This November, DAMAC Properties grew its portfolio of properties with the launch of DAMAC Islands 2. The launch marks the seventh master community by DAMAC in Dubai.
DAMAC Islands 2 draws its inspiration from eight dream destinations: Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cuba, Maui, Mauritius and Tahiti.
DAMAC launched the project with an omnichannel campaign that featured Bollywood A-list celebrities Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor, along with Egyptian singer Majid Al Mohandis.
Spanning print, digital, social, video and out-of-home (OOH) channels, and supported by earned media and influencer collaborations, the campaign drew on data that consistently identifies India, the UK, China and the GCC as markets with a shared preference for lifestyle-led master-planned communities. As a result, the DAMAC Islands 2 launch focused on global resonance rather than regional messaging.
“We are a luxury brand that represents the aspirations of buyers across the Asian and Arab markets,” said Amira Sajwani, Managing Director of Sales and Development, DAMAC Properties.
The company also hosted global and regional media in Dubai and Cairo at launch events for the DAMAC Islands 2 project, immersing them into its brand identity.
Finally, the campaign also invited the world to a competition to become DAMAC’s ‘Ultimate Islander’, championing creativity by giving the chance to interpret the lifestyle and narrative of DAMAC Islands 2 in their own voice.
“We wanted brand ambassadors who represent the DAMAC brand ethos of luxury and craftsmanship and reach out to people across cultures,” said Sajwani.
The campaign strategy for DAMAC Islands 2
The overall objective of the campaign was to position DAMAC’s portfolio as cross-cultural aspirational lifestyle products with global appeal. Additionally, DAMAC aimed to attract global investors through experience-driven narratives that lifted the project beyond traditional real estate communication.
The campaign was created to build international traction by turning the launch into a cultural event rather than a product announcement, leveraging user-generated content to build an organic campaign that relates to end-users. The strategy blended aspiration with wide accessibility, enabling the campaign to reach both high intent investors and the broader public who are increasingly shaping the company’s global brand visibility.
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Digital platforms enabled immediate engagement and data driven real-time optimisation, while OOH placements in strategic zones, such as JBR or Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, reinforced a sense of presence in the city.
The campaign’s roll-out strategy took a layered approach with hero films driving awareness through brand ambassadors, social content sustaining momentum and user-generated assets keeping the narrative active beyond the initial launch. DAMAC said this approach helped maintain relevance across its diverse global markets while ensuring that the campaign performs strongly in both reach and qualified lead generation.
Additionally, the ‘Ultimate Islander’ competition broadened cultural reach and makes the campaign more relevant to younger demographics.
Campaign results
The company said that the project’s sales validated the success of the campaign, as it surpassed DAMAC Islands’ Guinness World Record of AED 10.2 billion sales in under 24 hours.
Media coverage has shown nearly 100 per cent positive sentiment, across more than 1,880 headlines from around the world compared to more than 500 for last year’s DAMAC Islands launch, demonstrating strong perception alignment with the project’s positioning.
The ‘Ultimate Islander’ competition went viral organically and drew in more than 10,000 appilcations. DAMAC said the participation helped reinforce its position as a forward-looking lifestyle developer with projects that inspire both aspiration and involvement.
The company also said that partners, internal teams and external stakeholders have expressed a high level of excitement, with strong alignment between brand messaging and market expectations.
On the social side, both the Dubai launch and the Cairo launch, gathered more than 107 million following accounts. These indicators reflect the depth of interest from potential customers regionally and globally and show that the campaign has resonated across both investor and lifestyle driven audiences.
All creative, production and strategic elements of this campaign were developed fully in house. DAMAC explained that this allowed for tight creative control, faster execution and closer alignment with the brand’s evolving global narrative. Internal teams led the conceptualisation, production, media orchestration and digital strategy.
