Pepsi has become the UAE's brand of the year. Superbrands, which describes itself as an "independent authority" on branding, has named Pepsi the nation's favourite brand, ahead of homegrown names such as Dubai Duty Free and Masafi. Mike English, the director of Superbrands Middle East, explained why Pepsi won.
What did Pepsi do right this year?
What they always do right: they're consistent with their brand, they're consistent with their positioning and they're consistent with their product. There are so many new entrants into the beverage industry, the awareness of the industry as a whole has gone up. And Pepsi is so dominant that - I hate to say this - they just float to the top.
Because there is no letter "p" in Arabic, Pepsi is often pronounced "Bebsi". While the brand name does not translate well in terms of language, how does it translate in terms of culture?
I think you ought to ask an Arab that. It's been the dominant brand in the beverage market here for the last probably 15 years. Before that, it was local brands. Pepsi is a youth brand and it's an aspirational brand. And everything they do is aimed towards maintaining that.
How transparent is the process that decided a country's top brand? Do you release how many votes each brand received?
No, we don't do that. And we don't do rankings either. Because what we do is inherently ridiculous. How do you compare Emirates [Airline]'s brand with KitKat? How do you compare Pepsi with UAE Exchange? You can't. Because branding is all about subjectivity. It's not something you can measure. It's all about how an individual feels about a brand and it's all about personal relationships. It's an emotional reaction.
No Arab brands are mentioned in the same breath as Coca-Cola, Pepsi or Google. Why is that?
Until now, Arab brands have been very country specific. They've now grown out of that and they are becoming regional. But it takes a huge, huge effort to become global. The only one that is close is Emirates.
So why didn't Emirates win this year and every year?
Bear in mind that the people who are voting [on the Superbrands brand of the year] are ordinary people. They interact with Emirates on a personal basis maybe once a year.
How confident are you that Superbrands UAE is a true barometer of the industry?
It is very much a barometer of what is happening here and people's attitude to brands. Because it's all about emotion and all about what you feel about a particular brand at a particular time. The important people are the little people: the receptionist; the guy who drives your delivery truck ... people who are trying to interact with your brand. They're the people that matter - not the guy sitting in the ivory tower.
* Ben Flanagan
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