Abu Dhabi Film Festival VIP Lounge

What is a VIP lounge

VIP lounges are venues found at most entertainment and sporting events in North America and Europe such as the Grammies, Oscars, Olympics, Cannes, Venice and Toronto Film Festivals.

This is a place where attending celebrities and VIPs have access to a private lounge to select some of the latest must-have products in the fashion, beauty and luxury lifestyle segment.

The venue offers luxury brands the exclusive opportunity to have their merchandise placed directly into the hands of A-list celebrities and VIP guests. As the official VIP lounge of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival we are the only lounge that all of the celebrities will visit.

Delivering the sustainability message

At Tactical Connections sustainability is our business – to that end our mandate is to pursue opportunities that make a positive contribution to the UAE and greater Middle Eastern community. 

We achieve this with our Abu Dhabi Film Festival VIP Lounge by:

• Leveraging the concentration of celebrities to raise awareness for important regional social issues
• Providing goods and services from local companies, brands and designers including Darmaki, Bil Arabi, Mauzan, Al Nassma chocolates, Gita cosmetics and Sugar Vintage
• Partnering with the award winning local company Bee’ah for recycling as well as building educational and awareness programs
• Implementing programs with regional entrepreneurial companies like Palestyle to raise awareness of their cause for Palestinian refugee women in Jordan. As a result of their involvement in the VIP Lounge, Palestyle were featured on CNN International.
• Partnering with local designers from Palestyle and Sugar Vintage to design a reusable bag for purchases made in the lounge

Our list of A-list attendees included:

Benefits of the VIP lounge

• Provides a direct link to a world-class film festival attended by A-list celebrities and VIPs
• Gives brands the opportunity to showcase and give products to a targeted list of VIPs and well respected celebrities
• Increases exposure within the GCC and internationally through broad media coverage
• Sponsorship of the VIP lounge includes a public relations campaign that dramatically increases brand awareness for the sponsoring company’s products and services
• Top tier gifts guarantee that celebrities will come and visit the VIP lounge
• A relaxed environment where celebrities can come to slow down, relax and take the time to engage with the brands and services being offered
• The perfect place for your new product launch
• Potential to link your brand to celebrities and VIP guests without a formal endorsement fee

Media coverage

2010 – Over 2.2 million circulation

2011 – Over 6 million circulation

Total value 2011 – over $700,000

• Secured coverage in all major print, broadcast and online outlets in the GCC, English and Arabic
• Fashion, lifestyle outlets such as Harper’s Bazaar, Ahlan, Zahrat Al Khaleej, Emirates Woman, Al Sada, Grazia, OK, Hello, The National, Gulf News, Al Bayan, CNN, BBC, Hia, Laha, Sayidaty
• Competitions: Radio, print and online competitions for celebrity gift bag giveaways – Radio 1 and 2, The National, OK, Ahlan, What’s On, Myfashdiary
• Social Media Campaign: resulted in Facebook and Twitter pages with hundreds of followers and retweets from top Twitter influencers
• Coverage received on top blogging sites such as myfashdiary, hellwafashion, tinayums, shamimscene
• Live Facebook and Twitter updates from the VIP lounge had fans and followers talking about the brands, celebrities and activity taking place, all in real time
• Hundreds of retweets from influential twitterers
• Retweets from sponsor’s corporate head offices – Moet, Red Bull, Havaianas, Make Up For Ever resulting in thousands of impressions
• UAE bloggers interacted with the lounge throughout and after the event posting reviews, photos and competitions