Dragoman breakthrough brands

Industry: Corporate

  • DIFC

    DIFC

    DIFC

    From financial services to economic innovator

    “Dragoman was instrumental in driving the first full re brand of DIFC since its inception in 2004. As an extension of our team, we were able to re position the centre from a traditional financial service brand to an innovation brand with the full buy in from stakeholders. Successful awareness campaign to support the repositioning of mother brand as well as sub brands was developed by Dragoman from overall creative conception, video, copy, online and print. Projects are always approached with enthusiasm, care and a focus to deliver on-time with quality. Having regional experience with similar government and semi government entities, the Dragoman team were able to understand our requirements and help us push boundaries in a respectful and considerate way”

    Mahmoud Nsouli Senior Vice President – Marketing & Corporate Communications 

    THE CHALLENGE

    DIFC needed to reposition itself from a financial hub to a holistic business and lifestyle destination while maintaining relevance for large financial corporations and emerging technology firms.

    HOW WE WORKED

    Dragoman developed a dynamic brand strategy, balancing DIFC’s corporate heritage with a forward-thinking identity that appealed to financial and technology sectors alike.

    THE SOLUTION

    A refreshed brand proposition, visual language, and launch campaign were developed to establish DIFC as a center of innovation and business growth.

    OUR DELIVERABLES

    Brand positioning
    Brand strategy
    Brand architecture
    Brand communication 
    Brand guidelines
    Brand management

    THE RESULTS

    The rebranding positioned DIFC as a future-ready financial and business hub, attracting both corporate and startup communities.

  • Arena

    Arena

    Arena

    Arena Private Market: Making capital work for you.

    THE CHALLENGE

    Introduce a new private market from DFM in a way that clearly explains the offer to founders and accredited investors: eligible private companies gain access to growth capital while retaining control; investors can participate in growth companies earlier on the path to a potential IPO. The brand also needed to preserve DFM’s credibility and attract both sides of the market.

    HOW WE WORKED

    We created a simple brand language referencing positive market signals and built practical tools for consistent use. We launched at Dubai Capital Market Summit and supported the team with the keynote, launch video, website, and brand governance.

    THE SOLUTION

    We positioned Arena as DFM’s private market platform connecting eligible private companies with accredited investors. We defined a direct value proposition and produced guidelines and launch assets so the brand could be deployed consistently across presentations, video, and web.

    OUR DELIVERABLES

    Brand strategy

    Brand positioning

    Brand identity & design system

    Brand architecture

    Launch video

    THE RESULTS

    A clear, credible market introduction that explains the offer, signals DFM trust, and enables efficient rollout across summit, video, and web.

  • Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites (RCMC)

    Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites (RCMC)

    Royal Commission  for Makkah City and Holy Sites

    A renewed experience  

    THE CHALLENGE 

    In 2018, the Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites (RCMC) was established by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Dragoman was appointed to create the identity, design systems and all brand assets. This was then approved at the highest level by HRH Salman bin Abdulaziz Al–Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.   

    As a new brand and organisation, it was imperative for extensive brand guidelines to be created to ensure the consistent rollout of the brand, both internally and across external communications.  

    THE SOLUTION

    The guidelines introduced the brand strategy and showcased how to use the RCMC brand assets correctly and confidently. It also influenced how they speak as an organisation and will be used long term to assist in the development of their company culture.   

    The document includes all guidelines around the new brand identity, to ensure it is used with the utmost respect and always reproduced using the official artwork files.  

    The identity guidelines were supported by a unified set of brand assets and a colour palette that are distinctively RCMC. These allow the brand to visually express itself while staying coherent and considered.  

    Additionally, photography was used as the primary method of visual brand storytelling. The guidelines included a library of images that can be utilised across all types of communication.   

    These visual components were paired with the introduction of a dual language font, to reflects the brand’s ambition for clarity, legibility and accessibility.   

    The guidelines detailed the application of the brand across a broad range of internal elements and communication collateral, including stationery, employee welcome pack, staff apparel, livery, publications, website, digital advertising, social media and corporate office interiors.   

    Finally, the production specifications and paper stocks were rigorously selected. Highgrade proof testing, across digital and offset, was completed to ensure a premium reproduction of the colours and metallic finishes.   

    The first round of these guidelines are now complete and being introduced internally through a brand ambassador program. Further iterations will continue as we work with this long term client.

    PROJECT DELIVERABLES

    Insights and research
    Brand strategy

    Brand identity

    Design systems

    Brand guidelines

    Brand management


     

  • Majid Al Futtaim

    Majid Al Futtaim

    Majid Al Futtaim

    From brand management to brand value

    “Dragoman helped us to successfully take our new brand to market in a very tight time frame. Over the next few years Dragoman was contracted to offer us strategic brand and design support.

    Dragoman have helped us to evolve the brand inline with the business strategy, whilst at the same time creating design templates and guidelines to ensure that we can consistently take the brand to market and ensure our roll out is consistent.

    The brand audits that Dragoman perform on a yearly basis help us to track the success of brand adoption across the organisation which is a critical business metric.”

    AbdulMouhsen Almadani – Brand Strategy and Planning Senior Manager

    THE CHALLENGE

    Majid Al Futtaim (MAF), a leader in shopping malls, hotels, retail, and leisure across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, needed a cohesive brand architecture to consolidate its vast portfolio under a single master brand while ensuring brand governance and consistency.

    HOW WE WORKED

    Dragoman collaborated closely with MAF’s brand team over five years, implementing a brand strategy, audit process, and brand management system. This included brand architecture, guidelines, environmental design, and an online brand management portal.

    THE SOLUTION

    Dragoman developed a structured brand framework, ensuring that all business units, sub-brands, and franchise operations aligned with MAF’s corporate identity. Additionally, an employee brand ambassador program was introduced to maintain internal engagement.

    OUR DELIVERABLES

    Brand architecture and governance

    Brand audit and management system

    Design systems and environmental branding

    Online brand management portal

    Employee brand ambassador program

    THE RESULTS

    The structured brand approach led to a strong, unified corporate identity across markets, ensuring brand equity retention and consistent brand messaging. The brand portal streamlined brand management, and the ambassador program strengthened internal adoption.

  • Carrefour

    Carrefour

    Carrefour

    From “low prices” to “more for you”

    THE CHALLENGE

    Consumer behaviour was shifting across the Middle East and globally. Carrefour needed to reassess the relevance of its proposition against these changes—moving beyond a price-only stance to a broader, customer-value promise that could sustain leadership and growth.

    HOW WE WORKED

    We partnered with a research firm to map core behavioural shifts and motivations, identifying key shopper segments and their future trajectory. Using these insights, we developed brand propositions, tested them with Carrefour leadership and in market, refining based on evidence. With a direction set, we created design systems for store, communication and livery, piloted them in select locations, gathered feedback, and iterated. Final rollout was supported by comprehensive brand guidelines that captured the narrative for change and specified the system for consistent execution.

    THE SOLUTION

    A refreshed value proposition anchored in everyday value, not just price. We simplified the in-store experience so offers are easier to find and benefits are explicit, and introduced a direct, customer-first messaging framework applied across channels, stores and fleet, unifying visual language, signage and livery into one coherent system.

    OUR DELIVERABLES

    Market research & consumer insights
    Brand proposition development
    Messaging framework & visual language
    In-store & signage system
    Brand livery & rollout guidelines

    THE RESULT

    Carrefour shifted from a price-driven offer to a “more for you” promise, boosting customer engagement and reinforcing long-term market leadership.

  • Masarra

    Masarra

    Masarra

    From the wonder of Abu Dhabi
    to the world

    “Dragoman embraced the time challenge and our developing business plan to deliver a brand our team is very excited to promote across the globe to grow tourism in Abu Dhabi.”

    Asif Parker

    THE CHALLENGE

    Miral, the creators of the awe-inspiring experiences in Abu Dhabi, like Yas Waterworld, Ferrari World, WarnerBros. and Sea World sought to develop a destination management company (DMC) to elevate the tourism experience for travelers to Abu Dhabi and the UAE.

    HOW WE WORKED

    The goal was to soft launch the brand at WTM in November 2024, which gave us 8 weeks to deliver the brand. We worked intimately with Asif Parker (General manager) and his newly formed team, to develop the brand. We formed a very close working relationship exploring and testing new ideas as the business plan was unfolding.  We also set up a global community of travelers to provide real-time feedback on the brand as we developed it.

    THE SOLUTION

    DMCs often focus their brand on the role they play with travel operators and position themselves on their functional attributes. We recommended we define our brand purpose on the role we play in helping travelers fulfill their travel experiences.

    Purpose:

    Delight people in the wonder of our world 

    Promise:

    Savour the world 


    We then created an ownable name in Masarra that originates from the word for delight and happiness in Arabic but with a unique spelling for ownership. 
    Our identity combines the local flavor of Abu Dhabi with the opening of the window to the world. We combined with our GenPlus group partners and their PR agency to soft launch the brand at WTM and develop the comms for the brand as it goes to market to sign up its partners.

    OUR DELIVERABLES

    • Brand Positioning
    • Name, Identity, Visual system
    • Guidelines
    • Video
    • Communication

    THE RESULTS

    Masarra is successfully signing up global travel operators and local travel providers to curate and deliver authentic and extraordinary experiences for their Abu Dhabi visitors.  

  • Sharrai

    Sharrai

    Sharrai

    Designing an intuitive online experience

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    PROJECT OVERVIEW  

    Sharrai was established to support the growing Sharjah automotive industry. Its goal is to transform the local used car industry and create a competitive environment for both buyers and sellers. The Sharrai online platform offers a digital used car showroom and to deliver a complete auto experience.

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    WHAT WE DID  

    Dragoman was initially asked to create a revised brand identity and visual language for their digital platform and its communications.

    However, after workshops with key stakeholders, the creative team was asked to redesign the user interface and components of the user experience across their website and app. Their current customer journey didn’t fulfil the business’s vision or address customer needs.

    Dragoman’s recommended UX was intuitive and user-friendly, offering a seamless browsing and shopping experience. Tailored customer journeys were designed for both desktop and the app, to better suit user habits on each device.

    The final brand assets were rolled out across communication campaigns, outdoor advertising and all digital assets.

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    PROJECT DELIVERABLES

    Market insights
    Brand identity
    Brand assets
    UX
    Digital assets
    Website

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  • DIFC — Harnessing Local Talent campaign

    DIFC — Harnessing Local Talent campaign

    Dubai International Financial Centre

    Harnessing Local Talent campaign — 82% increase in leads

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    Project overview

    DIFC wanted to support the UAE’s 2021 Vision of empowering local talent, supporting SMEs and promoting entrepreneurship within the country.

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    What we did

    Dragoman and the team at DIFC conceptualised the Harnessing Local Talent (HLT) competition. A national campaign aiming to attract local designers and homegrown brands, with the winners given the opportunity to set up a retail presence in The Design House, DIFC’s dedicated space for SMEs.

    Dragoman worked on the communication architecture and endorsement strategy, recommending that the HLT competition be linked back to the DIFC masterbrand. This enhanced DIFC reputation for supporting entrepreneurial talent and fostering creativity.

    The campaign ran across paid digital, social media, print, PR and environment branding, with strong targeting on creative audiences and the SME community. The campaign’s creative style visualised the many different aspects of design craftmanship, aimed at enticing SMEs from diverse sectors.

    The campaign produced an 82% increase in retail leads for DIFC. The initiative was so successful that it is now in its second year and is currently sponsored by the Dubai government’s cultural department, which has led to further funding and national exposure.

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    PROJECT DELIVERABLES

    Insights
    Brand architecture
    Communications strategy
    Design
    Animation
    Campaign management

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  • DIFC — No.1 campaign

    DIFC — No.1 campaign

    Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)

    No.1 campaign — generating new business leads

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    Project overview

    DIFC has achieved strong growth and occupancy figures over their 15 year lifespan. Dragoman was asked to communicate these statistical achievements and give them market context, in an engaging and visual way.

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    What we did

    The ‘No.1 campaign’ was DIFC’s first integrated marketing campaign. It aimed to raise brand awareness in key markets and generate new business leads. The campaign also spoke to existing DIFC tenants, confirming they were located within Dubai’s most prestigious financial community and amongst global industry leaders.

    Dragoman implemented a ‘seeded’ campaign approach, communicating one key achievement message each week, across a 12 week period. The bold typographic style presented key statistics in a bold and engaging way, celebrating their achievements through a playful numerical infographic.

    The campaign generated 23 million impressions, 85,000 clicks and 115 quality new business leads, with a never-seen-before conversion rate by the Business Development team.

    If you were interested in this case study, please click on the links below to see and read about:

    DIFC rebrand
    DIFC FinTech Hive branding
    DIFC Academy
    Harnessing Local Talent Campaign

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    PROJECT DELIVERABLES

    Communications strategy
    Design
    Animation
    Campaign management

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