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Dubai Metro gets huge response to branding offer
Around 250 companies have shown interest in obtaining branding rights for 23 stations of the Dubai Metro project, said a senior official.
- By Ashfaq Ahmed, Chief Reporter
- Published: 23:58 April 14, 2008
Dubai: Around 250 companies have shown interest in obtaining branding rights for 23 stations of the Dubai Metro project, said a senior official.
"Within two weeks of launching the Dubai Metro Naming Rights project, more than 250 companies have expressed interest in getting the branding of metro stations in their name," said Abdul Mohsin Ebrahim, Chief Executive Officer for Strategic and Corporate Governance at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
He said both local and international brands are queuing up to become one of the first companies to brand a station, with requests received from as far as as Japan, Greece, Spain, the United Kingdom and India.
"These companies range from large property and business firms and local and international banks, through to large multinational blue-chip corporations," he added.
Revenue generation
The RTA has offered 23 out of 47 stations and two lines of the Dubai Metro project for corporate branding to raise revenue. At least eight stations have already been named after major companies and fin-ancial houses which provided funds for the construction of the respective stations.
The remaining 16 stations will continue to bear the names of landmarks and historic areas.
The naming rights are available for a minimum of 10 years from the start of Metro operations.
The Dubai Metro Naming Rights project gives companies and institutions the opportunity to put their names to 23 stations and two lines of the Metro. The RTA is carrying out the construction of the 74.6 kilometre Metro system consisting of the Red and Green lines at a cost of Dh15.5 billion.
The Red Line will be operational from September, 9, 2009 and the Green Line will be ready from March 21, 2010.
"The interest already shown by both local and international businesses has gone beyond our expectations and it is encouraging to see that the corporate world shares our marketing vision," said Ebrahim.
Business leaders and marketing professionals will be given insight into the Metro Naming Rights project at an exclusive, invitation only event tomorrow.
The naming rights sales effort will be undertaken by global sponsorship and event marketing specialists IMG, who had previously undertaken market research for the RTA to determine how the naming rights programme could most effectively be structured.
Companies and organisations interested in naming one or more Metro stations can register their interest in advance of the formal sales phase launch by submitting the official 'Request for Information' available online on www.rta.ae.
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