Tech giant Apple has earned the epithet of being the brand that has the closest emotional bond with UAE citizens, according to MBLM’s UAE Brand Intimacy 2017 Report.
Apple retained its position at the top for the second year in a row, followed by car brands BMW and Ford. Other brands in the top 10 list included Lexus, Audi, Google, Mercedes, Louis Vuitton, Hilton, and Nescafé.
According to the study, automotive and technology brands are consistently in the top two categories of gender, age, and income.
More number of customers consider themselves strictly attached to Apple’s offerings, especially iPhone, than any other brand, according to the report.
Nescafé, which rose significantly in the ranks from last year, developed several products specifically for the region like Nescafé Arabiana, the first ever instant Arabic coffee, which helped his brand value.
Sales for Nescafé beat estimates in the second half of 2016, rising 3.9 percent on an organic basis, the report said.
In the US market, premium brands may not be doing as well as expected to build emotional connections with their consumers in the UAE – except with women and those under 35, according to the report.
At the same time, brands in media, entertainment, technology and telecommunications show high customer intimacy, especially amongst millennials.
This year’s Brand Intimacy Report analyzed responses of 6,000 consumers and 54,000 brand evaluations across 15 industries in the US, Mexico, and UAE.
Leveraging the new science of these emotional bonds gives us a new framework to navigate the opportunities—and pitfalls—of the UAE marketing landscape, according to William Shintani, a partner at MBLM.
“What we know from the latest neurological research is that decisions are emotional—not logical,” said Jae Hwang, a partner at MBLM.
“We also know that brands using this knowledge to their advantage have an impressive track record,” Hwang said.
Recently, brand expert Denise Lee Yohn and author of the book, What Great Brands Do, listed Apple’s iPhone, Google, and Ford among the top brands to be watched in 2017.
