Emirates named second most ‘intimate brand’ in the UAE

Emirates Airlines has been named as the second most intimate brand in the UAE by MBLM’s Brand Intimacy 2019 Report.

The annual report, announced today (Sunday), ranks the Emirates brand in second place – up from last year’s position of sixth when the airline made its debut in the list’s top 10. It remains the only brand for the GCC region to be included in the report’s top 10.

The report by brand agency MBLM named Apple in first position for the third year running, with Ford in third and Mercedes in fourth place. The rest of the top 10 is made up by Audi, Microsoft, Nescafé, Lexus, BMW and Youtube.

To compile the report, the agency examined how 1,200 consumers in the UAE bonded with brands, using metrics including ‘fulfilment’, ‘identity’, ‘enhancement’, ‘ritual’, ‘nostalgia’, and ‘indulgence’. The study assigns each brand a score from one to 100, based on ‘prevalence’, ‘intensity’ and ‘character’, with Emirates receiving a score of 70.3, sandwiched between Apple’s 73, and Ford’s 69.7.

William Shintani, managing partner at MBLM, said: “We are excited to see Emirates Airlines performing at this higher level to reach second position this year.

“The Emirates brand is performing extremely well as it continues to exceed expectations, delivering superior service and quality among its key demographics. Their strongest archetype (a pattern or marker which is consistently present, in part or in whole, among intimate brands that identify the character and nature of ultimate brand relationships) is fulfilment, which is directly related to the delivery of superior quality of services. It also outperforms its competitors in the travel industry in every archetype.”