One year has passed since we gathered to applaud the exceptional work of our industry, championing the promotion, advocacy, and education around brand development across the region. As we come together this year to commemorate Transform MEA’s 10th anniversary, we’ll reflect on the challenges overcome, the best practices employed, and the brilliant firms transforming the industry. We’ll also take the opportunity to appreciate and celebrate all the diversity we see around us, from industries to clients to peers.
For Brand Lounge, the past year has been especially significant when it comes to diversity. We truly challenged ourselves to explore the unknown, take on new challenges, and embrace uncharted territories. We’ve always held to maximizing brand value and innovation and as such we continue to try new things, take risks, and embrace different perspectives. As a strategy-led brand consultancy, our ethos revolves around constantly challenging the status quo, venturing into uncharted territories, and genuinely fostering a culture of diversity.
Over the past year, we’ve had the rare privilege to partner with bold and ambitious clients, hungry to disrupt and innovate.
A prime example is our work with the new Geneva-based luxury watch and jewelry brand, Charles Zuber, where we confidently defined and developed a Neo-Swiss design philosophy that differentiates the brand in a sea of competition. So much so, that the term ‘Neo-Swiss’ suddenly got picked up by media outlets covering the global watches industry. This daring positioning and design philosophy sets Charles Zuber apart to capture an emerging young customer base eager to move on from the ‘old’ and ‘predictable’. The success of this project has proven to be an invaluable learning experience for us as a team and a testament to the idea that there are always new spaces to explore.
If challenging the overly-saturated luxury industry wasn’t enough, we just had to challenge the healthcare industry.
Our work with China’s Sinopharm CNBG and Abu Dhabi’s G42 saw us help reintroduce the highly innovative world of Biotechnology into the UAE. Through a series of co-creation workshops, Hayat Biotech was born as a UAE-based entity in a relentless pursuit to break the barriers of science. In addition to developing a differentiated positioning and designing an industry-leading visual identity, we created a strong, bold, and disruptive tone of voice that helped amplify Hayat Biotech’s presence with the masses and on a global scale.
Our collaboration with the FANN Media Discovery Platform is another major highlight where we connected Sharjah’s youth with a platform that fosters creative expression and creation. Our challenge was to help keep our audience interested; we had to keep FANN fresh and relevant. By introducing a “blank canvas” identity, we handed the reins to our audiences to define FANN the way they want to. We moved from strategy to visual identity to roll-out to launch to digital activation, a full 360-degree experience to ensure we maintained a strong and credible storyline.
Our year was full of new and challenging projects. From lingerie to protein bars, mentorship platforms to bottled water, hair care to diabetes care, our playground was as diverse as the UAE. And to top it off, our team has grown in its own right to its most diverse mix of cultures, skill sets, and unique personalities yet. It’s this rich cultural diversity that we pride ourselves on that helps promote synergy and chemistry to enrich our brand development process. We leverage everyone’s perspective and foster a collaborative spirit. By drawing on our diverse backgrounds and points of view, we “think differently” to deliver “different”.
Regardless of the industry or the challenges thrown at us, we adapt, evolve, and thrive, bringing our philosophy to life and delivering successful results. At Brand Lounge, we transcend diversity by transforming it into our strength. We leverage it to enhance our creativity and ultimately maximize brand value for our clients. 2022 is a testament to our growth, flexibility, and adaptability. As we stand on the cusp of the future, we look forward to continuing this journey with renewed zeal and ambition.
