London-headquartered global brand experience agency onepointfive has announced the opening of its Middle East office in Dubai, marking its entry into the region with a major international project for long-standing client Shopify.
The launch coincides with onepointfive’s first Middle East assignment — a fully bespoke brand sponsorship activation for Shopify at the inaugural Shoptalk Luxe event in Abu Dhabi this week. The ultra-premium B2B conference brings together senior leaders from the luxury, retail and technology sectors.
Founded in 2019 by Rob Pryce and Joel Barsch, onepointfive has built a reputation for delivering strategically driven and creatively bold brand experiences for global clients including Shopify, Bumble, Longchamp and Microsoft. The agency was started with the idea of bridging the gap between B2B rigour and B2C creativity, aiming to deliver more human-centred and integrated brand experiences.
The Dubai office will be led by the founders, who plan to grow the business by hiring talent from the region while bringing the agency’s London-based creative and strategic expertise — developed across Europe, the US and Asia — to the Middle East’s fast-growing experience market.
As part of its launch, onepointfive has designed and delivered Shopify’s presence at Shoptalk Luxe, creating a fully custom brand environment that includes a purpose-built pavilion, product demonstration areas, meeting spaces and a beachside cabana hospitality experience tailored for a C-suite global audience. The experience was designed to resemble a luxury retail environment rather than a traditional trade stand, blending product storytelling with a refined, design-led aesthetic.
The Shopify project builds on several years of collaboration between the two companies across the UK, Europe and APAC, where onepointfive has supported the evolution of Shopify’s physical brand presence — from sustainable exhibition systems focused on lead generation to owned conferences, executive networking programmes and C-suite hospitality experiences.
Commenting on the expansion, Rob Pryce at onepointfive said: “Our clients are increasingly global, and so are the opportunities for experience-led marketing. The Middle East is investing in experiences at a scale and ambition that’s unmatched, and Shoptalk Luxe gives us the perfect launch platform to bring our way of thinking to the region, combining strategic B2B thinking with the emotion and craft of world-class B2C design.”
Joel Barsch at onepointfive added: “We don’t believe in cookie-cutter activations or short-term, churn-and-burn RFP culture. Whether it’s a tech exhibition in Cologne or a consumer activation in London, people want to feel something real. Our aim in the Middle East is to bring that same philosophy: exceptional client service, creative firepower from London, and deep cultural understanding on the ground.”
