Branding agencies in the Middle East

Brand Lounge: making the organisation understandable

Brand Lounge lists its headquarters in Dubai and regional locations in Riyadh and Beirut. Its wider partner network is described separately. Ask which people will actually be on the account rather than treating the network map as a list of committed project resources.

The agency’s 7X case study describes developing the institutional identity of Emirates Post Group, including positioning, naming, verbal and visual identity. For a group with several businesses, the useful question is how the postal operation was distinguished from the parent organisation. Ask to see how that distinction works across the system, rather than treating a new name as sufficient evidence of clearer architecture. This is the agency’s account of its contribution, not an independent measurement of commercial performance.

Unisono: inspect what changed, and what did not

Unisono’s GFH case study offers a useful qualification for an established organisation considering a rebrand. The agency says the work retained the GFH name and existing brand strategy while changing visual and verbal expression. Assess it as an evolution with defined boundaries, not a reinvention of the entire business strategy.

Ask what evidence led to retaining those elements, how the new expression was introduced and what the internal team received at handover. The case also describes annual-report and digital and print work following an earlier 2015 rebrand. That continuity is worth exploring when an identity needs to survive everyday communications. It does not, on its own, establish the resources available for a new appointment.

Tarek Atrissi Design: Arabic lettering as the central design task

Tarek Atrissi Design lists contact points in Barcelona and the Netherlands. Its relevance here comes from documented Arabic design and Middle East assignments, not a UAE-office claim. An international specialist may suit your brief, provided arrangements for research, workshops and production are explicit.

For a brief in which Arabic lettering carries the identity, examine the studio’s 2017 Qatar Post logo commission. The case describes developing the Arabic word for Qatar into a ribbon-like form. That establishes a logo role within a broader rebrand, not sole authorship of every part of the programme. Ask how a comparable approach would work at the smallest digital size and in the largest physical application you need.

Phable: use the relevant regional engagement

Phable’s portfolio account of Byanat, an Omani technology company, describes visual identity, digital experience, messaging and campaign content for a proposition spanning AI and telecommunications infrastructure. These are agency-reported roles. They provide a more relevant reason for consideration here than an unexplained list of international technology names, but do not establish a Middle East office.

For a technical brief, ask how the proposition was developed for its intended buyer and which parts of the delivered system the proposed team created. Keep other credits precise: Phable describes Git Academy work with GitHub and Praqma, not the GitHub corporate identity. Its technology-content portfolio describes Oracle campaign work through Logicalis, rather than an Oracle corporate rebrand. Ask for examples at the same level of responsibility as your assignment.

WonderEight: establish which market and which discipline

WonderEight’s contact page lists Beirut, Dubai, Riyadh, London and San Francisco. Location should remain separate from markets served. A published office address is a starting point for a conversation about delivery, not proof that every specialist you need works there.

The agency describes branding, marketing, digital and communication services. That range is relevant to a consumer-facing brief crossing identity and campaigns, but the disciplines need separate evidence. Ask for a complete identity case and the team’s exact responsibilities. A social campaign for an established brand may demonstrate campaign thinking without establishing that the agency created the brand’s identity. Make sure the proposal explains the handover between strategy, design, production and ongoing communication.

Science & Sunshine: ask for the campaign argument

Science & Sunshine presents itself as an advertising agency. That is a more useful starting point than an unsupported list of cultural institutions. A campaign brief needs an idea that works in the chosen channels, and released work is the place to begin that assessment.

Campaign Middle East reported its Yasmina appointment on 21 May 2025, with a remit across brand strategy, creative campaigns and storytelling and initial launch activity in the UAE and Oman. The reported appointment establishes a responsibility. It does not prove subsequent delivery or commercial results. Ask to see what was released and distinguish the agency’s contribution from the product, language technology and identity supplied by other teams.

We Are Social: social expertise with the right attribution

The official Middle East site identifies the operation as We Are Social, formerly Socialize, and describes socially led creative work and influencer marketing. That makes its work relevant to a social or campaign brief, rather than automatically establishing suitability for a corporate-identity programme.

There is a research trap here: the regional site also displays Amazon Music work explicitly tagged United Kingdom. A regional web address does not establish a local delivery credit. Ask for the proposed team’s regional assignments, the audience insight behind the idea and its role in production, distribution and evaluation. Global network work can inform an assessment, but should remain identified as network work until local responsibility is established.

Mojo Ink: identity, editorial work and physical experience

Mojo Ink identifies Beirut and Abu Dhabi and describes branding, publishing and experiential work. That combination is relevant when an identity must live in publications, exhibitions or other physical settings as well as on screen.

A credited Maison Mirath portfolio attributes concept and design to Mojo Ink and separately identifies design, art-direction and photography roles. It offers a firmer starting point than an unexplained client list. For your brief, request comparable client work and establish who owns editorial development, spatial design, production and final implementation. Creator credits can help identify a contribution; they do not establish who will join a future project.

Memac Ogilvy: examine the proposed regional team

Ogilvy’s UAE page describes Memac Ogilvy and sets out advertising, consulting, experience, health and public-relations capabilities. For a programme crossing disciplines, ask which team owns the central brand decision and how the different parts will be governed. A broad network offers choices; a proposal must make the delivery structure understandable.

Treat regional case studies, global network work and individual employees’ earlier career credits separately. Each can inform an assessment, but they are different kinds of evidence. Request a comparable project with a named team, a defined contribution and an account of what reached the public. Do not assume every local office supplies every specialist service in-house.