A Visionary Founder Profile on Onur Kece THE REFRESHMENT CLUB Where Disruption Becomes Culture

Disrupting the familiar: The Refreshment Club’s bold Arrival in Dubai

Forget conventional campaigns and glossy taglines. The Refreshment Club (TRC) isn’t here to fit in Dubai landscape – it’s here to rewrite it. Founded in Paris and now rooted in Dubai, the agency bridges art, culture, and technology to craft ideas that challenge, connect and endure. “Disruption for us isn’t noise,” says Onur Kece, founder and Chief Creative Officer. “It is about simplifying what others

complicate – finding emotion in precision, and meaning in boldness.”

The philosophy: Clarity as a Creative Weapon

TRC’s philosophy is built around disruption through clarity. In a world oversaturated with content, Onur emphasizes the danger of “visual content pollution,” where brands lose identity in the endless stream of social feeds. “Producing more content doesn’t build a brand. Producing meaningful ideas does, he says. TRC flips this script, crafting work that earns its place in culture, not just on screens.

The agency’s DNA integrates strategy, human insights and emotions, allowing them to create campaigns that sweeps audience off their feet rather than simply populate feeds. “In a world flooded with visuals, the real disruption is creating ideas people can actually feel,” Onur explains.

When AI Meets Emotion

TRC doesn’t treat AI as a shortcut – but as a collaborator, not a replacement. | “You won’t lose your job to AI – you will lose it to the person who knows how to use it,” Onur points out.

The agency merges machine precision with human instinct, enabling fast, agile, and precise execution without sacrificing creativity. This AI powered approach supports strategy, ideation, and production, while always placing humans at the center of decision- making.

The result? Ideas that were previously impossible due to cost or complexity now become feasible. Teams are empowered to push boundaries, exploring “impossible ideas” that redefine the creative landscape.

The Topical Approach: Culture before Content

One of TRC’s most defining principles is this:

A global brand entering a new culture, this can’t be copy- pasted.

Onur calls it a topical approach – a deep dive into the cultural nuances, behaviors, symbols, and emotional cues of the audience a brand wants to speak to.

“A brand introduced to a new culture must be handled differently,” he explained. “We need to understand the cultural fabric before we create anything for it.” Relating this approach to TRC’s new chapter in the Middle East, let’s differentiate: As global brands enter the Middle East, many fall into the same trap; exporting a creative idea built for another culture and expecting it to land unchanged. The Refreshment Club sees this as the biggest missed opportunity in modern branding – and the starting point of their most innovative work’

For TRC introducing a brand is not a translation; it is a transformation.

“We believe every audience deserves creative that speaks their language – not just their market,” Onur explains. This belief powers TRC’s topical approach: a deep dive into the cultural fabric, social rhythms, emotional cues, and historical context of each new audience.

So, this is where TRC’s methodology becomes unique. Instead of relying on assumptions or generic playbooks, they use AI as a catalyst to explore culture- specific insights faster and more intelligently. Ai helps them map emerging behaviors, surface micro- trends, and brainstorm culturally resonant ideas at unprecedented speed.