An affordable furnishing brand that started out as a single store 29 years back in Sharjah, Pan Emirates is now one of the fastest growing furniture stores in the region.

The key challenge was to pivot from a mass brand to one that’s in the affordable, accessible luxury arena and appeals to a younger, savvier audience segment, thus expanding their market share.

We conducted multiple in-store, telephone, in-person interviews as well as online (Instagram) and email surveys to understand the brand perception and market. In addition, we looked at reviews on Google, Trust Pilot and Glassdoor and went down Reddit rabbit holes.

Your home. Your style. On your budget.

This led to the development of target audience profiles, identifying primary customers, a messaging style that would resonate with them and of course, the brand platform & story.

HOME COMES FIRST

There’s one place in the world where you feel completely safe. Where you’re free to be yourself and surrounded by lovingly selected elements reflecting your tastes, memories, travels and stories. It’s where you get to invite the world a peek into who you are. It’s your sanctuary. It’s your canvas for self-expression. It’s where there’s finally balance and the noise, the deadlines, the overwhelm just fade away as you walk through the door into the arms of your family or sink into the comfort of your couch.

It’s where you come first. it’s where your family comes first. It’s because at Pan Emirates, we know that Home Comes First.

What’s in a name? A lot, actually.

A name change sends an important signal, which was much needed in this case. We wanted to retain “Pan” because of the brand equity but replace Emirates as the brand had expanded geographically far beyond the UAE. Many iterations were considered but we landed on one that tied best with the essence of Home Comes First and encompassed their offering: Pan Home.

Design your happy.

With a new direction, strategy and name in place, a beautiful, contemporary and much more minimal identity was created. Benchmarked against global DTC furniture brands, the new image style is much cleaner, allowing the products to really shine. The modern colours and typefaces deliver on the repositioning of Pan Home as a brand for a younger audience that is embarking on a new phase in their life (newly weds, a nursery for their newborn, first home).

We also worked with Pan to revamp their website, social media presence as well as advertising campaigns.

Time for your home run

Legacy and heritage brands are facing a bit of a struggle now that the purchasing power has shifted to a new generation with entirely different tastes, behaviours and even language. If you’re figuring out this new landscape and need some help, we are the right partners – our team is made up of Dubaiians who’ve been born & brought up here, to those who have been working in the region for 25 years. Our insights into the local customer behaviour and preferences is second to none, while our ability to design according to the most contemporary global standards is self-evident.

We worked with the team at GOAT to deliver a positioning, name, full brand identity and key applications for this restaurant n Dubai Design District.

A catchy name, striking color and bold identity complement a venue that has taken the Dubai burger scene by storm.

We worked with Barakat positioning them for the future – a contemporary wellness and lifestyle brand, taking into account their visual identity, as well as all key brand touchpoints – packaging for the entire Barakat range of products, social media, vehicle livery and digital presence.

In addition to looking after the Roshan brand, we have rolled out a number of retail stores for the business, produced TV and radio adverts for them, and directed their brand and retail image portfolio.

We worked with the owners of Misk to revitalize an already established brand, overhauling the logo, brand identity, and considering every aspect of their customers interaction points, including website, social, and packaging systems.

We worked with the founders of Luma (parents themselves) to build a lovable, modern children’s brand spanning both an educational and play destination, as well as educational products for the home.

As well as creating the name, visual identity, illustration style and social media presence, we developed a number of key brand extensions – including educational flash cards that can be bought online and in select retail outlets.

Working with the founders, we developed a brand identity spanning environmental, packaging, signage and social.

We were tasked with developing an overall brand identity for the summit, a carefully considered brand architecture – covering various key areas (solar, water, cities, climate, etc). Each of these needed to have their own identifiable personality, while working together to build and complement the overarching Energy Summit brand identity.

Through color, graphics and imagery we built vibrant, dynamic campaign that existed in digital and social marketing, through to event branding and onsite merchandise.

Our solution was to create a relatable, approachable insurance provider brand – one that differentiates itself from the competition through pricing, product channels and, most importantly, the way it communicates. Through a lighthearted tone of voice, carefully considered messaging system, a  refreshed brand identity and a distinctive illustration style, Beema is an insurance provider unlike any other.

It appeals to a new generation of vehicle owners – one that is more comfortable interacting through online channels rather than call centers; one that seeks out smarter, more efficient ways of doing things and looks for brands that resonate with their own values.

Working with the founders, we developed a minimal identity spanning a simple, muted color palette punctuated by gold foil and complimenting understated, white interior spaces.

In creating the brand for White and the Bear, we wanted to develop two characters for the venue. White (the Rabbit) and Bear would be two friends, each with their own distinct personalities. We developed a clear brand story for each of them, defined each of their personalities and then began to create messaging for each of them.

From there. we developed their image and finalized how each of them would look, move and act, considering different angles and profiles.

Working with the client, appointed chefs and interior designers, we brought the brand to life throughout the restaurant space bringing playful touches to the venue’s key interaction points and touchpoints, including menus and takeaway items.

We then looked to the digital space, including social media and the White and Bear website to fully realize and complete the brand.

After a thorough strategic exercise and competitive audit, we worked with Clerk to revisit their brand identity, paying careful attention to messaging and tone of voice. It was important the Clerk brand spoke to two important, very distinct audiences – talent, and employers. Messaging channels were developed for each, while we considered all digital touchpoints – app design, website, social media communication and online advertising.

We worked with the designers to develop a smart, sophisticated brand capturing the understated elegance of the product, delivering a brand, online retail presence and all packaging.

Solution:

We developed a robust brand for Roxy Plus spanning three different tiers and driven by key elements – including type, color and style – taken from the recently updated Roxy branding. Designed to be flexible and dynamic, the Roxy Plus brand moves easily across media – print, digital and social, as well as animation, 3D cinema graphics and printed advertising.

On approval of the brand, we released a teaser campaign, influenced heavily by key visuals from big summer blockbusters.

A robust campaign followed, taking the idea of loyalty but grounding it in the world of film culture through a newly created Roxy illustration style, as well as quotes and characters from the movies.

Working with Pine Tree Lane, our aim was to capture the essence of what made Pine Tree Lane what it is: A colourful, expressive brand offering customers everything from unique, signature pieces, to fully fitted interiors.

Pine Tree Lane blends high end design with affordability. We developed a brand spanning retail and environmental design, through to printed brochures and collateral, as well as web design and social media look and feel. While the brand features bright colors and multiple, dynamic grapic elements, by pairing it with white space and simplistic typography, the brand feels fresh, minimal and modern.

In developing the name and brand identity for the venue, we wanted to ensure that the brand was in line with the café’s core offering – a place where people can meet, socialize and where guests can take the time to sample a number of smaller cakes, pastries and starters. At the same time, we wanted the name to reflect the regional, Arabic heritage surrounding where much of the coffees, teas and desserts are sourced from.

Certain stylistic choices were carried through into all of the venues – metallic finishes (golds and coppers), patterning and an uncluttered, modern, sense of design found its way into each and every one of the venue’s brand identities. There though, the similarities ended and each brand became its own experience.

Menus – rich, hardcover leather-bound volumes with gold trim and copper screws, were designed to not only reflect and enhance the restaurant experience, but also to allow for quick and easy amendments in the future. Inside the menu, gold foiling was then applied over full color images to further enhance the richness and authenticity of the experience.

Working with the team at Jumeirah, we created a full suite of restaurant brand applications for Mare Mare – from menu design to coasters and napkins – finally compiling the project in a neatly documented brand guidelines document.

Brand naming , Logo design and brand identity creation

Each of the five restaurants offers guests different dining experiences: Mare Mare specializes in seafood, Majlis serves tea, coffee and cakes, Tean offers a modern take on cuisine from around the Middle East. We wanted to ensure that each of the brands reflected that unique experience, while fitteing into, and complimented, the greater vision and proposition of the resort.

Certain stylistic choices were carried through into all of the venues – metallic finishes (golds and coppers), patterning and an uncluttered, modern, sense of design found its way into each and every one of the venue’s brand identities. There though, the similarities ended and each brand became its own experience.

Saadiyat Island is renowned for embracing art and culture. From The Louvre, to the Manarat Al Saadiyat, Salwa Zeidan and The Art Gallery at NYU, the island is rich in color and expression. We wanted the Tean brand to both embrace the richness of the food on offer, while reflecting the ethos of the Island’s greater vision.

The brand identity is dynamic. The logo is versatile; it shifts and changes throughout the many applications it appears on – from printed material – (such as coasters and menus) to signage and uniform design.

Working with the team at Jumeirah, we finalized a full suite of restaurant brand applications for Tean, finally compiling the project in a neatly documented brand guidelines document.

Challenge

Each hotel has their own lobby lounge – a venue within the hotel that is typically a waiting area and meeting point. They are where hotel guests meet before heading out for the day, and where informal meetings are held.

We were tasked by the Jumeirah Group to create a unique and evocative name and brand identity for the restaurant while also creating a theme that set it apart from other lounges.

Solution

By giving the F&B outlet a theme and identity, we were able to to turn a standard hotel lobby lounge into something more than just a simple meeting point. And that’s where the idea of Chapters stemmed from – lounges are where individuals meet, catch up and exchange stories about their own lives. They are places where business men and women get together, discuss opportunities, plan and write new chapters in their own ventures.

We wanted to take this idea and turn it into a brand that people could relate to, connect with and spend time with. Chapters – the brand name given to the venue captures everything that we wanted the place to become, a place where stories are born, shared and retold. Our task then became to bring this idea to life.

Large bookshelves lined with novels further build on the brand idea, while colors were selected to support existing uniform materials and tableware. Menus and bill folders were designed to mimic hardcover novels, note books and sketch pads, while messaging for the brand was brought through into every aspect of the brand experience.

Chapters is a simple brand that, while delivering on its own unique brand experience, lives comfortably within Jumeirah’s unique new offering of Zabeel House at Al Seef.

Read more about the individual services we offered for this project below:

Challenge

Developed and operated by Madain Properties, Marina Arcade needed to communicate its offering to a number of different markets: Local – families living and working in Dubai, regional (GCC) and a number of international markets. This made targeted communication channels of utmost importance.

Advertising and messaging

First and foremost we developed a compelling creative idea with visuals and messaging solutions that would be used across print and digital applications. Identifying a number of key points – those attributes that differentiate the offering from its competition (including concierge and service) determined the overall tonality for the brand, and the overarching messaging that the campaign was going to employ.

We then began to look at how the creative ideas could be applied to print, digital and social media.

Social media marketing and digital advertising

We decided to use social media not just as a tool to promote the development and the individual units within it, but to transform it into something useful – a tool that residents could use to find out about upcoming events and promotions within the area, and a digital platform that educates and informs international audiences about the benefits of buying and investing within the Marina.

Social media was then complemented with targeted, digital advertising – both on social channels (such as Facebook and Instagram, as well as external news and property sites) and backed up by a simple, easy to navigate website, including downloadable brochure, floor plans and video walk through.

As with everything we do, in taking the Marina Arcade brand to market, it was important that everything from the visual style to the words we used across each and every channel – be it outdoor advertising, print, or social media – remained true and consistent to the overall brand experience.