Almost 40 years ago, two young New Yorkers, Joel Dean and Giorgio DeLuca, opened their gourmet food emporium in SoHo, an up-and-coming artists’ neighbourhood in Manhattan. The brand was iconic in the US and synonymous with luxury lifestyle, having been featured extensively in films and tv such as Devil Wears Prada, American Psycho as well as Will & Grace and set an objective to rollout the brand internationally.
We took on a key role in the brand’s international expansion and launch in the Middle East region as part of the core PR & Marketing team as acting brand manager, key contact and client liaison with Ogilvy ME, together overseeing the branding localisation and rollout, launching PR events for 5 stores across Dubai, Kuwait City, Abu Dhabi, and Doha.
As part of the Middle East rollout the objective was to create an impactful landing into the Middle East region. Leading the extensive launch campaign, the £600,000 budget was used to localise the logo and brand by selecting an Arabic equivalent brand typeface, create culturally relevant product gift baskets, displays, POS and promotions as well as the pre-opening and opening PR campaign which garnered awareness, anticipation and interest. The campaign included creative and enticing artwork , photography and recordings which were rolled out in teaser magazine folds, newspaper and radio ads, shop hoardings designed to intrigue and create talkability as well as talk show placements to set the tone for product placement and to create desirability.
After an outstanding press launch event and marketing campaign the result of the viral and high impact campaign achieved quarterly sales targets within the first month of opening.
Today, Dean & Deluca is a renowned international purveyor of gourmet and quality specialty foods operating in the United States, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, Turkey and the Middle East.
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