It is no surprise that 6 out of the top 10 brands on the recent YouGov BrandIndex report belong to technology, which has taken over our lives and shaped our social behavior over the past decade.
YouGov BrandIndex screened all of its 546 brands in the UAE for positive Buzz, which asks respondents: “Have you heard anything positive about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news, or word of mouth?”
The Top 10 brands with positive buzz between September 1, 2016 and August 31, 2017 are Facebook, iPhone, Apple, WhatsApp, Samsung Galaxy, Samsung, Emirates, McDonalds, Emirates NBD and KFC.
AMEinfo picked three of these bands to investigate the reason behind their top rankings.
The wide exposure and publicity that Facebook offers are not all negative and surely have a positive impact on people’s lives in some circumstances.
Facebook, for instance, saved a young German man’s life in June this year.
According to Ahlan Live, a news site covering the UAE, the young man was streaming a Facebook live video while harming himself, due to a family dispute on a mountain top in Ras Al Khaimah.
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The man’s brother immediately contacted the Ras Al Khaimah police and informed them of the situation. Minutes after receiving the emergency call, the police and an ambulance rushed to the mountain to help the man.
Another positive buzz about Facebook is its recent opening of a new regional center in Dubai providing more than 60 job opportunities.
Jonathan Labin, Managing Director of Facebook Middle East, North Africa & Pakistan, said that Dubai was considered the ideal location for expansion in the region, given its skilled human resources and its professional work environment.
“We have only reached one percent of our goals in this region and we are looking forward to further expansion. Dubai is characterized with its high connectivity and the high usage of smartphones,” he said.
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One of the most popular news among people taken by Whatsapp this past year is the unblocking of voice-calling and video-calling features.
However, following people’s rejoicing over the news, it looked like the government had again restricted the use of WhatsApp’s voice-calling and video-calling services.
A statement by UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) clarified that “there is no change in the UAE’s Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Policy. TRA reconfirms that any applications or services of this type must comply with the applicable regulatory framework in the country.”
WhatsApp’s new ‘status’ feature had also created a positive buzz among users. The new feature allowed users to share photos, GIFs or videos overlaid with drawings, emojis and a caption that will be visible to selected friends for 24 hours before disappearing.
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Samsung
Samsung Gulf Electronics introduced in September the much anticipated Galaxy Note 8 to the UAE.
The next-level Galaxy Note 8 empowers consumers with a bigger Infinity Display that fits comfortably in one hand, an S Pen to communicate in more personal ways and Samsung’s latest smartphone camera.
“The Galaxy Note8 is designed for the way consumers lead their lives and lean on technology today. Hence, we came up with an innovation for those doers who want to think big and do big,” said Tarek Sabbagh, Head of IT & Mobile (IM) Division at Samsung Gulf Electronics.
Among the positive news for Samsung is the launching in April of its flagship mobile payments service, Samsung Pay, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Samsung Pay is simple and secure. It can be used to make purchases almost anywhere by swiping your debit or credit card.
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