Article: Brand Innovations & Mischief
Maharis Azman: Creative Director with a history of technological mischief.
- Client:
- maharis.com
- Published:
- 06 Nov 2020
- Our role:
- Featured Creative Services
- Project
Sounds of Story Time


As household batteries begin to disappear in the digital era, our childhood memories of battery-powered shadow play story time become even more nostalgic. That's why we built this sound-companion mobile webapp for Eveready's Book of Play campaign. We want to inspire modern parents to rekindle the traditional story time experience with their little ones.
Nothing beats seeing kids (including my own kids) enjoy story time like we used to but with a modern twist.
- Project
Talking Cock


Facebook Chatbots were all the rage at the time. Brands were rushing to get on it to enhance the "customer experience". But, Nando's isn't like other brands.
So instead of asking people to interact with a Human-ish Chatbot to their annoyance, we annoyed people with an Unstoppable Talking Meme-ing Chicken-bot. Don't worry, we rewarded them after that.
- Project
Rasa Sayang Connection


This idea was part of a bigger Brand Refresh campaign we were working on to not only bring back the "Love" in "I'm Loving It!" but also do it in a way that would resonate locally. We wanted to bring families back to have good times at Mekdi's, something you see less and less these days.
One of the things we also noticed was that uni/college students would spend long hours there for the free WiFi connection. We saw this as an opportunity to remind students to not forget to connect with families first.
- Project
Old Phones Save Cars

Malaysia has a serious vehicle theft problem. Not only do we stand at 6th in the world for vehicles stolen, most vehicle owners can't afford to install modern anti-theft tracking systems. This makes recovery almost impossible, while the culprits remain largely untraceable.
This idea encouraged people to repurpose discarded smartphones, making it "The Cheapest Vehicle Tracking" solution available!
- Project
Anchor Twist


(Re)Introducing an old brand to a new target market that already had more than enough options to choose from posed quite a challenge. I'm still amazed that we managed to convince the client that Brand Relevancy can come in the form of moms gangsta rappin' recipe-hacks. Coz hey, Malaysian supermoms are the real OGs and it's like that and that's the way it is.
The work won the coveted Gold at THE APPIES, so I guess CMOs are also in the know.
- Project
Kita Kawan Kita Amigo

Consumption moments when it comes to snacking can mean different things to each individual. But just like Kit Kat reminds you to take breaks, we devised that Mister Potato keeps family & friendships tight. And with that mission plan, we literally brought Mister Potato to life!
- Project
Let's Get Real


For school leavers, navigating the higher education market is like sailing the sea of sameness. They are all constantly being sold the amazing career they will seemingly have, but never the journey and hustle that truly gets one there. That's why we pitched "Let's Get Real" as the university's brand mantra. After all, nothing worth having comes easy.
- Project
Mencari Ramli 2


GGMU.
- Project
Team Malaysia Superfan


Prove your worth to be Team Malaysia's hype-man at the London Olympics.
- Project
Music City


With data showing the rapid shift of music sales from physical to digital format, Telekom Malaysia quickly invested in building its own online music store. But how would it be able to compete with the giants? With that in mind, we discovered the connection between a person's mood at certain places and the music they would listen to there, and turn that emotion into a mood to buy music.
- Project
FB Caller ID Hijack


Once dubbed as The Cheekiest Promo Idea Ever, this Caller ID Hijack trickery even forced Facebook to plug a loophole that allowed brands to advertise on mobile screens whenever a phone number is called.
- Project
Vans Street Takeover


The Vans Street Takeover (#VansST) was about getting skateboarders out of the confines of skate parks to stake their claim of the streets.
(Disclaimer: The video presentation below was created for idea demonstration only.)
- Project
The Invisible Concert Tour


Similar to Music City, we wondered what if we geofenced live stream jamming sessions that can only be accessed at concert venues before the live show. That way, music fans can discover new music they may like while waiting for the concert to start.
- Project
Polo Rocks!


Facebook was new. Volkswagen Group Malaysia was new. The Polo was new. Even the TA was new.
It's only fitting we help the brand amass over 20k (a MASSIVE number at the time!) young music fans on Facebook. Because, Polo Rocks!
- Project
Only For The Advanced.


"When you're ready to modify... nothing."
This innovative email work we did for the launch of The Golf GTI (MK6) was so well received, it was forwarded and re-forwarded amongst local car enthusiasts as well as creative agencies around the world.
- Project
Scirocco Cup Challenge

Ad agency creatives: VW ads are just adaptations of the global marketing campaign. No fun.
Us: Hold our drinks.
- Project
Pedal To The Metal.


With the all-new and naughty-instigating VW Scirocco launching soon, we thought it be fun to prank current VW Golf GTI owners by "releasing" highway speedcam captures of them breaking the law.
Becoz, The Scirocco will make it even tougher to "Be good."
- Project
What's In The Hercules


This was the launch campaign for the 2nd Generation MINI (R56), an online guerrilla campaign back when the internet was far from considered mainstream. At one point, we thought we lost our jobs when our agency was ordered to shut down for a day as the work went under investigation because someone powerful in the gomen thought our spy-themed campaign was real.
Luckily they heard us out, and the work would go on to become BMW Worldwide's No.1 Marketing Case Study. Phew!
- Project
Maybank2u Malaysia & Singapore


The legendary "All New, All You, Maybank2u" website revamp that's still in use (currently as classic mode) since 2008.
Meet Maharis
Maharis Azman is a design director based in KL, Malaysia. His focus is on UX/UI, product design, digital experience, and research for AI in digital accessibility & assistive tech.