Careem

Background

Careem began life as an energetic, disruptive startup in Dubai. Pioneers of the ride-hailing economy in the Middle East, over the next decade they went from strength to strength, expanding into 14 countries and emerging as the region's first unicorn.Along with this incredible growth came an even bigger ambition: to become the Middle East's first Super App.

Challenge

In each market, Careem had always been known and loved as the charming brand with a local feel and cheeky wink, but as the company grew, the brand needed to mature.

Careem came to us to help take shift the brand from a well-loved, single-service provider of regional ride hailing, to a super app; a provider of everything you might need in your day to day.

Immersion

To understand what made Careem truly special, we travelled to the Middle East to immerse ourselves in the brand, its community and its culture.

We visited Dubai and Riyadh to understand how the app was experienced in these key (but very different) markets, to ensure we could create a consistent brand experience, no matter the location. We put ourselves in users' shoes, testing all the services, from hiring bikes and hailing a ride, to ordering on-demand PCR tests and tasty lunches. We spent time with customers, Captains (Careem’s dedicated drivers) and employees, to truly understand the role of the Careem in their daily lives.

The immersion process was invaluable in gaining a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by Careem. This was reflected in the brand we built, helping us navigate cultural nuances and sensitivities, as well as bringing us closer to the people we were on this journey with.

Brand Strategy

Our strategic approach was to evolve from a functional brand to an emotional one. By engaging with our customers on an emotional level, we were able to connect people to a higher purpose, and take emphasis away from simply the functional experience of using the product.

Reflecting founder Mudassir Sheikha’s original vision (to create a future for the region, where small things lead to huge impact) we defined the core strategic idea: ‘We Unlock Possible.’ From unlocking possible in the everyday, to unlocking bigger possibilities in the region at large — Careem is there to make it happen.

The ambition to do something big and meaningful has always been at the heart of Careem.

Mudassir
Founder, Careem

Brand Expression

After defining the strategic repositioning for the next chapter of Careem, we set our sights on bringing it to life through a sophisticated, dynamic graphic system, without losing Careem’s soul and personality. We brought “We Unlock Possible” to life  through a suite of “unlocking” shapes, that flex across the entire brand.

We embedded the concept into a bespoke English and Arabic typeface, evolved the well loved logo to be bolder, with a renewed sense of momentum. The upturned ‘e’s embody the uplifting sense of unlocking possibilities and looking towards the future.

We developed a tone of voice for the brand which was bold and confident, but also humble and grounded. This allowed Careem to both connect emotionally with its customers, and also speak to its bigger impact across the region.

We worked closely with Careem’s digital teams, to ensure a holistic brand experience, both online and offline. Together, we developed a completely new digital design system, centred around an experience driven approach to allow a sense of discovery within the app at every interaction.

Both online and offline, our work with Careem embeds the customer within the experience, no matter what service they are using. Ultimately helping Careem become part of daily life, making the little things easier — all adding up to create a larger impact of progress and momentum across the region.

Helping Careem unlock their next chapter through a holistic, unified superapp brand has been an honour. Thank you to Mudassir, Adeeb, Tiago, Tom and the rest of the Careem team for letting us be part of your vision. We can’t wait to see Careem continue making incredible impact, all across the Middle East.

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