Walid Kanaan: “I have no patience for mediocrity"
The established and award-winning creative of TBWA/RAAD Middle East, Walid Kanaan, needs no presentation, being the chief officer of the network’s regional creative ‘Dream Team’ that have led the agency to new heights. Here’s the other side of Walid, a more intimate face to discover through Arabad’s informal questionnaire designed to pick the mind and heart of the region’s top creatives.
What gets you up in the morning?
Not being able to hit the snooze button.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
It’s not a job, it’s a playground.
Who do you ultimately want to become?
A sane grandpa.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Being an experimental subject, for my wife’s chocolate.
What’s your motto in life?
We only live once.
What keeps you in the game?
The fun of playing it.
What keeps you up at night?
An idea.
What would be your worst nightmare?
When people worship badvertising (pun intended… oh God).
What inspires you most?
Beauty.
What music have you been listening to lately?
First Man musical score (anything that lifts me up all the way to the moon).
What is the gadget you cannot live without?
The iphone recharge cable.
What can we find on your phone?
What happens on my iphone stays on my iphone.
What quality do you most look up to in a woman?
Intelligence.
What quality do you most look up to in a friend?
Loyalty.
Who would you like to sit next to on a seven-hour flight?
Donald Trump (no other comedian can compensate my long-flight-on-board entertainment).
If you could live for one day the life of another person, who would it be?
Jeff Besos. (He would wake up the next day completely broke).
If you could have dinner with someone, living or dead, who would it be; and what question would you ask him/her?
Leonardo Da Vinci. Q: was she smiling or not?
If you were to be reincarnated, what would you like to come back as?
A hawk (I’m fed up wearing eyeglasses).
If you were to change profession, what would you choose to do?
A wine maker.
What do you consider to be the greatest headline of all time?
Think Different.
What business tip would you give the newbies?
You will always be as good as your last work.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
The smile of a baby.
Where can we find you on a Friday night?
Probably 10,000m above sea level.
If you could choose one superhero power, what would it be and why?
Hulk - so I could change Lebanon’s political system in few minutes.
What would you do if you won the lottery?
Not scream.
What is the one word you catch yourself saying too often?
The magical F*** word.
What would you like to be doing five years from now?
What I was doing passionately five years ago.
If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?
Any of the other 47 Lebanon in the world.
What’s the last book you read or movie you saw?
‘L’arabe du Futur’ (a genuine reflection on the Arab world in the 70s – 80s).
What is the one thing you wish you have designed?
It is not designed yet.