TBWA/London nets pan-European ad account for Emaar’s hotel brand

Emaar, the largest property owner in the Middle East, is poised to appoint TBWA/ London to its pan-European advertising account for its new hotel brand. The account is understood to be worth about £10m.

The agency is understood to have won the account following a competitive pitch against a number of undisclosed agencies. It was run out of the company’s head office in Dubai .

Emaar, which in the past has worked with the now-defunct HHCL/Red Cell, asked agencies to develop strategic work as a key part of the pitch. It is also seeking a design and branding agency to work on the hotel project.

The company is looking to invest heavily in hotel properties and build on projects it is developing in Dubai. Last year, it signed a deal with fashion brand Giorgio Armani to open a number of luxury hotels worldwide.

The first hotel under that deal will be the 175-room Dubai Armani Hotel, which is scheduled to open in early 2008. The joint venture is planning to open three holiday resorts and seven hotels in locations including London, New York and Milan.

TBWA/London declined to comment as Marketing Week went to press.