About
Majid Al Futtaim is a leading lifestyle pioneer across the Middle East and North Africa. The Majid Al Futtaim portfolio is vast, including 30 shopping malls and hotels, the rights to Carrefour in the MENA region, VOX Cinemas, as well as Ski Dubai and Ski Egypt.
A unique multinational sound project spanning more than 150 locations.
Challenge
Although Majid Al Futtaim’s venues have footfall of over 200 million people per year and locations like Ski Dubai (pictured below) are world-famous, there was a relatively low level of awareness of the Majid Al Futtaim brand. Our task was to create a customer journey like no other, so that anyone would be able to recognise that they were in a Majid Al Futtaim experience simply through sound.
Solution
We began by auditing the Majid al Futtaim brand and analysing its competitors. Our audit included visiting properties like Mall of the Emirates and residential communities like Al Zahia. We took sound readings and measurements of malls, Carrefour stores, Magic Planet entertainment venues, Ski Dubai and Vox cinemas.
Once we had completed the audit work as well as seven onsite workshops with influential team members, we began designing the sonic assets based on our findings and the Majid Al Futtaim brand values, which were ‘Bold, Passionate, Together’.
‘The Sonic’
The strategy was deceptively simple; take the existing sonic logo, evolve it from a cold, minor-key variant, and create a warmer, bolder version. Then place it across every touchpoint imaginable.
We created variations of the Sonic for all of MAF’s marketing assets. These included bespoke event music, ringtones, notification sounds for websites and apps, a podcasting kit and a set of audio guidelines to help digitally roll out all the assets.
The Mall of the Emirates
While we were rolling out the digital marketing assets, we began installing physical solutions in the Mall of the Emirates – sounds designed to ensure that people would know that they were in a Majid Al Futtaim experience, just from what they could hear.
We created 43 separate branded generative soundscapes to play in Mall of the Emirates, each designed from scratch to
- Include the sonic logo
- Create an engaging shopper experience
- Include individual sub-brands’ personality, where relevant
This creative strategy followed the precedent set by the visual brand architecture where the letter M is adapted to reflect each sub-brand’s purpose. In the same way in our work, the Sonic was always included but was appropriately flavoured.
The soundscapes included rest soundscapes for seating areas, car park soundscapes to make these spaces feel safer, luxury soundscapes for the premium shopping areas of the mall – and even a ‘sound of the sea’ soundscape for the fish counter in Carrefour, sonically delivering the MAF vision of ‘Great Moments for everyone, everyday’. The most important was the welcome soundscape, which played at every entrance to every MAF-owned brand inside the mall, sonically letting customers know that they were entering a Majid Al Futtaim experience.
“Great moments for everyone, everyday”
MAF’s vision
Result
Independently measured by a third-party research agency, our sound increased customer happiness by 8%, and customer energy levels by 9%, delighting the client.
MAF were so happy with the brand recognition strategy we had created and installed that The Sound Agency were instructed to begin the same process of auditing spaces and installing the Sonic in 25 further malls, including their sub-brands across the Middle East.
We continue to partner with Majid Al Futtaim, helping them with bespoke sound problems, as well as maintaining the equipment we have installed across 90 different sites.
So now when you enter a Majid Al Futtaim experience, you can tell where you are not just by its appearance, but through the multisensory experience that we created.
Client Testimonial
The Sound Agency has been an excellent partner for Majid Al Futtaim over the past three years, working tirelessly to provide the technical know-how and hands-on experience needed to help us install the Sonic smashable across the entire Majid Al Futtaim portfolio.
The Sound Agency’s customer service has been far beyond what we have come to expect from suppliers. The team has always been available whenever we have needed them (via email, face-to-face meetings, calls and WhatsApp) and has created any bespoke documentation that was needed. Their professional attitude and their competence have always left us feeling fully briefed and secure that our project was safe and in the best hands.
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Outcome
The Majid Al Futtaim audio brand experience project represents a new level of ambition in audio branding: extensive strategy and marketing sound, multinational installations, and a clear return on investment. To discover how we could increase your footfall, dwell time, sales and shopper satisfaction, just click the link below.
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