Dubai developer seeks team to handle £5m tower account

Dubai development company Emaar Properties is looking for agencies to handle the £5m advertising account for the Burj tower project, which aims to be the tallest building in the world.

The company is developing a 705m-high tower, named the Burj Dubai, which will house offices, apartments and a hotel and be attached to the planned Dubai Mall.

The tower will be twice the height of the World Trade Centre and taller than the world’s tallest building, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, which is 452m high.

Emaar Properties wants an agency to turn the tower into a global icon as recognisable as the Eiffel Tower or Empire State Building. The tower is expected to be completed in mid-2008.

It is believed that agencies asked to pitch include Bartle Bogle Hegarty, HHCL/Red Cell, Mother and a New York-based agency.

The attached mall is expected to include 450,000m of retail space together with an aquarium and ice-skating rink.

Dubai is intent on turning itself into a leading tourist destination rather than a stop-off on the way to the Far East and Australasia. Several massive developments are under way to increase the length of the country’s 40km coastline and to attract high-spending tourists.

These include the building of the two Palm offshore hotel and retail sites and The World project, which will involve the construction of small islands in the shape of the world.