About Us
We are catalysts for brand transformation.
We are catalysts for brand transformation.
We challenge the conventional in a world of uniformity. We are truth-tellers, problem-solvers, and creative dreamers. As your strategist, coach, and team, we empower you to achieve your vision.
We transform brands to the next level through strategic brand development, resonant communications, and creative work that shines. Our approach integrates deep strategic insights with a nuanced understanding of market dynamics and business operations, ensuring our brand transformations are not only captivating but align closely with your business objectives.
We work in close partnership with ambitious and audacious companies aiming to carve a distinctive presence in their sector. We solve challenges, leverage opportunities, and help you achieve significant growth targets.
Involved from the outset, we also craft new brands and business models from scratch—setting the foundation for future growth. We deliver this through a profound strategic and creative edge, backed by over two decades of multinational experience in elevating renowned brands.
Our Edge
Domain Expertise
We’ve been building brands for over 2 decades.
Our depth of experience in the field of strategy, brand development and design work for over 20 years, is enriched by the multinational corporate experience, award-winning creative talent, and entrepreneurial skills that we bring to the table. This deep well of knowledge translates into measurable success and distinctive market presence for our partners across various industries.
Strategic Foundation
We understand business, not just design.
We blend deep strategic insight with creative brilliance to transform brands. Our approach goes beyond typical creative strategies by integrating a robust understanding of market dynamics and business operations, ensuring that our solutions not only captivate but also align closely with business objectives. This synthesis propels brands to a heightened market presence and ensures a sustained competitive advantage, preparing you not just for tomorrow, but for years to come.
Unique Holistic Branding Approach
Our branding transcends the superficial.
We delve deep into strategy, image, communications, reputation, and team alignment, factoring in business dynamics and audience insights. Our comprehensive services include Elevated Brand Creation, Transformative Brand Revamp, Global Player Branding, Thought Leadership Brand Marketing, and Impactful Advertising Campaign Development, where we provide all the tools necessary for a company's success in any market.
Creativity & Cross-Industry Exposure
Our diverse experiences drive our creativity. We stand at the vibrant intersection of lifestyle, fashion, science, and unique pursuits, bringing a rich tapestry of cross-industrial insights to every project. Our experience with multinationals, government and local companies, across various industries such as fashion, food, hospitality, electronics, healthcare, etc. facilitates innovative thinking that helps us create memorable brand presence in markets.
Award-Winning Creative Talent
Our talents set industry standards.
Led by a Creative Director with 10 gold and 5 silver awards from the International Advertising Association, our team consists of exceptional creative professionals experienced with globally recognized brands. Complementing this, our strategy team brings business understanding and groundbreaking insights into branding, enhancing our forward-thinking approach. Together, they drive unparalleled success for our clients.
Global Campaign Creation Capabilities
Our creative playing field is global.
We have the capacity and system to produce campaigns shot locally in various cities around the world incorporating local casting and talent. Our proven system ensures cost-effective production while capturing the unique cultural nuances that resonate globally.
Collaborative Partnerships
We are a natural extension of our clients.
Illustrado partners closely with audacious companies, each striving to become the Most Valuable Player in their sector. We integrate seamlessly with your team helping you to transform challenges into opportunities and ambitions into achievements, whether it's market leadership, global expansion, or franchise readiness. Our partnership is designed to magnify your brand’s distinctiveness and accelerate its growth trajectory.
Business Impact
Our strategic and creative work impacts the bottom line.
At Illustrado, our strategic branding not only escalates market competitiveness and visibility but directly boosts market share and revenue. Through transformative branding and creative projects, we have enabled brands to command premium pricing, as well as achieve blockbuster sales. Our involvement translates vision into tangible ROI, ensuring that every creative campaign delivers a substantial impact.
Our Partners
We work with organizations aspiring to redefine their market position — aiming to expand or become leaders, penetrate the UAE market as foreign brands, or expand globally. They share the goal of transforming potential into prominence.
Clients often come to us feeling overshadowed in competitive markets, struggling with undifferentiated brands, lack of credibility, low sales and unrealized potential. These challenges restrict growth, market positioning, and pricing power.
Collaborating with us, our clients go through a strategic transformation that enhances market representation and perceived value, positioning them as formidable challengers. Our strategies boost customer acquisition, global presence, and pave the way for franchisability.
Through our guidance, clients gain the tools necessary to project a compelling global image, elevate their market status, and significantly boost sales and profitability. They earn lasting trust and respect from consumers, becoming celebrated market leaders and achieving the essence of a Most Valuable Player in their sector
Our Edge
Illustrado is on a mission to level the playing field between audacious challenger brands and industry giants.
Our goal is to empower brands to achieve their full potential by delivering strategic branding and creative solutions that make a mark, resonate and impact the bottom line. We partner with ambitious companies to navigate the complexities of the market and carve a distinctive presence, transforming the conventional into the exceptional.
Our values are the cornerstone of our identity and the guiding principles for every interaction and decision. They embody our commitment to transforming brands with integrity, creativity, and strategic excellence. These values not only define how we engage with our clients and each other but also drive our pursuit of excellence in every project. We uphold these principles to ensure that our partnerships are productive, our outcomes are exceptional, and our environment fosters continuous growth and innovation
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Excellence
We commit to the highest quality in everything we do. Our dedication to excellence defines us, driving us to go beyond merely meeting deliverables to achieve outstanding results.
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Initiative
Proactivity defines our approach to every project. We ensure progress by taking the initiative—whether it means advancing the task to the next stage or seeing it through to completion ourselves.
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Partnership
Our clients are our partners. We engage deeply, listening attentively, challenging constructively, and providing the support and guidance needed to foster growth and success.
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Innovation
and Continuous Learning
Our commitment to innovation is perpetual. We continuously seek new knowledge and skills to enhance our effectiveness and keep our practice at the forefront of the industry.
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Commitment
Integrity is at the core of our operations. We are dedicated to doing what’s right for our clients, ensuring their success through ethical practices and a steadfast commitment to their goals.
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Leadership
Leadership for us means doing what others don’t dare to. We lead by example, taking on challenges that set us apart and inspire both our team and our partners.
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Teamwork
We believe in the power of unity. Showing up for each other, we share both challenges and victories. Together, we transform ambitions into achievements, realizing great things as a cohesive unit.
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Irreverence and Creative Play
Creativity is our playground, and we thrive on thinking differently and challenging the status quo. Our irreverent approach allows us to break molds and redefine norms, turning creative play into competitive advantage.
Our Leadership
Managing Director Lalaine Chu-Benitez is a seasoned marketing professional and entrepreneur who has helped build both multinational and local brands in the GCC in the last 2 decades. Her skills and market understanding transcend branding, marketing strategy and communications, providing companies with invaluable business insights. Lalaine has also lectured on branding and marketing at the University of Arts, London and has spoken as an industry expert at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and other business forums in the UAE.
Multi-awarded strategic Creative Director Mon has developed winning campaigns for some of the world’s most recognized brands. Spending 20-years at Leo Burnett – UAE, he headed the agency’s most prolific creative team driving the Philip Morris, Procter & Gamble and Diageo accounts, and won 10 Gold and 2 Silver IAA Middle East Awards. Since becoming an entrepreneur, Mon has further widened his wingspan developing brands and campaigns for various multinational and local brands.