September 28, 2019
Al Kout
Reconnecting with Kuwait
Al Kout
A landmark destination and epicentre of the community.
Al Kout, Kuwait’s largest mixed-use retail, lifestyle, and leisure destination, boasts a super regional shopping mall, five-star Rotana Hotel, luxury yacht marina, fresh meat and fish market, fishermen’s wharf, six-kilometre sandy beach, and an Arabian souk featuring entertainment, retail, and restaurants.
In its essence, Al Kout is meant to be for everyone; equally welcoming families, individuals, expatriates, and nationals in an inspired and elevated environment.
However, despite offering such an exciting array of amenities, owners Tamdeen Group realised guests and visitors weren’t taking full advantage of everything the development had to offer. Consumers were drawn primarily to the mall – the heart of the destination – but because the branding was so segmented, there was an evident lack of interest in its surrounding activity hubs.
In order to fully capitalise on the value of the land, and to enhance their brand equity as regional property developers, Tamdeen Group accepted that the overall destination needed to be reimagined, reinvented, and redefined as a true and authentic community epicentre.
Ninth Space was awarded the opportunity to consult on the Al Kout brand, to unearth all current challenges and provide a tactical plan to overcome them with a strategic rebrand.
Brand audit
Market insights
Brand strategy
Brand story
Brand identity
Brand language
Collateral design
Website design
Brand guidelines
Exhibition stand design
One Al Kout. Truly Great. Truly Kuwait.
Our brand audit concluded that Al Kout wasn’t currently capitalising on its potential for success; the original identity had become obsolete and its components were not being maximised individually or together, as one destination.
This research informed our main objective, which was to create a brand strategy that highlights how to bring the development’s many valuable experiences together and therefore position Al Kout as Kuwait’s premiere lifestyle destination.
We focused on three main user groups: retail tenants, affluent residents, and social weekenders. The brand identity had to be current and contemporary in order to appeal to the destination’s diverse audiences, inspiring the most-loved retail brands to set up shop.
By augmenting the brand to include must-see amenities such as the luxury yacht marina, six-kilometre beach, and bustling Arabian souk, we were able to reconnect the mall – as Al Kout Mall – to its surroundings, bringing in new energy and style.
From a design perspective, we purposefully introduced a vibrant colour palette and incorporated emotive photography to reflect a vivacious spirit and passion for life that continues to draw people to the destination.
Sparking interest, fostering organic growth, and boosting sales.
The meticulous brand work to create a vibrant, connected identity is the spark Tamdeen Group needed to bring purpose back to marketing Al Kout as a multi-faceted shopping and lifestyle destination – the largest of its kind in Kuwait.
The new brand identity and visual language were rolled out across the entire community, reinforcing the art of interconnectivity throughout Al Kout’s diverse offerings. With this success came new support from the government to build a bridge between their assets, enabling them to welcome more visitors from near and far.
The results are clear in the vibrant energy that pulses through Al Kout and its visitors, from blissful beachgoers and chic shoppers to those indulging in luxury amenities at the Rotana Hotel and marina.
