Global crisis hits several categories of brands in 2010 list

Several brand categories have been affected this year by the global economic crisis causing them either to drop out or diminish on the top brand lists this year.

Luxury brands have disappeared completely from the SuperBrands list for 2010, said Mike English, Director of SuperBrands Middle East.

While the full list with the SuperBrand of the year will not be released until April, English gave a few indications about the trends related to the rise and fall of various brands in the UAE.

According to him, banks have understandably retreated from the SuperBrands list which features the top 62 brands in the local market. "This year, we only have a couple of banks on the list, as opposed to last year when we had around six."

"Banks have lost a deal in terms of trust during the past year. It is not just the crisis that has affected them but the way banks in the UAE have dealt with the crisis."

English refused to reveal any names of the chosen SuperBrands 2010, explaining that this can only be done once the brands are notified of their selection for the list, in April.

Last year, banks among the SuperBrands list included Emirates Bank and National Bank of Dubai which have completed a merger and National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

Explaining the luxury brands disappearance from the SuperBrands, English said it was most probably due to people preferring the brands that go along on a day-to-day basis. "Therefore, FMCG and electronics have not been much affected, for example. Luxury brands, on the other hand, seem to have been put out of people's minds for the moment", said English. Individual brands who are being notified in the mean time, have started to roll out their individual announcements.

Al Islami Foods said in a statement yesterday, it was chosen among the SuperBrands for 2010, for the second year.

Commenting on the success, Alex Andarakis, CEO of Al Islami Foods, said: We are delighted that all the efforts that we have put into positioning the brand as reliable and trustworthy have been recognised. We will continue the high level of performance to enable us for the next year's nomination".

According to English, the SuperBrands Council considers every single brand in the country, and then comes up with a short list. "This year's shortlist included 1,415 brands. We invite the top management leaders for those brands to vote for the other brands, thus totalling to almost 2,450 votes."

The SuperBrand of the year, which will only be announced in April, is the one that has received 80 per cent of the total possible mark.

The evaluation is based on the brand's impact on the audience, although the selected brands are not divided into separate categories.

SuperBrands 2009 listed 50 local brands across various categories and sectors led by FMCG, retail, financial institutions and consumer electronics among others. Those brands included Al Ansari Exchange, American Express, UAE Exchange, Emirates Bank, Mawarid Finance, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and National Bank of Dubai in the financial sector.

From the retail and FMCG sectors Aldo, Swarovski, Nine West, Nike, Sun and Sands Sports, Booksplus, Gilette, Imperial Leather, Masafi, Johnson's Baby and Starbucks Coffee were selected. Other brands on the list included American Hospital Dubai, Aramex, Bally, Bosch, Canon, Castrol, Cellucom, Chilli's, Colgate, Dubai Duty Free, Ducab, a cable system solutions company, Emirates, Enoc, ETA Star, etisalat, , Gulf Air, Gulf Craft, Haagen-Dazs, IBM, and Julphar.

Also on the list were Jumbo, Net Group, Rak Ceramics, Rivoli Group, Shell, Showtime, Siemens, etc.

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