Majid Al Futtaim Unveils New Brand Strategy to Embark on Next Chapter of Expansion

Majid Al Futtaim, the leading shopping mall, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East and North Africa, today unveiled a new brand direction that will serve to unite its diverse group of companies under one umbrella corporate brand – Majid Al Futtaim - as it embarks on the next chapter of expansion.

The new brand direction represents the spirit and history of the entrepreneurial company by reinforcing its experiential purpose and vision of its founder, Mr Majid Al Futtaim – “my dream is to create great moments for everyone, every day.”

The all-encompassing brand strategy adopts the iconic symbol of ‘M” across the visual identity of the company’s brands to create a unifying mark of excellence across its diverse set of assets including City Centre Malls, VOX Cinemas, Carrefour, Magic Planet, Najm Credit Cards, Ski Dubai and Mall of the Emirates.

Through this rebranding, Majid Al Futtaim aims to strengthen the understanding of its offerings and create a closer link between its corporate brand and its assets.

Iyad Malas, Chief Executive Officer, Majid Al Futtaim – Holding, said: “This exercise will reinforce the Majid Al Futtaim name behind the unique experiences and brands that are intertwined into the lives of 250 million people who experience our brands each year, yet still allow for each brand to have a strong sense of visual individuality.”

The timing for the rebrand comes as Majid Al Futtaim embarks on an extensive expansion into new markets in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region and beyond, providing the ideal platform to introduce the Majid Al Futtaim brand to entirely new populations. With ambitious plans to double the size of the business by 2018, the company’s expansion will be driven by new malls opening in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, residential projects in Lebanon, hypermarkets, cinemas, family entertainment centres and snow park openings.

A remarkable business success story, Majid Al Futtaim was founded in 1992 from one man’s vision to transform shopping and leisure experiences for consumers. It now operates in 12 international markets with over 26,000 employees and generating revenues of close to USD $6 billion and EBITDA of USD $900 million.

Malas added: “Creating great moments has always been central to our culture, but has now for the first time been articulated to reflect our responsibility to create exciting living experiences for consumers.

“Our brand name and logo are important indicators of who we are and what we stand for.  Now we are taking the opportunity to strengthen how we represent ourselves in new and existing markets to our consumers, our people, and the communities in which we operate. The result is a clear unified corporate identity that cascades across the business like a visual identity glue, acting as a ‘quality stamp’ that will differentiate us and reinforces our bold and passionate commitment for the future.”

Martin Lindstrom, a leading international branding consultant, worked with Majid Al Futtaim to deliver the new brand direction. Lindstrom commented: “The new identity is a symbol that has been created to truly represent the spirit and history of Majid Al Futtaim and is so simple that it is immediately recognizable and provides further unification across the company. It takes three essential components that are unique to the heritage of Majid Al Futtaim – the sand, reflected by the colour, which represents the firm’s beginnings in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE); the arch, which was inspired by the iconic dome from Mall of the Emirates; and the M, standing for Majid.”

Majid Al Futtaim has played a major role in the growth of the Dubai, UAE and wider Middle East region, successfully bringing the first ever mall and hypermarket to Dubai at City Centre Deira. This led to the transformation of shopping and leisure experiences in Dubai and throughout the MENA region. 

The organisation has created some of Dubai’s most bold and iconic landmarks, such as Mall of the Emirates, one of the world’s most profitable malls, and Ski Dubai, both of which are globally recognized and have helped to transform the city into the modern metropolis that it is today.

The family company has grown into one of the UAE’s most respected and successful businesses and has set the benchmark for best in class corporate governance for a family owned business. Unique in its distinction between ownership and management, and a board structure with a majority of non-executives, Majid Al Futtaim follows a self-imposed code of conduct set by UK listed companies. This bold approach to corporate governance has led the company to become the highest credit-rated private company in the Middle East, with investment-grade credit rating (BBB) from both S&P and Fitch.

The new brands can already be seen at City Centre Deira, one of the first landmark shopping malls to pioneer the retail experience in the United Arab Emirates since opening in 1995. It will then be rolled out across other markets during early 2014.