Dubai based Emirates, the world’s largest international airline with service to more than 150 destinations on six continents, has risen up a new ranking that measures brand intimacy.
The carrier jumped up to second place overall, behind US technology giant Apple, in the Brand Intimacy 2019 Report from MBLM.
The Emirates brand made the top 10 list for the first time in 2018 and to date, it is still the only brand originating in the region to make the top 10 in the UAE-based study.
Brand intimacy is defined as a new paradigm that leverages and strengthens the emotional bonds between a person and a brand.
Brands with a high BIQ (brand intimacy quotient) are said to outperform competitors in both revenue and profit, and their customers are willing to pay a higher price for their product.
“We are excited to see Emirates Airlines performing at this higher level to reach second position this year,” said William Shintani, managing partner at MBLM.
“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 is fulfillment, which is directly related to the delivery of superior quality of services. It also outperforms its competitors in the travel industry in every archetype.”
Apple retained its Number 1 spot for another year, with 32 percent of users reporting they cannot live without the brand.
The automotive industry reported the highest scores overall as the most intimate industry in the UAE with five of the top 10 brands – Ford, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus and BMW.
YouTube also made it to the top 10 for the first time, improving its rank from 20th in 2018 to 10th in 2019, a growth trend that MBLM predicts will continue in the future.
Nescafé, meanwhile, jumped 26 places to 7th.
The Brand Intimacy 2019 Report analyses responses from 6,200 consumers in 56,000 brand evaluations across 15 industries in the US, Mexico and UAE.
