DUBAI 2 August 2017: Surprising the UAE’s top brand in leisure and entertainment is a facility that is open for only half the year.
The Global Village in Dubai has been named the top brand in Leisure & Entertainment by YouGov UAE Brand Health Rankings.
In first-ever global brand health rankings released by YouGov BrandIndex, Dubai brands – such as Dubai Mall, Emaar and Emirates NBD – dominated the UAE rankings.
Data from YouGov’s global daily brand tracker shows the seasonal cultural extravaganza – Global Village – is also the brand with the best score improvement among UAE consumers over the past 12 months, fending off competition from VOX Cinemas in second place and Ferrari World Abu Dhabi in third overall.
Yas WaterWorld and Ski Dubai also demonstrate their ability to resonate in the country’s competitive entertainment market rounding out the top 5 strongest brands in fourth and fifth place respectively.
Top 5 – Leisure & Entertainment
1. Global Village
2. VOX Cinemas
3. Ferrari World Abu Dhabi
4. Yas WaterWorld
5. Ski Dubai
“YouGov’s BrandIndex brand health rankings demonstrate the impact of enhancements Global Village rolled out for its recent season. While the park has routinely performed well in the market, the addition of heritage areas, an array of concerts, and a new East Asia pavilion have placed it ahead of all other leisure brands in the UAE. Meanwhile, Majid Al Futtaim’s dominant cinema brand, VOX Cinemas, lands in second place after another year of expansion across the region,” said Scott Booth, YouGov’s Head of Data Products in Mena.
Shopping Malls
The world’s largest mall achieved the highest brand health scores among consumers in the Emirates – taking the lead above Mall of the Emirates in second place and City Centre Deira in third. City Centre Mirdif and Dubai Festival Centre complete the top 5 malls in the UAE’s first Brand Health Rankings in fourth and fifth place respectively.
Top 5 Malls
1. Dubai Mall
2. Mall of the Emirates
3. City Centre Deira
4. City Centre Mirdif
5. Dubai Festival Centre
“In a fairly cluttered retail market, both Emaar’s Dubai Mall and Majid Al Futtaim’s Mall of the Emirates stand well apart from the competition as the UAE’s premiere shopping and leisure destinations. While Dubai Mall has benefitted from continual development of the Dubai Downtown district, Mall of the Emirates unveiled a major expansion in 2015 that continues to narrow the gap between the UAE’s top malls,” said Booth.
Real Estate
Leading global property developer Emaar is the strongest real estate brand in the UAE.
Data from daily interviews, conducted among UAE consumers over the past 12 months using YouGov’s brand tracking tool, shows Emaar is the leading brand in its industry by some margin, ahead of Damac in second place and Nakheel in third.
DP (Dubai Properties) and Danube Properties complete the Emirates’ top five brands in the real estate brand health rankings overall.
Top 5 – Real Estate
1. Emaar
2. Damac
3. Nakheel
4. DP (Dubai Properties)
5. Danube Properties
“The Emaar name in UAE real estate carries a perception of high quality and a powerfully positive reputation among consumers, as evidenced by ratings from thousands of BrandIndex respondents over the past 12 months. Emaar’s ongoing developments in the Downtown Dubai district as well as the company’s involvement in the Dubai Creek Harbour development and other high profile projects have kept it in the public eye, helping the brand to dominate the UAE real estate sector,” said Booth.
Retail Banking
UAE consumers have revealed Emirates NBD to be the strongest retail banking brand in the UAE.
Data from YouGov’s brand tracker which interviews consumers daily about brands, shows the leading banking and financial services provider has achieved the highest scores for brand health over the past 12 months making it the number one retail banking brand in the Emirates.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi take up the next two spots on the list, followed by Dubai Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank respectively rounding out the top five.
Top 5 – Retail Banking
1. Emirates NBD
2. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
3. National Bank of Abu Dhabi
4. Dubai Islamic Bank
5. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
“Over the past several years, Emirates NBD has firmly established its place as the top retail banking brand in the UAE. In a busy and evolving retail banking market the brand has had to consistently and creatively set itself apart from its competitors and the last 12 months have been no exceptio,” said Booth.
The inaugural global brand health rankings used BrandIndex’s Index score for the list which assesses overall brand health. The Index score takes into account perceptions of a brand’s quality, value, impression, satisfaction, reputation and whether consumers would recommend the brand to others.
YouGov BrandIndex operates in 32 countries across the globe, covering markets in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia. The Inaugural Global Brand Health Rankings were conducted across sectors in 30 countries worldwide.
By Sheena Amos