Majid Al Futtaim launches ‘Create Great Moments Together’ brand campaign

Majid Al Futtaim, the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, today launched a new regional marketing campaign designed to inspire people to spend more quality time with loved ones. The campaign was developed in partnership with Amsterdam-headquartered creative agency, Nomads, after independent research commissioned by Majid Al Futtaim revealed people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region feel that spending quality time with friends and family is key to their happiness but they don’t prioritise it enough.

The campaign, ‘Create Great Moments Together’, encourages people to spend quality time with loved ones by showcasing the powerful emotions experienced when people create their own moments together. The brand film, for example, features a family singing karaoke in a Carrefour grocery store, while in another two children ride a luggage trolley in the Kempinski Hotel, Mall of the Emirates. The film is directed by American director Cole Webley, who recently directed this year’s most talked-about Superbowl commercial – the Mexican border wall film for 84 Lumber, and is set to a contagious soundtrack by Dutch Indie band, Taymir.

Vino El Khatib, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer, Majid Al Futtaim – Holding, said; “Majid Al Futtaim embarked on a rebranding journey over two years ago. In past years, we focused on establishing and raising awareness and familiarity of who we are as a company. This year we are communicating the purpose and vision of our brand of creating great moments for everyone, everyday, while embracing our values of being bold, passionate and together. In taking this approach, while basing the campaign on a powerful insight confirmed by independent research, we hope to build a more authentic and credible emotional connection with our customers and stakeholders across the region.”

The independent research that sparked the ‘Create Great Moments Together’ campaign, revealed that the vast majority of people in the region (92%) are happiest when spending quality time with friends and family, yet more than a quarter (28%) spend just five hours or less a week doing so. It also showed half (48%) of people recognise that they waste at least two weekends per month by not spending quality time with friends and family, while 40% turn down offers to meet loved ones at least twice a month. Four fifths (79%) of people surveyed agreed they need to prioritise more time together with people they love.

El Khatib continued; “Happiness unites people across age groups, genders and geographic boundaries, as it is fundamentally what we all seek to achieve in life. This, coupled with its natural alignment to our vision, made it an attractive area to investigate when we set out planning our new campaign. When the results came in, it was clear that people across the region feel today’s fast-paced, hyper connected world has led them to deprioritise doing what they enjoy the most – spending quality time with loved ones – so we decided to take action. By inspiring people to come together and celebrate life, in many ways we feel this campaign is as much of a social call as it is a marketing campaign, as its back by the opportunity we are able to create for people to be together through our pioneering experiences, in retail, leisure, entertainment and hospitality and we’re extremely proud of that.”

Richard Hol, Executive Creative Director at Nomads, added: “We felt the key to executing the film well was capturing the many authentic emotions happiness is made of. From a photographic-direction perspective that meant shooting it in a way that was less polished than we’re used to seeing in the region, to portraying genuine emotions in a way that you can almost feel the happiness yourself. It meant a lot of hand-held camera work and drawing out candid moments from the cast. We’re absolutely thrilled with the result.”

The ‘Create Great Moments Together’ campaign goes live today and will be highly visible across the region from through a television commercial, outdoor advertising, radio, and social and digital media.