Bringing back Dubai’s original Japanese restaurant and lounge to the UAE’s dining scene was always going to be a unique balancing act. With the popularity of Japanese fusion cooking throughout the globe, many new competitors now littered the local landscape. Our first step was to understand who now occupied this space.

Okku’s challenges were twofold: they were well known to a particular demographic who had spent their evenings at Dubai’s original Japanese lounge, but they were unknown to younger generations who were new to a city that can be extremely transient as well as being very discerning when it comes to experiencing new restaurants.

During the relaunch, we decided to introduce new diners to the elements that defined Okku previously. We deliberately drew attention to the iconic jellyfish, samurai warriors and impeccable food and beverages. A digital campaign was created that made use of bold, fresh video content to give diners a taste of Okku before even setting foot inside the venue.

Headlines and copy were written to communicate that this was still Okku, but Okku 2.0. A better version of itself. All the creative was a moody tone of blue and burnished gold, reflecting the fact that Okku is a night time venue.

Multiple creative concept were presented with the client wanting us to use all of them for the launch. We were able to persuade them to go with a singular idea for impact.