Emirates flies to the top of brand index in the UAE

Emirates has taken over international brands, such as Nokia and Google, to rank as the top UAE brand, according to a survey.

The brand index released by YouGov Siraj shows a three-notch climb by the airline, which was ranked number four in the previous quarter (July 2009), with Nokia on top, followed by Google and Sony.

Heavyweights Nokia, Google and Sony jostled for the same spots as Emirates climbed its way up to the top of BrandIndex, ousting Nokia off the throne.

Aside from Emirates, the remaining three brands maintained their positions.

Emirates has topped the list with a score of 72 – an increase of 9.2 over previous quarter's 62.8. Mall of the Emirates is the only other UAE brand in the top 10 list, which has four international automobile brands.

Toyota is at number five followed by Mercedes and BMW at eighth position and Lexus just sneaking in the 10th slot with a score of 45 – 2.6 more than last quarter's 42.4.

The first BrandIndex, an international tool that measures the health of brand equity, was released last year in the UAE by YouGov Siraj.

The brand barometer gathers the daily views online of UAE and Saudi consumers across 200 brands.

"Witnessing shifts of this character through the lense of BrandIndex signals a new way to keep track of brands in the UAE," says Vivek Wagle, Research Director at YouGov.

"Media clippers, analysts, brand managers and stakeholders are now in a position to track top brands such as Emirates as they commit to high level marketing and advertising budgets."

Last July, the Top 10 UAE brands were announced by YouGov Siraj and the results provided the market with a new type of benchmark through which to measure brand health relative to consumer perception.

Automobile brands displayed stability in the industry with Toyota, Mercedes maintaining the same slot as previous quarter. Microsoft also maintained the same status.

BMW and Mall of the Emirates swapped as they moved up and down and Lexus, a newcomer, entered the charts at the 10th place, pushing Deira City Centre down.

Looking at the line-up, a third of brands belong to the automobile industry.

In June, two malls, Mall of the Emirates and Deira City Centre, were among the UAE's brand giants. Now only Mall of the Emirates remains in the top 10.

BrandIndex scores are aggregates of six profile indicators designed to measure the health of brand equity.

These indicators are general impression, quality, value for money, corporate reputation, satisfaction, and likeliness to recommend.

A brand's level of exposure in the media, public eye and word of mouth is rated through a separate indicator, labelled Buzz, which is excluded from the overall BrandIndex score.

YouGov's BrandIndex is a research tool providing accurate and up-to-date information on consumer perception towards key health indicators of brand equity.

Two hundred brands are measured daily (and reported fortnightly) in each country across eight sectors.

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