Brands For Less, a prominent discount retail chain in the Middle East, has launched a community-led platform offering private labels, small businesses and individuals across the UAE support during a period where many small businesses are experiencing a slowdown in demand, visibility and access to customers.
The retailer is offering support through increased visibility on its owned platforms, space to showcase products, selected rent-free opportunities as well as extending its suppoer to the F&B sector by featuring food concepts in its Brands For Less café.
‘By the Community, For the Community’ is Brands For Less’s action, as a regionally founded company, to support homegrown businesses in times of uncertainty and give back to the very community that enabled its growth.
“Launching ‘By the Community, For the Community’ at this time is about responding to this reality in a meaningful way,” says Arlette Nahas, Regional Marketing Manager, BFL Group. “It allows us to open up our ecosystem and give these businesses a platform to reach more customers, increase their visibility, and regain momentum.”
View this post on Instagram
The initiative focuses primarily on homegrown businesses, “as they are often the most impacted during such periods, and the ones that can benefit most from direct exposure within our stores and community,” explains Nahas.
While ‘By the Community, For the Community’ isn’t a marketing-led initiative, she explains that it supports Brands For Less’s model of ‘access’ and making quality products available to a wider audience, at an affordable price.
“This initiative carries that same philosophy forward, opening up opportunities for others to grow and be seen,” says Nahas. “It allows us to use our retail footprint, our reach, and our community to support others in a meaningful way.”
The retailer aims to make a “real difference” for customers, businesses and the communities around it. “Supporting small businesses, giving them exposure, and helping them scale within our ecosystem is a natural evolution of what we stand for,” says Nahas.
The marketing team at Brands For Less will be crucially involved in identifying the right stories, shaping how these businesses are presented, and ensuring their journeys are shared in an authentic way. Nahas explains that the initiative’s focus is less on promotion, and more on providing struggling homegrown businesses with visibility.
“Marketing plays a role in amplifying, but the substance comes from the businesses themselves,” she says.
Brand For Less will create avenues for those selected to amplify their businesses through in-store activations, dedicated spaces, and touchpoints that allow customers to discover them in a natural way. “This creates real interaction, not just awareness,” Nahas explains.
Finally, Brands For Less will also navigate outreach on social media by facilitating partnerships with content creators and community partners to bring these stories to life in a more relatable and accessible format, ensuring the initiative is experienced, not just communicated.
To submit an application for review, those interested can email [email protected].
