Home Centre’s new brand identity – ‘Inspired By You’
As a climax to a series of meaningful touchpoints in celebration of its 25th anniversary, Home Centre, one of the largest retailers of furniture and home furnishings in the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian sub-continent, today unveiled a new brand identity that is underpinned by their customer-first approach of enabling every home to tell its own unique story. The dynamic brand identity, a first of its kind in the region, was launched with a campaign aptly titled ‘inspired by you’, as a touching tribute to over 25 million homes and counting, that they have been a part of and continue to be. The objective is to further strengthen the value of the iconic brand which has opened over 70 stores, delivering to 1,950 homes daily, over the past 25 years.
As a prelude to the brand identity launch and celebrating the people who are at the centre of Home Centre-its customers, the brand has also launched an emotional campaign, ‘Your Home. Your Home Centre.’ The campaign is reflective of the core brand values that celebrate the lives of customers who have been a vital part of the brand’s journey in enabling people to turn their houses into HOMES. At the heart of this campaign was a digital activation that reached out to people across the region. Customers could participate without any purchase and simply express ‘What home means to them?’.
Home Centre aspires to give its customers not the home they want, but the one they can uniquely design – in style, range, quality, and affordability. The new brand makeover and the collections inspired by this evolution amplify the message that every home has a unique story to tell. Home Centre enables customers to select from the wide range of products that reflect their personality. That is why the brand makeover, and their curated collections reflect unique styles and personalities driven by the theme ‘Inspired By You’.
With the brand makeover, Home Centre has stepped up its efforts to evolve with the changing consumer behaviour and offer the latest styles and designs. Celebrating how people live, Home Centre’s new brand identity is dynamic in nature representing trends, seasonality and personalisation. The new brand makeover is also a reflection of how Home Centre’s customers can update their homes and explore new ideas, designs and color palettes to give a stylish makeover to their homes. The new brand identity is in line with Home Centre’s vision to make beautifully designed homes accessible to everyone, offering aspirational designs at affordable prices.
Following the reveal of the new identity, Home Centre reimagined the customer shopping experience and journey for their store at City Centre Mirdif. The new format store houses 6 apartment set ups offering customers styling tips and ideas that will truly inspire the inner designer in them and will help them create a living space of their dreams. Offering an easy and convenient shopping experience, the store hosts dedicated category destinations, to offer range of choice. Parents can shop freely while the kids are engaged at the entertainment area. The new format store at City Centre Mirdif is Home Centre’s largest store in the UAE spanning across 79, 000 sqft of inspiration. Additionally, the store also offers click and collect and personalised design services.
Aarti Jagtiani, Group Director and Board Member, Landmark Group, said: “We are in the business of creating human impact and with 25 years in the business, it is time for us to take a fresh approach for the next 25 years and more. We are proud to be operating in a country that continues to seek new goals and ambitions under its able leadership, and we at Landmark follow the same vision of incorporating innovative ways to serve our customers and residents better. The Group and its business verticals have witnessed strong, steady, organic growth in this country with Home Centre and we are confident that we will continue this momentum in the years to come.”
Sameer Jain, CEO, Home Centre, added: “As part of our journey, we realised we need to stay even more connected to our customers and there was a need to evolve with changing consumer behavior. We are now looking at the next 25 years and want to reach out to our customers with a re-positioned look and feel of our brand which is not just a physical change in identity but a refreshed ethos that runs across the various touchpoints of our organisation. Through ongoing research and continuous engagement with our customers across the region, we have been working towards evolving our offer based on consumer needs which has culminated in the launch of a new positioning and brand identity that helps us connect better with our customers.
Home Centre is inspired by all the things that make your home different. To ensure that customers experience the new brand makeover, Home Centre has launched a New Trend collection with a catalogue showcasing the latest designs and styles including a capsule collection by the Lebanese – American designer Farah Merhi. Home Centre is constantly in sync with the latest trends and offers artistic collaborations and interior design services to help consumers find the very best in-home decor to transform everyday spaces.
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How can a city build a lasting identity?
Michelle Saywood, vice president of North 25, discusses how Dubai may develop its own identity by combining elements of sustainability, wellness, and liveability
As an architect and a Dubai resident for many years, I’ve often wondered what constitutes the DNA of Dubai, and defines its global identity? Do we have urban spaces in the city that stand the test of time – streets and neighbourhoods where families have lived together for generations, and feel a sense of belonging?
The older parts of Dubai, near the Creek and the Al Fahidi Neighbourhood, are more lived-in, with homes that still enjoy open courtyards, corner shops that sell all kinds of essentials and shaded alleys where tourists stop and engage with the surroundings.
But Dubai has grown to have different hearts – the old and the new, the urban and the suburban, and together they are still not cohesive enough to give the city its global identity.
Most global cities, such as Paris, San Francisco, London, Istanbul, and Sydney resonate beyond their national boundaries. They have a strong global recognition and conjure a powerful set of ideas as a place to visit, study, innovate, and do business. Their identities transcend beyond their geographical limits and become a unique, inherited collection of assets, history, traits, and culture.
For example, as I have walked down the streets of Barcelona, a city of leisure, its wide roads, museums, and history are forever etched in my mind. Istanbul, another historic and dynamic city is defined by its settlements along the Bosporus that divides the European and Asian sides, teeming with generations who have made the city their home.
Neighbourhoods in other cities, such as Noting Hill in London, Castro in SF and Soho in New York have their colour and identity that make these cities so much more memorable.
Dubai is essentially a product of this brave new world and has grown from a regional business, financial and leisure hub into a global city.
Post the discovery of oil, the emirate grew at exponential speed along the creek or Khor Dubai, investing in concrete, glass and steel as towering skyscrapers, artificial islands and stand-alone gated communities rose from the sea and the sand.
In the last decade, Dubai has had international award-winning architects designing its numerous iconic landmarks, such as the Burj Khalifa, and more recently The Opus, the Dubai Opera, Ain Dubai and now The Museum of the Future, listed by The National Geographic as one of the 14 most beautiful museums in the world for its astounding architecture and sophisticated technological innovations.
But while all these architectural wonders serve to catapult the young city into the global limelight, leading in innovation, design, and architecture, how can Dubai develop that unique identity that blends in elements of sustainability, wellness, and liveability?
Identity is different from building a city’s brand and reputation and it is this belief that makes me say that Dubai’s streets, buildings and communities need to reflect happy, creative and empowered residents who engage with its urban spaces.
We need an inclusive and cohesive framework that makes a smart and sustainable city where generations can settle and work.
The Dubai 2040 Urban Masterplan is moving in that direction to make Dubai the “best city in the world to live in”. It lays out a comprehensive future map for sustainable urban development and I am hopeful that this will enhance the quality of life of citizens, residents and visitors
At Dubai Holding Real Estate, we are aligned to this vision of the next 50 years as we design and create residential master communities with liveability and connectedness at the core of what we do as a master developer.
Our destinations, neighbourhoods and attractions, such as City Walk, La Mer, Jumeirah Beach Residence have elevated Dubai’s status as a global icon but each of these creations has also prioritised people’s happiness as the ultimate success indicator.
Cities are for people and Dubai can forge its own special identity through good urban planning where spaces don’t feel isolated or neglected. Dubai needs to stitch its urban spaces together, to connect them and encourage greater human interaction.
Things are already moving in that direction as we observe the work that has been done along the beachfront and the Dubai Creek. It is encouraging to find that developers are seeing the value of creating such public realms that will enhance social engagement, promote sustainable environmental practices, encourage physical activity in the community and create compelling spaces that attract more visitors. Dubai Holding Real Estate has developed this idea for its La Mer community, and the results have been more than encouraging.
In the latest addition to the emirate, the District 2020 neighbourhood, strengthens this DNA of Dubai as a smart and sustainable city centred on the needs of its urban community. In the next few months, I look forward to being a part of it.
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DZ Design reveals a new brand identity with a redesigned logo and website
Dubai-based interior design studio, DZ Design, has unveiled a new visual identity, a new website, and a free eBook for residential interiors. Originally established in 2014, by husband-wife duo, Dina Murali and Zain Belgami, DZ Design started as a small architectural and interior design studio with just the two of them working across their dining table.
Drawing on more than 30 years of combined experience in the fields of global hospitality design firms and retail groups, Murali and Belgami have built a great reputation among their growing list of clients and a portfolio of exciting mid-size hotels, luxury residential commissions, and commercial projects.
DZ Design was among the first tenants in the heart of Dubai’s new creative zone – Dubai Design District (d3), followed by the opening of a fully-fledged office in India.
With the slogan “Great value for designs you’ll value” spearheading their rebrand launch campaign, Murali, design director at DZ Design, says that no one teaches designers how to run or market their design or architecture business.
“And as with many studios, we were too busy with our projects and didn’t give enough attention or time to our personal branding. We also knew that we needed to hire someone externally who would see us, and our studio, more objectively than ourselves. The result was a wonderful journey of discovering our strengths and weaknesses,” she explained.
The team chose a font that nods to traditional and timeless design, rather than being too trendy or quirky. A thin diagonal line that cuts through the logo symbolises the diversity of their projects, with a new tagline “Great value for designs you’ll value” becoming an integral part of the logo.
According to Belgami, managing director at DZ Design, comments: “The new brand aligns with the core values of our studio, both collectively and individually. It also allows us to apply it as a new sign of quality, and a sign of a DZ Design Services and design work that our team and our clients can be proud of.”
Focussing on mid-size hospitality and luxury residential markets, DZ Design’s latest projects include work for the Radisson, Citymax, Pullman, Movenpick, Hilton Hotels, and Emirates Park Zoo and Resort, amongst others.
With the new website launch, Murali has also just published her first eBook “The ultimate guide on how to create and style your own hotel-inspired home” which can be downloaded from their website.
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