Emirates, Apple and Google top the 2019 YouGov BrandIndex Workforce Rankings in MENA

Consumers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt would be the proudest to work for these brands

The 2019 YouGov BrandIndex Workforce Rankings reveal Dubai’s flag-carrier airline Emirates, smartphone giant Apple and global technology leader Google enjoy the highest Reputation scores in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, respectively.

The rankings were compiled using the Reputation score from YouGov’s daily brand tracker, BrandIndex, by asking respondents, "Would you be proud or embarrassed to work for this brand?", over the past twelve months.

Emirates has dominated the rankings in the UAE for the second time. In Saudi Arabia, Apple replaces Almarai at the top, while in Egypt, Google dethrones Facebook to become the brand respondents would be the proudest to work for. Notably, in the UAE, smartphone brands have made a considerable improvement to their Reputation scores over the past year. Two of the biggest smartphone brands: iPhone and Samsung Galaxy, make up the top ten list and Huawei is the third most improved brand of the past year.

While Google is at the top in Egypt, the brand has slipped down one place to fifth in Saudi and two places to fourth in the UAE.

In the UAE, where Almarai didn’t introduce a price rise, the brand’s reputation score has improved and it has stepped up one spot to ninth in the top 10 list, whereas in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, it has slipped down by one and two places, respectively.

The past year also saw a number of brands make fresh entries into the top ten list in each country. Samsung and Etihad Airways are new entrants in the UAE, Alrajhi Bank and Galaxy (Chocolates) enter the Saudi list and WhatsApp and Cadbury mark an entry in the Egypt rankings.

YouGov also revealed the 10 brands that made the largest improvement to their Reputation scores over the past 12 months. Warner Bros. World, which opened its doors to the public last year, is the most improved brand of the past year in the UAE, increasing its Reputation score from 7.1 in 2018 to 15.0 in 2019.

In Saudi, Huawei has considerably improved its score over the past year and has become the top improver, enhancing its Reputation score of 19.2 in 2018 to 27.9 in 2019.

In Egypt, Om Hassan is the most improved brand of the past year, with a change in score of +8.2, improving its Reputation score of -10.6 in 2018 to -2.4 in 2019.

The UAE improvers list has a combination of beverage brands such as Coca-Cola (+6.2) and Starbucks (+4.1), finance brands like Al Ansari Exchange (+4.9) and UAEXCHANGE (+4.1) and FMCG brands such as Downy (+6.1) and Colgate (+3.9).

In Saudi, food and beverage brands dominate the improvers, with five of these: Coca-Cola (+4.7), Maestro Pizza (+4.6), McDonald’s (+4.2), Kinder (+4.2) and Vimto (+3.9), placing in the top 10 improvers list.

In Egypt, the improvers list has a dominance of technology and internet brands, such as YouTube (+7.0), WhatsApp (+6.4), Instagram (+6.4), Huawei (+5.9), TE Data (+5.9) and Souq.com (+5.9).

Netflix’s exciting original content may be a factor in advancing its reputation among consumers. In the UAE, it is the second best improver (+7.0) and in Egypt, it is third in the improvers list.

The 1428 brands in YouGov BrandIndex were ranked using the Reputation score, which asks respondents "Which of the following brands would you be PROUD TO WORK FOR? Imagine you (or your friend) were applying for the same sort of role at the following brand that you currently have or would apply for?" and "Which of the following brands would you be EMBARRASSED TO WORK FOR? Imagine you (or your friend) were applying for the same sort of role at the following brand that you currently have or would apply for?". Only respondents who are aware of a given brand are interviewed.

The Workforce Rankings chart shows the brands with the highest average Reputation scores between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019. The Reputation Improvers chart ranks the brands with the highest increase in Reputation comparing the scores for the 12 months ending March 31, 2019 and the 12-month period ending April 1, 2017.

All Reputation scores listed have been rounded to a single decimal place, however, we have used additional precision to assign ranks.

All brands must be tracked for at least 6 months to be included in the rankings, and must have been tracked for at least 6 months in the prior year’s period (as well as being currently tracked) to appear in the movers tables.