Al Futtaim has launched a new sonic identity for its Dubai Festival City Mall (DFCM) in partnership with Mindloop Studios.
The bespoke soundscape includes a signature melody, an interactive voice response (IVR) piece, a corporate TVC backtrack, and a Hollywood-level composition featuring Loire Cotler from Hans Zimmer’s team for the mall’s Imagine Show.
The updated sonic identity was rolled out to bring DFCM a higher recall rate and to create an aural experience that evokes a strong sense of festivity amongst visitors.
“The creation of our distinctive soundscape aligns with our commitment to creating innovative, multi-sensory experiences,” said Hayssam Hajjar, Asset Management Director at Al-Futtaim Real Estate.
The group’s intention was to cater the region’s culture to a global audience. “When envisioning our new sonic identity, we aimed to stay true to the region’s values and pay homage to its heritage. We wanted it to reflect a blend of our local roots and global outlook,” Hajjar said.
“We created three sonic pieces, and one of them gives centre stage to the oud, a quintessential Arabic string instrument,” explained Hajjar.
The three sets, derived from the main composition, follow the themes of ‘innocence’, ‘festivity’, and to tie in the region’s culture, one that is ‘Arabian’.
Al Futtaim also engaged two artists to bring the new sound to life. Ahmad Haffar, fondly known as the ‘Voice of Dubai’, having featured his voice on government projects such as the Dubai Metro, Dubai Airports, and Expo 2020 Dubai.
Haffar is also the Managing Director at Mindloop Studios. In terms of the strategy behind the sound’s creation, he said the work aimed to reflect DFCM’s offering of “a beautiful and diverse retail experience.”
Furthermore, Cotler’s contribution draws a deliberate parallel to her vocals in the Dune films, shot in the UAE, fusing local and global artistic influences. This collaboration reflects a vision of sonic identity that brings both regional relevance and international appeal, blending the best of both worlds.
The sonic identity also aims to “exude energy from within its essence while remaining professional, presentable, genuine, and with a global approach,” said Haffar. “The sonic signature is a stroke of four notes with powerful bespoke instrumentation that was designed with all the above-mentioned characteristics in mind while remaining tremendously memorable.”
The new sound has been carried out across multiple touchpoints to create a consistent and familiar customer experience. Each individual edit of the main composition was developed with the medium in mind.
“The Imagine Show’s official theme song is a full-on Hollywood-level score composed of five unique chapters – Arabian, Japanese, Chinese, Sahara, and Modern Classical – and ending with the sonic signature. In total, it contains 254 layers of musical instrumentation and 89 layers of vocals,” said Haffar.
For the IVR, a separate piece was developed for the mall’s phone on-hold system. The music was “crafted to ensure that every customer remains engaged with the brand’s overall identity whilst, hopefully, relaxing to the beautiful tune,” said Haffar.
The seven-minute “background lounge piece” has been implemented in the mall “to enhance brand recall whilst taking visitors on the journey that is DFCM,” Haffar explained. “The whole piece was uniquely designed from the main sonic signature and multiple evolving chapters,” he said.
Altogether, Al Futtaim’s new sonic identity for its DFCM aims to strengthen brand recall, enhance customer experience and position local heritage to global audiences in the region.
