Samsung is the number one ranked brand in the Top 10 Buzz Rankings across the United Arab Emirates for the first half of 2014, the latest BrandIndex Mid-Year Rankings announced by global market research company YouGov revealed. YouGov's BrandIndex tracks over 500 brands in the UAE across multiple sectors simultaneously, and is the first and only daily measure of brand perception among the public. Rankings are created using YouGov BrandIndex's Buzz score, which is calculated by asking respondents if they have heard anything positive or negative about a brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news, word-of-mouth or friends and family. Increasingly known for leading the market through user inspired innovation and manufacturing phones for every demographic, Buzz surrounding the South Korean electronics giant was enough to snatch the rankings crown from Google, who dropped to second place over the last 12 months. However, with Internet penetration set to soar to 413 million users across the Middle East by 2015, Google is still generating high levels of awareness for itself in the UAE. Emirates remains a non-mover in third place with 52.2 points. Its recent acclamation as the most valuable airline brand worldwide in the 2014 Global 500 report, together with a range of sponsorships, including the FIFA World Cup 2014, no doubt helped to maintain awareness amongst the airline's target audience of ‘globalistas - a new generation of global consumers looking for new experiences across cultures'. Carrefour had the most significant climb up the Top 10 over the first six months of the year, jumping up five places from ninth to fourth. Consumer electronics leader Apple has also been making waves lately in the UAE, and CEO Tim Cook's visit to the Emirates in February got tongues wagging - Apple and Apple iPhone appear in our Top 10 at positions five and eight respectively and remain brands to watch for the foreseeable future. – SG
