Dubai, UAE May, 2nd 2018 – Consumers in the UAE continue to rally behind their love of cars. For the second year in a row, the automotive industry dominates MBLM’s Brand Intimacy 2018 Report, the largest study of brands based on emotions, as the most intimate industry out of 15 in the region.  

It comes as no surprise considering the UAE’s car-culture and buying power. Five of the Top 10 Most Intimate Brands are automotive brands. “The dominant archetype for this category – fulfillment – indicates that successful automotive brands in the UAE deliver superior service, quality and efficacy,” noted William Shintani, managing partner at MBLM Dubai. “Fulfillment is linked to performance, which is evident in the marketing efforts of industry leaders such as Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. These brands deliver on their promise to provide products and experiences that exceed user expectations.”

BMW, the best-performing brand for the fulfillment archetype, ranked #1 among millennials and men respectively. About 63% of BMW users surveyed noted that they maintained an intimate relationship with BMW, the highest of any brand recorded. Lexus, however, beat BMW as the most intimate brand in the automotive industry, also coming in second in the UAE’s Top 10. Lexus is the preferred brand for consumers between 35 and 64 years of age. The brand ranked the highest for the final stage of intimacy, fusing. Audi’s position dropped from last year, whereas Toyota impressively climbed from #16 to #5.

The success that Lexus is enjoying could be attributed to Uber and Careem, who have expanded their fleets with large amounts of the new Hybrid models. It is difficult to say, however, how commoditizing the luxury car could affect the brand in the long run.

Interesting to note is that while brands like Toyota and Lexus perform well in most markets, they excel especially in the Middle East, possibly because of their eminence in the accessibility of parts, outstanding service and, for Toyota in particular, exceptional resale value.

This year’s report contains the most comprehensive rankings of brands based on emotion, analyzing the responses of 6,000 consumers and 54,000 brand evaluations across 15 industries in the U.S., Mexico and the UAE. MBLM’s reports and interactive Brand Ranking Tool showcase the performance of almost 400 brands, revealing the characteristics and intensity of consumer bonds.

About MBLM

MBLM is the Brand Intimacy Agency, delivering expertise and offerings across three areas of focus: Agency, Lab and Platform. With offices in seven countries, our multidisciplinary teams help clients build stronger bonds and deliver optimized marketing outcomes and returns for the long term. To learn more about how we can help you create and sustain ultimate brand relationships, visit mblm.com.

To view the automotive industry rankings, visit:

http://mblm.com/lab/ranking-tool/#countryId=3&year=2018&categoryId=7

To download the full Brand Intimacy 2018 Report, visit:

http://mblm.com/lab/brandintimacy-study/uae/