Wednesday, Aug 27, 2008
Dubai: Damac yesterday unveiled its new corporate identity with the theme, "wish fulfilment".
Re-branding Damac Properties has increased the private sector master developer's positioning as a luxury lifestyle provider to include a focus on the benefits of luxury and has differentiated it from its competitors, the company said yesterday.
"An exhaustive analysis has led us to conclude that while the Damac brand is strong in some key luxury associations like great locations, exclusive, expensive, plush and with a responsive service culture; we were being challenged by generic customer expectations and several competitors on our luxury heritage," said Damac senior vice-president of corporate communication Niall McLoughlin.
"Therefore, we faced the challenge of how not only do we strengthen our luxury heritage but differentiate it from our competitors in order to build a much stronger bond with our customers. As luxury is becoming more about an experience than an object, and luxury buyers are looking for more added - value, the promise of 'Damac fulfilling the wishes and enabling the aspirations' elevates our luxury heritage to a new level," he said.
Futurebrands of New York came up with the new corporate identity, which according to Damac mirrors a new vision for the developer and is designed to reflect a new age in its history and the global property industry.
"It's a powerful symmetric word mark, whose second half reflects its first. Uniquely, the logo shows reflection as a symbol of Damac reflecting the desires and wishes of its customers" McLoughlin said.
Michael Hughes, executive director of strategy at The Brand Union, said re-branding happens for a number of reasons; when a company launches a new service or product to an existing brand, where there has been significant market changes or the brand is seeking to enter or attract new markets, changing consumer trends or demands leading to the brand not performing, lacking identity, losing relevance or consumer engagement.
He said it was difficult to put an exact value to a re-branding exercise. "It is difficult to put an exact value on a successful re-branding programme can achieve as 'brand' is not one element of your company but ultimately everything your customers say and think about you - your reputation," he said.
By Natasha Marrian
Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.
