Dubai: Dubai World's public relations agency has been restructured into Hasaad Communications, a source close to the company confirmed.
World View Communications' remit was restricted to companies under the Dubai World umbrella and Hasaad may well take on a wider clientele, although not confirmed. There are 6,000 companies alone in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, where the PR agency is based.
"It could be due to a drive to generate revenue outside of Dubai World and become a commercially independent entity. So not to be perceived as part of a larger conglomerate they changed the name," David Learman, managing director, Creative Intelligence, a brand consultancy operating in Dubai, told Gulf News.
Radical change
Another reason could be a new start, said Learman. "A radical change of name of an entity usually means that it is trying to create a clean sheet from a brand strategy point of view."
And the best time to do that, he said, is when the market is in relative flux as people won't pay too much attention to the change.
"Not to hide the change but when a crisis happens, a fresh look may be thought of to put the past behind us. It could also be based on a cultural change from within," he added.
Hasaad means ‘harvest' in English. Interestingly, Learman explained, in Dubai companies often prefer to use Arabic names they have an affinity to project their culture.
