Emaar Retail, a provider of premium leisure and retail experiences in the region, has renewed its strategic partnership with Standard Chartered to continue offering the benefit of value-added branding platforms and customer engagement opportunities.

The move comes after Emaar Retail's success in attracting over 47 million eyeballs – equivalent to the number of visitors to The Dubai Mall in 2010, said a senior official.

Under the deaal, Standard Chartered will benefit from several brand building and marketing opportunities across Emaar Retail’s popular leisure attractions in Dubai as well as the leading leisure assets of Emaar in Dubai – the Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club and The Address Montgomerie Dubai.

Arif Amiri, chief executive officer, Emaar Retail, said: "A successful marketing partnership is marked by the sustained benefits that it brings to the stakeholders. Emaar Retail offers creative, unprecedented and highly effective marketing platforms that have benefited our partners, several of them global brand leaders such as Standard Chartered Bank."

"We are raising the bar in marketing and customer outreach by offering a diverse breadth of choices – all guaranteed to connect with the desired target group," he added.

Pramod Veturi, acting head of Consumer Banking, Standard Chartered Bank UAE, said: “We are pleased to renew our association with Emaar Retail, which in the past year has been successful in achieving our marketing goals. We are focused on becoming a truly customer-centric Bank, and Emaar Retail’s leisure assets complement our strategic marketing activities.”

With this partnership, Standard Chartered, which is the exclusive Bank partner at the Dubai Ice Rink, will offer several customer initiatives at Dubai Ice Rink and Reel Cinemas, both popular attractions managed by Emaar Retail in The Dubai Mall.

The bank’s brand promise, ‘Here for Good’ is also being displayed on the Middle East’s largest indoor advertising board, measuring 64 m x 20 m on the wall at Dubai Ice Rink.

"From Fridays to Tuesdays, 10am to 12pm, the Bank’s customers can benefit from a special ‘Happy Hours’ at Dubai Ice Rink. For every skating session, they will get one session free. They also get discounts of up to 25 per cent for the Learn to Skate programme that offers five tutorial sessions and five skating classes," Veturi added.

Emaar Retail manages a strong portfolio of exclusive leisure and retail concepts including Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo; the Olympic sized Dubai Ice Rink; the unique children’s’ edutainment centre KidZania; Reel Cinemas, the UAE largest megaplex with 22-screens; and Sega Republic.-TradeArabia News Service