SME Revival case study: Dubai’s Cobbler on plans ahead

Motivate Media Group – Gulf Business‘ parent company – announced a $1m initiative called SME Revival last year offering 20 homegrown UAE small and medium companies affected by the pandemic with free advertising and marketing support.

We speak to the campaign’s beneficiaries to understand its impact on their operations in a tough year.

The Cobbler

Founded in 2011, the company seeks to address the gap in the market for upscale repair services and quality formal footwear for men. With four stores across Dubai and Abu Dhabi, The Cobbler also offers accessories and shoe-care kits. Here, Yashraj Chhatwani, Marketing and Digital Communications specialist at The Cobbler, explains how the company  benefitted from the SME Revival campaign.

How did you benefit from the SME Revival campaign?

We saw an increase in our customer engagement along with the wider exposure that was provided by the SME Revival campaign.

The dynamic campaign really helped shape our marketing plans for this year. We were able to partner up and create exciting and engaging campaigns with Gulf Business, Emirates Woman and Emirates Man on multiple platforms.

Any specific campaign that yielded the strongest results/was special to you?

I think the Gulf Business campaign really boosted our audience reach to a network of high-value businessmen and individuals, who were previously not necessarily aware of the luxury repair and restoration services we provide in the UAE. The campaign used creative visuals and messaging which resulted in an increase of our B2B clientele as well as B2C customers.

Do you believe marketing is a key requirement in the current economy?

Absolutely. As a company, we believe that marketing is a key pillar when it comes to communicating with our customers and driving sales with strong strategic campaigns. It is at the heart of our business.

The consumer today is over-targeted with information and campaigns, and we are always striving to find ways to deliver innovative products or services to our customers – it’s a constant evolvement.

Thanks to strong marketing, we are currently seeing the results in more customer engagement and an increase in service sales compared to pre-Covid times.

Looking ahead, what are the plans for your company?

We have plans to expand across the GGC, with a primary focus on Saudi Arabia, as we believe it is the next big market for us. Apart from that we have lots of exciting new product launches coming up soon.

We are also focusing on further growing the base of our B2B clients.