About the client:
Merit Maritime Limited was established in Dubai, UAE in 2003, solidifying its foothold as a local, regional and international Shipping Agency and Brokerage service provider. Today, they serve all ports in the Gulf Region as well as countless overseas ports across the globe. From local traders to owners from Europe and the Far East, Merit Maritime caters to clients’ international shipping needs; whether that’s chartering agents, cargo and ship brokers, or owner’s representation and agency.
Branding / Identity
Challenge
Merit Maritime’s line of business is as vast an ocean, literally; therefore, creating an identity that will stand out was of utmost importance. The level of creativity that was required was not only necessary to be in high-quality, but it also needed to fit and mix nicely with a high level of detailed and technical information about Merit’s business. Since their establishment, Merit Maritime already had several identity and branding material which they felt were dull and definitely needed renewal. The management at Merit Maritime had contacted UCT and entrusted them to be able to breathe a new life into the company’s identity.
Solution
UCT began proposing several options to Merit Maritime, and the effort was highly appreciated as it gave the team a variety to choose from. The choices all utilized a clever mix of blue color and shapes of waves, ship and sail designs, UCT was able to portray the true identity of Merit Maritime that the company was always looking for. Once the team at Merit Maritime was happy with the result, the work proceeded to carry over this theme to the rest of the material as well, such as, letterheads, business cards and much more.
Website Development
Challenge
Merit Maritime contracts with traders, ship owners and charterers across the world, so their website needed to be appealing to audiences from different backgrounds and trade. It was imperative to capture the interest of visitors and leave a first impression that will last. Also, once the work on the identity was done, it was very crucial to stick to the new identity that was created and ensure it is evenly used across the website to give it personality.
Solution
The created website was done with a design mentality that allowed it to flow smoothly like the waves of an actual ocean, and the waves incorporated in the brand identity design that was used. The content written was done after extensive research and close work with the team to understand their line of work precisely and be able to describe it all in the website in a way that wasn’t too general, but also was not very technical in order to keep all readers interested. The more technical sections were relegated to specific pages and links for those who wish to know more.
Company Profile / Brochure
Challenge
Once it was time to construct a company profile for Merit Maritime, the main challenge laid in the ability to avoid using repetitive content that was used for the website. This is an issue Merit Maritime and other clients have come across where they found that once a template was built for one material, the same was used across the rest. Of course it is important to keep the same theme across, but that differs from just blatantly copying the entire material with minimal changes and adjustments.
Solution
UCT began crafting the company profile with the same mindset that was used for the website, but with a different kind of creativity and detailed work. This was done to ensure the company profile was unique and one of a kind. It incorporated clever use of pictures, original content and no repeat designs from the website.
The Results:
With Merit Maritime relying on UCT to be their partner for all marketing related material, they found that they have indeed made the right choice, as they now their collection is complete and also included brochures in addition to the constructed profile. With proper, complete and creative material, Merit Maritime felt more proud and confident to make use of this material to further spread the word and make themselves better known.
