Apple voted top brand in the United Arab Emirates

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A location fit for an Apple Store? We think so.
The site of Apple's upcoming Dubai Apple Store.
Photo: Longhornsandcamels

The United Arab Emirates hasn’t even gotten its first Apple Store yet, but that hasn’t stopped Apple from ranking no. 1 in a list of the “Top 10 Most Intimate Brands in the UAE.”

In doing so, it didn’t just beat tech rival brands like Samsung and Google, but also auto-makers Lexus and Mercedes, chain coffee shop Starbucks, and a variety of others.

The study analyzed 52,000 brands among 6,000 consumers. Apple ranked top in both the 25-34 year-old and 35-44 year-old categories.

“This report is based on quantitative research among consumers where our goal was to measure, quantify and better understand how emotions impact brand relationships and further dimension which brands are most successful at creating these bonds,” said William Shintani, partner at research first MBLM, which commissioned the report.

“The significance of the research findings is that intimate brands make business sense,” Shintani continued. “The top ten most intimate brands outperform established financial indices for both revenue and profit growth over ten years. These brands also command a price premium, enjoying more financial resilience than brands in the same industries that are not intimate.”

In the past, Apple has also ranked top in lists of other growing markets, such as China, where it is the no. 1 luxury brand among millionaires.

The UAE survey news comes at a great time for Apple, since it is just weeks away from opening the world’s biggest-ever Apple Store in Dubai. The first-ever United Arab Emirates Apple Store is an enormous 50,000-square-foot retail space at the Mall of the Emirates. A second Apple Store will follow in Abu Dhabi, at the newly opened Yas Mall.

Here is the rest of the list of the “intimate brands” ranking:

Top 10 most intimate brands in UAE

1. Apple
2. Lexus
3. Samsung
4. Mercedes
5. Dove
6. Starbucks
7. Sony
8. ADCB
9. Google
10. IKEA

Source: Emirates247

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