2018 Winners & Shortlists

MUBADALA BRAND DEVELOPMENT

BrandMUBADALA INVESTMENT COMPANY
Product/ServiceMUBADALA
EntrantALL ABOUT BRANDS Abu Dhabi, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryCreation of a new Brand Identity or Rebrand / Refresh of an Existing Brand
Idea Creation ALL ABOUT BRANDS Abu Dhabi, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Campaign

The creative idea for the new brand was to tell the story of how Mubadala creates mutually beneficial partnerships and collaborations that embody the spirit of the company name (the word 'Mubadala' means 'exchange' in Arabic). We wanted to create a mark that would represent Mubadala's global ambition and convey the sense of energy, dynamism and creativity within the new organisation. The swirling calligraphic globe did just this. The Mubadala globe icon has a real sense of movement and energy and communicates global ambition. The calligraphic style of the globe gives it a sense of place and also spells out 'Mubadala' in Arabic, so the logo works for local and international audiences. Local calligrapher, Dia'a Allam, was commissioned to create the calligraphic sketch for his modern approach to calligraphy. To complement the icon, we created an elegant wordmark that has a reassured understated strength in its form and character spacing.

Creative Execution

A fresh, bold and exciting identity clearly shows Mubadala's approach to business and represents its commitment to creating mutually beneficial partnerships that have a positive global impact. The primary colours were chosen to give a sophisticated contemporary feel, with the aqua green adding a sense of place. The secondary hues complement the core colours and give greater flexibility. They offer the opportunity to enhance key information and differentiate complex visuals. The corporate font for English text is Interstate in a range of weights and the Arabic font is GE Dinar. The new logo has been implemented across hundreds of items globally including stationery, signage, websites, advertising, events, sponsorships, gifts etc. Applications are clean, simple and printed and produced to the highest standards. A variety of print finishes, such as embossing and foiling, add texture, quality and gravitas. An internal and external launch took place in May 2017.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The brand launch resulted in the following achievements: An aligned and united merged Mubadala and IPIC Heightened brand awareness, visibility and understanding locally and internationally The logo was well received by employees, stakeholders and subsidiaries Overall 2,132,086 impressions were delivered 1,174,721 unique users were reached on Display 1,112,895 impressions on Facebook 252,465 impressions on Twitter 281,591 impressions on Instagram "What I love about the identity is its strength and solidarity from the wordmark, it really says 'financial' and the calligraphy part is innovative, new, fresh and young. I can't think of a brand that has been clever enough to put two things together so successfully". Stakeholder comment

The strategy was to develop an inherently bilingual identity, to underline the company's respect for the Arabic language and to ensure the brand retained a sense of place and identity whilst positioning the new brand as a global entity. The icon communicated Mubadala's global ambition and the inclusion of the company name in Arabic within it allowed us to take the bold step of using an English only wordmark to reflect the company's international outlook. While the legal name of the company changed to Mubadala Investment Company, we recommended that the brand name was shortened to Mubadala in line with research undertaken into industry best practice, ensuring a modern, more aesthetically compelling, and memorable brand. This avoided having to accommodate unwieldy amounts of type in the logo and ensured the word 'Mubadala' has full-prominence. It also ensured greater flexibility and visibility in application.

Credits

Name Company Role
Mark Rollinson All About Brands Chairman
Nick Cronin All About Brands Creative Director
Basel Al Saleem All About Brands Senior Designer
Thoby Prinsep All About Brands Design Director
Reem Arké All About Brands Senior Designer
Oliver Chilton All About Brands Senior Designer
Dia’a Allam Freelancer Calligraphist
Links
Website URL