The Insight

Majid Al Futtaim partnered with the World Retail Congress and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce to bring the tenth edition of the event to Dubai in 2016. Our challenge was to undertake a communications marketing programme around the event capable of enticing attendees, as well as other retailers from across the world, to register interest in partnering with the company to either enter or expand their presence in the Middle East region.

The Idea

We developed a series of breathtaking experiences for retailers and media during the Congress that embraced the company’s vision of creating great moments for everyone, everyday.

On the Majid Al Futtaim stand, we offered delegates the chance to be transported to the company’s iconic Mall of the Emirates through VR and experience skiing down the slopes of Ski Dubai, fine dining at VOX ThEATre by Gary Rhodes and shopping at the mall’s renowned Fashion Dome.

To deliver the experience to a wider audience, we hosted the content on the company’s YouTube channel so it could be accessed by Google Cardboard users. We also shared the link to the video (along with a personal smartphone VR headset) with media and retailers and repurposed the content into three immersive 360 degree videos for use on Facebook.

Each day, we shot, produced and published highlight videos on Majid Al Futtaim’s social media channels by 6:00pm. We drove further dialogue by using real-time polls on Twitter tied to trending topics, live interviews with the company’s CEOs on Periscope and publishing graphically designed quotes live from speeches and panel discussions.

Finally, we arranged interviews with the Holding CEO and the CEOS of the company’s Operating Units with regional and international media including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and CNBC.