Dubai: Call it the horse and cart conundrum for brands. Should the mother brand take the lead in creating an identity or should that be best left to the individual brands within it to make up their own as they go along?
That's the challenge facing Asif Jabbar, director and group CEO at Alif Investments, a newly minted holding company formed last year. Under it comes a raft of brands, many in the casual dining space such as Emly & Chilli, and one in high fashion with J. boutiques. So do the branding options faze him?
"In an ideal world each of the brands should be able to stand on its own; but the way we have structured the business is to have them as offshoots of Alif Investments," said Jabbar. "In some places — for instance when it comes to negotiating locations — it works better because the market realises that our brands are backed by a strong parent entity. It lends more weight to our cause."
Starting today, the company will be adding six more locations to its existing four. It also includes a brand new offering in the form of Meat One, conceived as an upmarket meat store and with its own network of locations.
"It was last year Alif Investments acquired Emly & Chilli, which had been in the market for a couple of years prior to that, and it's now we feel we have the infrastructure ready to realise its full potential," said Jabbar. "We brought in senior personnel with 15 to 20 years experience at some of the biggest names in the fast foods industry in Pakistan to put together a team.
In-house capabilities
"Whatever be the strengths of our finances, it would not have amounted to much without a team to see through the execution. The last 12 months have gone towards making sure we have the in-house capabilities and create a distinct theme for Emly & Chilli. We are ready now."
Consumers have been lapping up the many casual dining options they are being served with in the UAE, and annual growth rates in this category have been comfortably hitting the 10 to 15 per cent mark even with the pie getting bigger by the year. This acts as a prompt for business houses to try and rope in new concepts and brands.
"We have been getting multiple approaches from casual dining brands, mostly from the UK, seeking an entry into the UAE," said Jabbar. "There are so many concepts that could, I guess, be tested out here.
"But our existing brands require time to marinate and develop into full-blown concepts in the consumer consciousness. We don't need distractions.
"I don't differentiate between brands that we have and mark out one as the flagship at the expense of another. Each has a role to play in growing the business."
Opportunities
Fine dining offers
While it tries to develop the casual dining side of its business, Alif Investments is not taking its eye off opportunities that fine dining offers. It has an interest in Bundoo Khan, an F&B outlet at the Clover Creek Hotel in Deira.
The company owns a stake in the hotel acquired through a subsidiary, Alif Funds, last year.
