Residents asked to vote for one logo from five finalists
By Derek Baldwin, Chief Reporter GULF NEWS Published: June
24, 2012
Dubai: In a country now home to some of the most famous
brand placements in the world, the UAE has launched plans to come up with its
very own brand logo to promote itself locally and abroad.
Two months after the UAE was named the second preferred
international market by the world’s top 326 retail brands, the UAE is asking
the public’s help to select its new future logo.
Five logo finalists have already been chosen and their work
has been posted on www.uaepm.ae, the website of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad
Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler
of Dubai.
The Ruler has also posted the logo launch on Twitter, where
he said the brand logo will be used locally and abroad in all national
promotional campaigns, projecting a unified UAE identity and highlight the
uniqueness of the UAE.
The voting process begins on Sunday and ends on July 18,
2012.
Members of the public will be able to vote for one of the
five logos uploaded on the Prime Minister’s website. The chosen logo will have
variations that can be used in both Arabic and English.
Shaikh Mohammad said that the usage of the logo will be a
part of a strategic plan that is based on coordination between governmental and
non-governmental bodies to use major events held both locally and abroad to
spread and narrate the nation’s message and story to the world.
Visitors to the website are being given the opportunity to
select their favourite brand logo that best represents the country.
“The nation brand logo that you are going to choose is a
promotional logo for the UAE. It shall be used locally and internationally to
promote a unified identity for the UAE and express its unique aspects setting
it apart from other nations around the world,” the website stated.
“The UAE nation brand is to be used as a visual identity for
the nation, to communicate to the world its vision and tell its story. The
nation brand must reflect the UAE’s global economic and political status and
its diverse and attractive cultural and business environment, which make it a
leading destination for tourism, economic, and cultural activities.”
The push to brand itself is a wise move in a world with a
growing roster of big brand logos and recognisable names, said a Dubai-based
branding expert on Sunday.
Haroon Popal, creative manager at Creative Studio, is a
specialist in branding, design and logos and said that the branding move “means
the UAE wants to position itself in the world to be recognised. Brand awareness
is very necessary.”
Branding, he said, is more than just picking a graphic and a
fancy font.
“When you brand something, it adds value, whether it’s a
company or a country. It becomes valuable,” Popal said.
Constantly exposing a brand to the public also helps create
a sense of awareness and identity that people begin to recognise automatically,“When you see something again and again, you start building
trust. It will create recognition, build trust. It also helps one to identify
itself a certain style,” Popal said.
Whenever an entity chooses to rebrand, it means they are
seeking increased awareness about who they are, what they offer and the values
for which they stand, he said.
Voting for the new logo semi-finalists began on Sunday and
will remain open until July 18 – visitors to the website can only vote for one
design.
To vote, log on to
http://services.moca.gov.ae/en/index.aspx.
With input from WAM / Source, credits and thanks to : GULF NEWS
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