Emirates airline tops YouGov's UAE Best Buzz list for 2021

Apple and iPhone rank second and third, while Expo 2020 Dubai is first on most-improved list

Emirates was also No 1 in YouGov's Best Brand Rankings in the UAE for the fifth consecutive year in 2021. Photo: Emirates

Emirates, the world's largest long-haul airline, topped YouGov's UAE Best Buzz list for 2021, as the airline bounced back to its pre-pandemic capacity amid a recovery in the aviation sector.

The Dubai-based airline scored 53.6, well ahead of its peers in the industry, as it continues to ramp up its network by tapping into a resurgence in travel demand amid a relaxation of movement restrictions worldwide.

Emirates – which received the final manufactured Airbus A380 superjumbo last December – was also first in YouGov's Best Brand Rankings in the UAE for the fifth consecutive year.

Technology brands featured prominently on the YouGov list. Apple, the world's most valuable company, and its flagship device iPhone occupied the second and third spots, respectively. Athletic gear manufacturer Nike came fourth while Samsung, which launched its new Galaxy S22 range on Wednesday, and streaming service YouTube came in at fifth and sixth positions.

The top 10 list was rounded off by Adidas, Expo 2020 Dubai, Saudi Arabia-based dairy company Almarai and UK-based cleaning goods maker Dettol in the remaining positions, respectively.

Most improved brands

Expo 2020 Dubai was ranked eighth on the Best Buzz list, but was No 1 on the improvers list, increasing its score by almost two-thirds. It was the only brand to register a double-digit improvement in its score, which was more than twice that of Chinese social networking platform TikTok, which came second on the list.

Qatar Airways was the third most-improved brand, followed by Dubai-based e-commerce service Noon and delivery service Talabat at fourth and fifth.

Smiles, the loyalty programme of Abu Dhabi telecommunication firm Etisalat, was at sixth, followed by Dubai lifestyle destination Bluewaters, Chinese-themed shopping mall Dragon Mart and energy drink Red Bull.

Rounding out the 10 most improved brands is Neom, the $500 billion high-tech mega-city being built in Saudi Arabia and a major part of the kingdom's economic diversification programme.

The rankings data from London-based YouGov was drawn from its daily brand tracking tool BrandIndex, which continuously measures the public’s perception of brands around the world.

The scores reflect average data from January 1 to December 31 last year, and were compared to the same period in 2020.