Wasl

Rebranding the guardian of strategic land for the government of Dubai, with a new positioning, new identity, brand architecture, narrative and communication system.

TRACING THE ORIGIN STORY

Wasl stands as one of Dubai’s most visible custodians of land, heritage, and community. Yet its presence was distributed across multiple business units and hundreds of properties—each with its own identity, story, and customer base. The challenge was to unify this network into one cohesive brand system that reflects Wasl’s role as a strategic guardian of Dubai’s land base and a creator of enduring value for generations to come.

In 2023, we were invited to engage with senior leadership cross all the divisions of the group to conduct in-depth interviews and ran an independent brand and strategy audit to understand the origins of its present day success, and firmly understand it’s future vision. We continued our investigations externally with partners, clients and end-customers across its portfolio to establish the baseline of Wasl’s perception, experience and recall.

Research and analysis for Wasl by Xische & Co

Small Changes for Big Impact

We began with extensive stakeholder interviews across leadership, strategy, development, community engagement, and customer experience. These conversations revealed a deep sense of stewardship—Wasl was not only managing land, but shaping the lived experience of Dubai itself. From there, we traced the organization’s legacy: its formation several decades ago, its contribution to housing, hospitality, and mixed-use development, and its long-standing commitment to community well-being. This insight became the foundation of the new brand narrative.

We crafted new positioning, vision, and mission statements centered on guardianship, growth, and belonging. The new values articulated Wasl’s dual commitment—to safeguard the city’s physical assets and to nurture the emotional bond that connects people to place.

PROTECTING BRAND LEGACY

Once the strategy was defined, we turned to design. Our goal was to retain as much of the visible and intangible equity built by Wasl over decades, while simplifying, elevating and capturing the core essence with deliberate minimalism. Their brand identity was refined leading with typographic detail, while letting go of a color system and symbol that no longer cohesively communicated the sheer scale and width of the brand’s portfolio.

The new brand identity extended across every touchpoint—from corporate communications to wayfinding, signage, and community interfaces. It unified Wasl’s presence across residential, commercial, and hospitality developments while retaining flexibility for each project to express its character.

We built a cohesive brand architecture that organizes the entire portfolio: from the masterbrand, to business units, to sub-brands, property collections, and even single-building identities. Each layer now connects back to a singular visual and verbal system—ensuring that every experience, whether online or on-site, speaks with one voice.

The result is a brand system and narrative strategy that anchors Wasl’s legacy in clarity and purpose. Its presence across social media, digital platforms, tenant apps, and physical environments now reflects one coherent story. Embodied in the vision we help craft with them.

We exist to build limitless potential from our land, creating places and communities where people can connect, thrive and prosper.

Learn more about Wasl on Wasl.ae