Emirates airline retains UAE’s top brand title

Dubai - Emirates is followed by global messaging service WhatsApp, which remains in second place this year as well

Emirates Airline retained its position as the number one brand among UAE companies, according to findings of two surveys released on Wednesday.

The surveys were conducted by KPMG and YouGov.

Other companies in the top ten performers list of KPMG include HSBC, VOX Cinemas, Emirates NBD, Carrefour, Dewa, Centrepoint, FedEx, Spinneys and DHL.

“Companies scoring high on customer experience typically record higher revenue growth,” KPMG said in a statement.

YouGov’s 2020 Best Brand Rankings in the UAE named Emirates for the fourth year in succession (59.9). “Despite the flight restrictions that have been in place for an extended period, the airline maintains its dominant position among residents in the UAE. It did however record a marginal decline (-0.9) in its year-on-year brand health score,” YouGov said.

Emirates is followed by global messaging service WhatsApp, which remains in second (50.4) this year as well, with a marginal improvement (of +0.7) in its score year–on-year as per the survey rankings based on the index score from YouGov BrandIndex.

According to KPMG, the UAE’s overall performance on customer experience has increased by 7.0 per cent since 2018, according to KPMG’s “UAE Customer Experience Excellence report 2020”, which analyzes changing consumer behavior and the top-ranking UAE companies for customer excellence.

Companies were ranked on the basis of six yardsticks including customer experience excellence, personalisation, integrity, expectations, resolution, time & effort, and empathy.

“In a post-Covid-19 world, consumers may expect the brands they interact with – digitally or physically – to deliver better, safer and more seamless interactions at a lower cost. We have seen many companies establish their integrity, striving to act in the best interests of their customers, doing the right thing regardless of profit impact, and caring for employees and customers. This is reflected in UAE companies’ improved customer experience excellence metrics,” said Pilar De Miguel Veira, partner, head of Experience De

New technology, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning can enable customer experiences that are highly personalized, frictionless and easy to navigate, said Veira.

“For organisations able to navigate these challenges, there are likely opportunities to accelerate economic recovery, lock in long-term cost savings and create enormous value, for both shareholders and society,” said Veira.

KPMG has identified common contributors to the success of the top 10 UAE companies. These include continuous innovation-driven improvement, a desire to deliver the best customer experience in their field, uncovering customers’ hidden needs and being adaptable, responsive and often first to market with game-changing innovations.

According to the findings, the quality of customer experience has improved across the UAE since the last survey in 2018. Every sector has seen improvement, with utilities (+10 per cent) and financial services (+10 per cent) seeing the largest increase. Entertainment & leisure has the highest score (8.15) for its customer experience. Despite the impact of Covid-19, the travel & hotels sector (scoring 7.80) performed better in the UAE than in most other countries.

issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com