the art of business
NEWS
COMMERCIAL INTERIOR DESIGN invites Propriartary's Phil Davis to explain the continuing rise and acceptance of 'Brand Art' as an essential branding asset, and how Propriartary has been pioneering the concept within the region.
Commercial Interior Design is an invaluable source of ideas, inspiration and product information for industry professionals across the Middle East. Commercial Interior Design covers all aspects of commercial interiors, from residential to industrial, offices to warehouses, hotels to health spas and everything in between.
Propriartary's involvement in this latest article follows the recent cover feature for the Arabian Business Start Up magazine. Phil Davis stated that "It was an honour and a pleasure to be featured in the Arabian Business article, but I was then even more delighted to be invited to contribute to the Commercial Interior Design publication because this hugely influential magazine is produced specifically for our main target audience".
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"We are seeing an incredible surge in recognition of the importance of Brand Art, especially within the Interior Design industry, and in particular within the hospitality sector. Hotel art is a very good example of where art is now being used on a thoughtful level rather than simply to match colour schemes. The CID article provides an excellent platform from which to spread awareness of the growing influence and immense power of Brand Art".
PROPRIARTARY partners with major Chinese corporation HUAHONG HOLDING GROUP and exhibits at the massive CANTON FAIR.
Propriartary is extremely pleased and honoured to commence a partnership with the Huahong Holding Group. Huahong are a Chinese based Manufacturing and Export company and are market leaders specializing in Household and Home Decoration products.
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The Huahong factory and head offices are based in Yiwu in the Zhejiang province relatively close to Shanghai. The impressive Huahong factory employs more than 3,000 staff and covers an area of more than 300,000 square metres.
HUAHONG PARTNERSHIP and FACTORY VISIT
Huahong's Middle East representative Mohammed Ma very kindly extended an invitation to visit the Huahong factory complex, and Propriartary readily accepted.
The visit was timed to coincide with Propriartary's trip to China to participate with Huahong at the Canton Fair which takes place in Guangzhou.
Propriartary founder and Creative Director, Phil Davis was very impressed by the size and scale of the factory and was also very humbled by Huahong's generosity as hosts.
"It was a delightful surprise to arrive at the factory and to be greeted by a large personalized animated LED welcome message at the main entrance".
Huahong were amazing hosts and provided a full tour of the extremely impressive premises. The tour was conducted in person by Mohammed, Richard and Victoria (pictured below) and included a sneak preview of the new extensive showroom area, as well as interesting and informative visits to the the many various production areas. This included where photo frames and mirrors are manufactured and also the many assembly lines for picture frames and final designs etc.
I was particularly taken by the sheer size and scale of operations at the factory. I knew that Huahong were an important company, that is why I was so thrilled to be initiating our business relationship with them.
However, it was only when we participated together at the Canton Fair and then visited the factory that it truly brought home just how large and incredibly successful they are.
Following the factory tour we were very pleased to have the opportunity to meet with Anderson and Helen who are the husband and wife owners of the company. We felt this was a tremendous honour as, having just finished participating at the Canton Fair, we were very well aware of just how busy Anderson and Helen are and that their time is very valuable.
The meeting was friendly, informative and productive and a large number of mutually beneficial initiatives were discussed.
We felt a bit guilty because our meeting with Anderson and Helen at the factory overran as we had so many ideas and proposals to discuss and expand upon. So it was another unexpected surprise when Anderson and Helen invited us out to an exclusive local restaurant to continue our talks.
The restaurant was beautiful and the food was amazing, but most of all the whole evening was extremely enjoyable thanks to the the friendly company and our incredible hosts.
CANTON FAIR and JINHAN FAIR
A significant aspect of the relationship with Huahong was Propriartary's first time participation at the Canton and Jinhan Fairs in Guangzhou, China. This was incredibly exciting because we knew that these fairs were already well established as a major 'Go To' event for the entire global import/export trade.
So, we knew it was big, but nothing prepared us for just how big this event is. The actual scale and statistics are mind-boggling.
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Main event area covered more than 1 Million square metres
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Business turnover for the event exceeded 30 Billion US Dollars
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More than 60,000 standard booths.
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More than 25,000 exhibitors
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More than 200,000 Overseas buyers
Upon arrival it was immediately apparent that Huahong were very important players at the event. Huahong had a large stand that was very well located within the main Canton halls which generated a high volume of traffic, interest and sales.
However, Huahong's main presence was a 2,000 square metre 'stand' within the Jinhan area which adjoined the main Canton Halls. Huahong's exclusive space within Jinhan was massive and stacked to the rafters will tens of thousands of their designs, mirrors and frames.
Phil Davis decided that the Chinese fairs would be ideal vehicles to launch the latest new designs from his increasingly popular 'MESMER' series of paintings and prints, and both of Huahong's stands had an areas that were dedicated to the launch of these exciting new designs.
The MESMER designs were very warmly received by both buyers and other exhibitors alike. Interestingly there was particular interest from Middle Eastern companies, which had led to further meetings and discussions back in Dubai with a view to progress a number of regional deals and initiatives within the GCC.
PROPRIARTARY skyline designs adopted as official creatives for INFORMA's CITYSCAPE GLOBAL event venues.
CITYSCAPE GLOBAL is a series of premier events that cover the real estate sector. The events are organized by INFORMA and are the largest and most widely recognized real estate events in the GCC region, as well as being globally renowned.
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The Propriartary designs displayed at the INDEX 2017 event caught the eye of INFORMA creative management as they were looking for new and refreshing approaches to creatives for their coming international Cityscape events.
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Propriartary delivered a common bespoke design for Informa to use for every Cityscape venue along and the common background was then incorporated into a set of different skylines that represent the various actual venue locations.
PRESS RELEASE
CITYSCAPE aims to set record for region's largest indoor use of Brand Art
Cityscape Global has also scored a first this year by taking its Brand Art outdoors.
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A piece of original art in a room can make a statement and command attention like nothing else in that space can.
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'Brand Art’ works in the same way, but is applied specifically to the business environment, to enhance a brand and communicate a company message.
Given the impact of brand art - and then taking it a step further - the region’s largest, and arguably most influential, real estate event, Cityscape Global, has incorporated its specially-commissioned brand art as the main component of its Cityscape re-branding for this year’s event, and in doing so, is aiming to set a record for the largest indoor space in the Middle East to employ brand art.
Explaining the reasoning behind the decision to use original art to re-brand this year’s event, Ian O’Malley, Cityscape Marketing Director said: “We believe that innovation is truly the cog that keeps a company churning, but all too often we see the same tedious stock images used for various brands and campaigns and this does not reflect our aim of positioning Cityscape as a premier brand and setting ourselves apart.
"Using original artwork enables us to establish a strong brand identity, connect with a wider audience and illustrates our dedication to our brand, our visitors and our exhibitors.”
Taking brand art to the outdoors
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Cityscape Global has also scored a first this year by taking its brand art to the outdoors. Commissioned by Dubai-based brand art firm, ‘Propriartary,’ themselves the innovators behind the brand art concept, some of Dubai’s largest advertising billboards and hoardings are prominently displaying Cityscape’s proprietary art in its advertising within the UAE.
Phil Davis, CEO of Propriartary commented: “The original art we create is proprietary to each company or brand. This means that, for the first time, a piece of art is associated with a brand and communicates something about the company.
"This is a very significant innovation in the concept of branding, because there is something about original art that shows quality of thinking, attention to detail and a very real desire to provide a best-in-class offering. Cityscape is making a clear statement through its use of art that these elements are at the heart of what they stand for.
"I am delighted that this world-class brand will be setting another record for the UAE in using original art to brand to celebrate the city’s iconic architecture its event at Dubai’s World Trade Centre.”
"PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION"
The Propriartary creative design for Cityscape Global was on full display at every turn at the flagship location of Dubai.
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The event organizers, INFORMA, also invited Phil Davis to sign a specially made print of the design that was the focal point of the VIP area. See gallery below:
ARABIAN BUSINESS [StartUp] cover story features Propriartary's Phil Davis, and the main article inside explains and discusses 'Brand Art' and how Propriartary is successfully pioneering the concept
StartUp magazine is a first-of-its-kind publication to the UAE focusing specifically on small to medium enterprises (SMEs). StartUp provides monthly in-depth advice on what small businesses need to know to continue to drive profit, increase sales, and successfully grow and expand their organizations.
Phil Davis, (Propriartary CEO), was extremely happy to be invited to contribute to this particular magazine.
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"It is always good to be offered opportunities for positive publicity and raising awareness of your business, but we were especially interested in becoming involved with the StartUp feature. This was partly due to the publication's excellent reputation and its large circulation, but it was also because the purpose of the article was to provide a platform to explain the Brand Art concept with a particular focus upon SME's".
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"Propriartary's Brand Art designs are created as a collaboration with each individual customer and therefore the designs can be tailored to meet the requirements of all customers regardless of their size or status. However, we genuinely see SME businesses as a group that can really exploit the benefits provided by Brand Art. SMEs and start-up companies need differentiators to stand out from the crowd and this is a very large aspect of what Brand Art can provide".
Propriartary success at INDEX Design Series - Dubai World Trade Centre, May 2017
This was Propriartary's first time exhibiting at the INDEX DESIGN SERIES event and it proved to be an unqualified success.
INDEX Design Series has remained the largest and most extensive interiors and design trends event – establishing a 27 year history with a far-reaching audience. In 2016, over 34,400 people attended the INDEX Design Series from more than 110 countries, and networked with over 800 of the world's best interiors and design suppliers, including 19 country pavilions.
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Our Propriartary stand was located in the specialist Artists Avenue section within the Objets hall which was ideal, but an additional objective was to exploit the excellent opportunities to network with other exhibitors, especially those that we could collaborate with in order to reach optimum routes to market.
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We were very pleased to exceed all of our expectations and initiated several new partnerships and actual deals.
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A huge unexpected bonus was that as a direct result of the event we have also identified and launched an additional branch to our original core business model that opens up exciting new potential revenue streams.
Phil Davis' "Invaluable experience" as speaker and panellist at INDEX Design Talk
The INDEX Design Talks provide cutting-edge educational content to the region’s design community. The four day conference discusses the latest trends and forecasts, with lively and spontaneous panel discussions with lots of audience interaction and dialogue.
Propriartary's Creative Director, Phil Davis, was one of three panellists at the Design Talks session that specifically covered how art can be used to improve the performance of business and commercial environments, especially within the hospitality and corporate arenas.
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Phil was in good company as he shared the stage with Tal Danai who is the founder and CEO of the international art consultancy ArtLink, and Lindsey Gildea who is the Creative Director of 17A Art Consultants who are based in Dubai.
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"As we expected, this proved to be a wonderful opportunity to increase market awareness regarding the principles behind our expanding Brand Art sector, and to establish ourselves as pioneers and leading specialists within this growing market".
The session was ably chaired by Annamarie Lambri who is Associate Professor of Interior Design at the American University in Dubai. Even though the panelists represented quite different companies in terms of size, turnover and core business, all three were deliberately chosen to discuss and promote their shared philosophy which is that art can be one of the strongest communication tools there is, and that this power should be used better and more.
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We all agreed that is was a good indicator that the session overran and the post session feedback was extremely positive.
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Another bonus for Propriartary was that the session directly led to several new potential business opportunities from discussions that took place immediately following the session.
Propriartary philosophy explained in INDEX Design Series 2017 official event magazine
In addition to exhibiting and speaking at this year's INDEX Design Series exhibition, we were also pleased to be included as the centre pages in the official event magazine.
Having a large stash of the show magazines at our stand proved to be very useful in assisting us when explaining and promoting our 'brand art' concept and philosophy to visitors, and it was something that they could take away with them.
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Although the event has now ended for this year, we thought we would keep the article posted here as the content is not specific to the event.
The featured pages are shown below, or you can see the complete magazine by clicking on the butterfly cover page.
