The Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, opened in January 2010 following 6 years of construction. The branding and website consulting for these projects were done by Brash Brands and Landor Associates in Dubai whilst I led their Interactive Development Consultancy.

Its 830 meters spans 163 floors and a mix of residential and commercial spaces, with a 304 room Armani Hotel and Armani Residences in its lower floors. The tower sits within Emaar’s Downtown Dubai development which includes The Old Town, The Dubai Aquarium, The Address Hotels and Resorts, and The Dubai Mall, all at a cost of US$20 billion.

burj-khalifa-1The creative process and my role
When the Burj Khalifa (then named Burj Dubai) released property within it for sale in 2009, it was by exclusive invitation. This required ultra high end promotional material for its elite target audience. I was responsible for the planning, design and implementation of the website which revealed this unique offer to the world. All property was sold out upon release.

burj-khalifa-2

For other projects in the Downtown Dubai portfolio, I provided design recommendations and guidelines to Emaar, liaising with the marketing and website development teams. This included a brand asset management consulting report for Emaar to understand how best to digitally supply their brand to agencies working with both the parent and product brands. This line of consulting I had commenced when creating the Brand Centre for BP’s 100,000 employees in 2001, as part off their rebrand.

Development team and technologies
For each of these projects Emaar had a project management, development and technical team to hand over to, which usually involved 5-10 people. They were developing on Microsoft ASP and with Adobe Flash for more interactive features.

Scott David leads User Experience strategy and design at the World Economic Forum, across their digital platforms for data-driven knowledge and communities of global leadership.

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