Etisalat awarded ‘Most Valuable Telecoms Brand’ in MENA region at Mobile World Congress

Mobilk - Etisalat today received ‘The Most Valuable Telecoms Brand’ in Middle East and North Africa Region by Brand Finance as a recognition for the company’s increase in brand value by 40 percent to $7.7bn-higher than any other telecom brand in the region and only telecom provider to break the $7bn brand value mark in the region.

Etisalat is the only telecom provider from the region to feature in the top 15 most powerful telecom brands globally and boast of an impressive AAA brand rating. On a portfolio basis, the brand value inclusive of non-branded subsidiaries (Mobily in KSA, Maroc Telecom Operations, Ufone/PTCL in Pakistan) has jumped by 25 percent to $9.6bn.

Saleh Abdullah Al Abdooli, CEO, Etisalat Group received the awards today from David Haigh, Founder and CEO, Brand Finance, leading London-based branded business valuation firm at the ongoing Mobile World Congress, world’s largest telecom gathering being held in, Barcelona, Spain from 26th February-1st March, 2018.

“We are proud to be recognised as the most valuable brand in the MENA region, a significant milestone as we have transcended from the 3rd rank to the first in only one year by surpassing some of the renowned regional brands. This can be attributed to our efforts in digital transformation whereby we have amplified our reach and presence in a highly competitive marketplace by investing in new digital platforms and global brand building initiatives. Etisalat’s success as a brand was also reinforced by the synergy of our family across our footprint, creating brand loyalty and enhanced engagement with our customers,” said Saleh Abdullah Al Abdooli, CEO, Etisalat Group.    

Etisalat’s brand value has grown over the year due to innovative customer service driven strategy, adapting well to digital savvy marketplace, leadership position on the 5G revolution and successful launch of global brand building initiatives. 

Etisalat has been in the forefront of enabling UAE’s focus on digital innovation with its overall strategy focused on ‘Driving the Digital Future’. Etisalat is working on several digital initiatives in the space of digital infrastructure, entertainment and smart cities. The brand has smartly leveraged today’s scale for tomorrow’s agile society.

As the premier digital and telecommunications partner of Dubai Expo2020, Etisalat is set to deliver one of the fastest, smartest and best-connected places on earth during the global mega event. Through its digital infrastructure expertise, Etisalat is poised to enable Expo 2020 Dubai visitors and participants with a cutting edge, immersive digital experience that brings the Expo themes to life for the 25 million expected visitors.

The brand is behind the infrastructure digitization of first of its kind Dubai Parks and Resorts project. This included digital channels, different smart services (such as smart parking, smart ticketing, connected transportation and connected food and beverage), in addition to other smart solutions around the park such as video surveillance-as-a-service, real time marketing and analytics. 

On retail innovation front, Etisalat amplified roll out of its smart stores in UAE, providing customers with an efficient personalized retail experience. This new concept focuses on transforming a brick and mortar retail environment to a fully digital and seamless experience for customers. This has made customer interactions effortless. 

To commemorate Etisalat’s history and showcase its pioneering spirit, Etisalat launched the ‘Together as One’ campaign, it’s first ever group brand campaign. In addition to appealing to the nostalgia of Emiratis and expats alike who grew up with Etisalat in the UAE, the campaign also speaks a more international language of togetherness by highlighting Etisalat’s footprint across 16 countries.

For global branding initiatives, sports has played a major role, especially football being the most watched and played sport in the world and link Etisalat’s footprint across 16 countries. Etisalat sponsorship as official telecommunications partner of Manchester City Football Club has helped to reach out and engage with fans across its markets. 

Brand Finance compiled its Telecom 300 rankings by evaluating a company’s ‘brand strength’ based on key factors which are mainly marketing investment and methods used by marketers to create brand loyalty and market share; stakeholder equity – the perceptions among stakeholder groups including customers; and business performance, which includes market and financial measures to judge the success of the brand in achieving price and volume premiums. 

Brand Finance, is the world’s leading independent branded business valuation and strategy consultancy, and is the organization behind the Global 500 Brands and Telecom 300 league table of the world’s biggest brands ranked by their brand value, assesses the dollar value of the reputation, image and intellectual property of the brand.