Emirates has the strongest brand advocacy in the UAE

The UAE’s flag carrier airline is the most recommended brand among consumers, ahead of Emaar and Almarai

Emirates has emerged as UAE’s most recommended brand among consumers and has surpassed home-grown property developer company Emaar, which was the most recommended brand in the country last year.

In a list dominated by technology brands, Almarai makes an impressive entry as the third most endorsed brand by consumers in the UAE. While tech giants Apple, iPhone and WhatsApp have witnessed a decline in their ranks this year, Google has moved up to spot six from eight last year. Samsung Galaxy and Burj Al Arab are the other new entrants at eighth and tenth spot, respectively.

The UAE Advocacy Rankings, produced by YouGov’s daily brand tracking tool BrandIndex, considered how much current and former customers endorsed brands over the past year by asking respondents, "Would you recommend the brand to a friend or colleague?" or “Would you tell a friend or colleague to avoid the brand?”.

YouGov also revealed the brands that have the most improved level of customer advocacy over the last year. Pakistan International Airlines has seen the biggest improvement in its Recommend score from 3.6 points last year to 19.1 this year. Emirates Islamic Bank and Al Wahda Mall follow in second and third place respectively.

Commenting on the rankings, Scott Booth, Head of YouGov BrandIndex - MENA, said, "Brand advocacy is a powerful marketing tool and is an indicator of a brand’s performance in terms of customer experience. In the current digital world, it is no surprise that technology brands delight consumers and dominate the rankings. Leading travel & airlines and retail brands also perform well. A recommendation from friends or family is one of the most powerful endorsements a brand can receive. The top ten brands have managed to deliver positive experiences and have succeeded in building strong advocacy among their customers in the UAE.”

YouGov BrandIndex screened all of its 548 brands in the UAE for their net Recommend score, which asks respondents "Would you recommend the brand to a friend or colleague?" and “Would you tell a friend or colleague to avoid the brand?” Only respondents who are current or former customers of a given brand are considered. Rankings data was collected between November 1, 2017 and October 31, 2018 and Improvers data was collected between November 1, 2016 and October 31, 2018. All brands must have a minimum N of 200 and have been tracked for at least 6 months to be included in the rankings and at least 6 months in the prior year's period (as well as being currently tracked) to be included among improvers.