Offices in Dubai (Al Qusais) and Sharjah (Muweilah), working across the UAE, including Abu Dhabi, and in Oman.
A brand strategy workshop built around the Trus Holding boards, a concept for this service. See the original work →
In short
Brand strategy decides who a business is for, why those people should choose it and what it should stop saying.Abcon Branding is a brand strategy agency in Dubai, with offices in Al Qusais and Sharjah, and every engagement we take on starts here, because a logo, a website or a campaign can only be as clear as the thinking behind it. We study the business, its customers and its competitors in the UAE, then agree a position, a brand structure and the messages that carry them, written down as a plan your team can act on.
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What is included
What brand strategy covers
The work is shaped around the question the business is facing. Most engagements draw on some or all of these:
01
Business and brand diagnosis
Where the business stands, what customers already believe about it and what is holding growth back.
02
Brand research and audits
A review of every place the brand appears, from signs and packaging to the website and social channels.
03
Audience and competitor research
Who buys, why they choose, and how competitors in the UAE position themselves, so the brand can claim ground that is not already taken.
04
Brand strategy and positioning
A clear statement of who the brand is for, what it offers and why it is the better choice.
05
Brand architecture
How a group, its companies and its products relate to each other, and which names should carry the most weight.
06
Messaging and narrative
The story, the key messages and the tone of voice, so sales, the website and campaigns all say the same thing, in Arabic and English where the audience needs both.
07
Naming direction
When a launch, a new company or a product line needs a name, the strategy sets the brief: what the name has to signal, in which languages and against which competitors.
08
Go-to-market and growth planning
Which markets, channels and priorities come first, and how the brand supports them.
09
A written strategy you can hand over
One document that holds the diagnosis, the position, the structure and the messages, so designers, agencies, staff and suppliers all brief from the same page.
Each part of the work has its own page. If you are not yet sure what the real problem is, start with business and brand diagnosis.
For groups with several companies, product lines or sister brands, read how we approach brand architecture.
When the position is agreed but the words are not, the next step is messaging and narrative.
To see what changes the size of a strategy engagement and what else to budget for, read our guide to branding costs in Dubai.
A strategy wall for Trus Holding, a concept for this service.
When it helps
When a business needs brand strategy
01
Customers compare you on price.
When people cannot see what makes you different, they fall back on the cheapest option.
02
Your team describes the business in different ways.
If sales, marketing and leadership each tell their own version, customers hear none of them clearly.
03
You are launching, expanding or entering a new market.
A new offer or a new emirate is the moment to decide how you want to be seen, before the launch budget is spent.
04
The group has outgrown its brand structure.
Several companies or product lines with unrelated names and looks can make a strong group seem smaller than it is.
05
Marketing spend goes up and enquiries do not.
More advertising cannot fix a message that does not land. Strategy finds out why before the next budget goes out.
06
The Arabic and the English say different things.
When the two versions of the brand were written separately, the position is already split. Strategy decides what the brand says first, then how it says it in each language.
Process
How we work on brand strategy
Every project follows the same four stages. This is what they mean here. Read more about our process.
01
Diagnose
We talk to leadership, review what you can share about the business, audit the brand and study customers and competitors. The result is a plain diagnosis of what is working, what is not and what deserves attention first.
02
Architect
We turn the evidence into a position, a brand structure and core messages, and agree them with you before anything is designed. For a group, this is where we decide what the companies share and what each one owns.
03
Deploy
The strategy becomes the brief for the identity, website, campaigns and sales material, so everyone who builds the brand works from the same thinking. Our own designers, writers and marketers use it, and so can yours.
04
Compound
We stay involved, watch how the market responds and refine the plan against the baseline set at the start. When a new company, product or market comes along, it slots into the structure instead of starting again.
Trus Holding colour swatches fanned on an oak table, ready for a brand strategy workshop, a concept for this service.The Trus Holding emblem on a navy board beside blank notes, mapped out during strategy, a concept for this service.
Selected work
Strategy you can see in the work
Strategy rarely shows in a single logo. It shows in how a group’s companies relate, in the story behind a name and in a brief written before anything is drawn. These examples come from the original project presentations, and each links to the full case study. They record decisions, not sales figures.
See how an idea carries into the design. These examples draw on the original project presentations.
How does the business idea become a brand?
Kukit’s original brief describes burgers and fried chicken at accessible prices. Its naming board connects “cook” and “it”.
The name, playful lettering and food-led message carry the same idea into the identity. The original brief and naming rationale make that connection visible.
We quote every project after a first conversation, so the proposal matches what the business needs. These are the things that move the cost and the timeline most.
A focused workshop is a smaller job than interviews, audits and competitor reviews across several markets.
Number of brands
One company is simpler than a group with several businesses and product lines.
Languages
Positioning and messages written for Arabic and English audiences take longer than one language, because the words have to work in both rather than be translated afterwards.
Naming
A new company or product name adds creative rounds, plus trademark and domain checks.
Decision makers
Every extra stakeholder adds conversations, reviews and time.
What follows
Strategy on its own is a smaller engagement than strategy followed by identity, website and launch.
What clients say on Google
★★★★★5 out of 5 stars
Very professional work, they choose quality over quantity all the time, creative and innovative , love the fact that they include their own opinions and give me honest feedback, helps with improving business and business development.
Absolutely amazing experience working with this team. Their creativity, attention to detail, and understanding of branding is on another level. Highly recommended for anyone looking to elevate their brand presence.👍👍
We (Tayn Roastery) have been working with Abcon Branding for the past 4 years for social media management, packaging design, and printing services. Their team has always been professional, creative, and reliable with on-time delivery. We’ve been consistently happy with the quality of work and highly recommend them.
What is the difference between brand strategy and branding?
Branding usually means the visible parts: the name, the logo, the colours and the website. Brand strategy is the thinking that decides what those parts should say and who they are for. We do both, and we do the strategy first.
Is brand strategy the same as marketing strategy?
No, although they should fit together. Marketing strategy decides channels, budgets and campaigns. Brand strategy decides what the business stands for, who it is for and what it says, which is what every campaign then has to express. When we run marketing for a client, the brand strategy is its brief.
Can you do brand strategy without designing a new logo?
Yes. Some businesses need a sharper position and clearer messages more than a new look. If the current identity still works, we will say so, and the strategy will guide how it is used.
What is brand architecture, and does our group need it?
Brand architecture is the plan for how a parent company, its businesses and its products relate. A group needs one as soon as customers meet more than one of its names. In the Trus presentations the companies share the Trus name, while Trus Holding, Trusline Distribution and Trusworld each have their own emblem, and the Trusline brief asks for its symbol to stay distinct from the rest of the family.
Do you work with small businesses as well as large groups?
Yes. We work with new, growing, established and large businesses. What matters more than size is a clear ambition to grow, and we scope each engagement to fit the business in front of us.
Can the strategy cover Arabic and English audiences?
Yes. Much of our work in the UAE is bilingual, from Afdal Foods to Jumanah Foods. We decide early what the brand has to say to each audience, so the Arabic and English messages carry the same position instead of one being a translation of the other.
How long does a brand strategy project take?
It depends on the scope, so we agree the timeline with you after a first diagnostic conversation, before any work begins, and set it out in the proposal.
What should we have at the end of the strategy stage?
A written diagnosis of the challenge and agreed priorities, followed by the position, brand architecture and messaging needed to guide the next decisions. We define the exact outputs in the proposal. A logo presentation alone is not a substitute for that strategic direction.
What should we bring to the first strategy conversation?
Start with the business decision you need to make: a launch, a new market, a group structure or a position customers do not understand. Share the current offer, audiences, competitor names and existing brand material if available. Identify who will approve the direction, so the research and decision process can be scoped around them.
Do you work with businesses in Abu Dhabi and the other emirates?
Yes. We work with businesses in Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain from our head office in Al Qusais, Dubai, and our office in Muweilah, Sharjah. We do not have an office in Abu Dhabi. Meetings happen in person at either of our offices, or online, whichever suits the project. Abcon Group also works in Oman.
Preparing the first conversation? Build a brand project brief around your business challenge, audience and priorities.
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