Majid Al Futtaim
From brand management to brand value
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Project overview
Majid Al Futtaim is the leading shopping mall, hotel, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. It is one of the United Arab Emirates’ most respected and successful businesses, spanning 15 international markets and employing more than 43,000 people.
Dragoman has worked with Majid Al Futtaim’s brand team for nearly 5 years and is involved in the full spectrum of brand activity, from launch of the new brand through to the ongoing management of the brand. At the end of 2014, a new Majid Al Futtaim brand strategy provided a branding solution for the entire brand portfolio, consolidating it under one master brand.
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What we did
Brand Launch & Guidelines
Dragoman was appointed to define the brand architecture, design system and brand guidelines for the launch of the brand at the end of 2014. We worked with the management team and the launch team as the lead agency on a brand council, liaising with several communication, PR and digital agencies, production companies and printers. The brand was launched to much fan fair, signalling the new intent of the organisation and starting a remarkable branding journey which we are proud to still be part of today.
Brand Architecture
Dragoman created the structures and endorsement systems for the business portfolio, breaking it down into relevant categories that could be referenced for future brand development or acquisition. Defining the relationship between each category allowed us to ensure that brand equity was always transferred towards the masterbrand. Ernst & Young was then appointed to test the equity link between each brand in market. Dragoman went on to complete the products & services brand architecture, outlining what elements required a separate brand and subsequently assist in defining the level of investment required todevelop it. A self-guided decision tree allowed Majid Al Futtaimstaff members to take themselves through the questionnaire to determine the correct outcome.
The brand architecture continues to evolve as the business grows and Dragoman reflects these changes in ongoing iterations.
Brand Management
Post the launch of the brand, Dragoman was appointed as the lead agency for Majid Al Futtaim’s ongoing corporate brand management. We designed all touch points from stationery items to environmental branding. We ensured the brand guidelines remained updated as the organisation grew and the brand needed to extend across new business’s or new activations. We also deployed several strategic initiatives across the organisation to support the management and rollout of the brand. These included a brand management portal where all employs and partners could access information and digital assets related to the brand and the creation of a brand ambassador program.
Brand Audit
The brand audit forms one part of the broader brand management services that Dragoman provide Majid Al Futtaim. The brand audit provide senior management with quantifiable year-on-year statistics of the organisation corporate brand compliance. (click here to read more)
Brand Portal
Dragoman designed and built an online brand management portal to house all corporate brand guidelines and assets essential to the rollout and management of the Majid Al Futtaim brand.
Brand Ambassador Program
It was critical to Majid Al Futtaim that the brand was effectively delivered in the market by their staff, as they are the primary interaction point with customers and partners. Dragoman designed a brand ambassador program that identified key employees to act as champions of the brand across the organisation. The program reduces the stress on the corporate branding team and introduces the importance of brand across the organisation with the ultimate goal of achieving brand consistency across the organisation and empowering departments and business units to make the right brand decisions.
We provided the ambassadors with toolkits to use in their departments or business and set out a schedule of reviews with the ambassadors to feed information back into the Majid Al Futtaim brand team that helped to assess the current mechanisms for brand rollout, identify best practice and any required updates to the guidelines.
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PROJECT DELIVERABLES
Insights and research
Brand strategy
Brand architecture
Brand assets
Design systems
Environment design
Brand guidelines
Brand engagement
Brand portal
Brand audit
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