly going according to plan.
So that's what I've been doing since the late 90's in places like Grey Beirut, BBDO Dubai, FP7 Dubai & Beirut, Y&R Beirut, Interesting Times, Drive Dentsu and FP7 McCann Doha. Pretty good job it turned out to be too. I met lots of great people.
I worked on brands like Pepsi, Coke, P&G, Mars, Riyadh Air, Nokia, Red Bull, Volvo, Ferrari World, Unilever, Ooredoo, McDonald's, Burger King and Toyota. I worked on TV commercials, video-clips, stills and online campaigns. I grabbed a few awards along the way.
And I got to visit far away places more frequently than most frequent travelers. I was born in Beirut but then lived in Cyprus, London, Paris, London again, Paris again, Dubai, London again, Paris again, Beirut again, Dubai again, Beirut again, and most recently Doha.
Contact
Experience
- FP7 McCann, Doha - Executive Creative Director, 2021 - present
- FP7 McCann, Beirut - Executive Creative Director, 2017 - 2021
- Drive Dentsu, Beirut - Executive Creative Director, 2014 - 2016
- Interesting Times - Creative Director, 2012 - 2013
- Y&R, Beirut - Creative Director, 2010 - 2012
- FP7 McCann, Dubai - Creative Director, 2008 - 2010
- Impact BBDO, Dubai - Creative Director, 2005 - 2008
- Grey, Beirut - Copywriter to Creative Director, 1999 - 2005
Education
- Ecole Supérieure de Publicité - Paris, 1996
- Slade School of Fine Art - UCL, London, 1994 - 96
- Chelsea College of Art - London, 1993
- Dubai College - British A Levels, Dubai, 1988 - 93
- Lycée Charles de Gaulle - London, 1985 - 88
- École Active Bilingue - Paris, 1980 - 85
Languages
- English - Fluent, written and spoken
- French - Fluent, written and spoken
- Arabic - Fluent, spoken
- Norwegian - Beginner
Clients
Awards & Recognitions
Winner of numerous international and regional awards including Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, and more.
Cannes Lions
- Titanium Shortlist - Selfless Shelves, Puck (2024)
- Gold - Mashrou' Leila, Roman
- Bronze - Selfless Shelves, Puck (Creative Commerce)
- Bronze - Blood Unity, DSC (Brand Experience & Activation)
D&AD
- Wood Pencil - Selfless Shelves, Puck (Inclusive)
- Bronze - Selfless Shelves, Puck (Commerce)
- Wood Pencil - The Right to Power: 47 Seconds, LOGI
One Show
- Merit - Selfless Shelves, Puck (5 categories)
- Merit - The Right to Power: 47 Seconds, LOGI
NY Advertising Festival
- Regional Platinum - Blood Unity, DSC (Middle East & Africa)
- Finalist - Audio Kultur, Voice of the Underground
- Finalist - Audio Kultur, Still Here Still Bleeding
Dubai Lynx
- Grand Prix (x3) - Selfless Shelves, Puck (Creative Commerce, Direct, Glass)
- Gold (x4) - Blood Unity, DSC
- Bronze - Mashrou' Leila Roman, McDonald's Filet-O-Fish, Diet Pepsi Botero
Gerety Awards
- old, Selfless Shelves, Puck
Loeries
- Silver, Blood Unity, DSC
MENA Effies
- Gold - McDonald's, The Chicken Raps
- Gold - Mashrou' Leila, Roman
- Gold - Blood Unity, DSC
- Silver - Byblos Bank, No Home Like Home
- Bronze - Byblos Bank, No Home Like Home
Golden Drum
- Best of Genius Loci - Selfless Shelves, Puck
WARC
- Grand Prix for Good - Blood Unity, DSC (2021)
- Prize for MENA Strategy - Byblos Bank, No Home Like Home
Midas Awards
- Winner - Byblos Bank, No Home Like Home
ANDY Awards
- Gold, Selfless Shelves, Puck
Other Recognition
- Epica Awards - Multiple wins
- MENA Cristal - Multiple wins
- Vimeo Staff Pick - The Right to Power, Mashrou' Leila
