A comparison of UAE telecom brands, from a brand intimacy perspective Testing the spectrum

Goal When it comes to building and With the rise of social media creating brand intimacy, the and increasing demand for telecom industry is challenging. mobile data, this local duopoly Our research has shown telecom was challenged to create consumers are price- and offer- new offerings that are cheap, driven, meaning brands have convenient and attractive for few opportunities to cultivate the growing demographic of intimacy based on unique factors. the young and tech savvy. In In addition, every small detail 2017, Etisalat launched swyp, beyond basic functionality can and Virgin Mobile entered the dilute the customer experience, market building on du’s network. exponentially impacting the These newcomers claim to strength of a brand’s bond with offer a new way forward for the customers. mobile telecom industry in the As our annual study continues to UAE. But which brand, if any, reveal, the greater the intimacy has really captured the hearts between brand and consumer, of consumers and created an the less likely consumers are authentic emotional connection? to switch. In a price and feature dominant industry, we wanted to Challenge & methods examine the UAE telecom brands to see who performs best and MBLM is an agency comprised why. of many digital natives, and the nature of our work demands that Context we stay connected constantly. We examined each of the four The UAE has embraced the digital telecom brands’ prepaid services revolution, building connectivity to find out if there really is a and accessibility to international better mobile experience in digital networks and transitioning UAE—and whether, or not, any towards e-government services of the brands could forge a more to support the growth of its intimate relationship with us. economy. Known for its high To do this, we purchased per-capita GDP, and with an products and services at each abundance of youth and expat brand to experience first-hand consumers, the UAE’s telecom how well they delivered on their services have been at the promise and positioning. forefront of the latest and best. The industry has been dominated since the inception of mobile by Etisalat, with competitor du Did you know? acting as a foil since 2007. Globally, the UAE ranks: • First in the total population covered by at least a 3G mobile network (100% coverage)[1] • Second in the number of mobile broadband subscriptions (156 subscriptions per 100 people)[2] • Eleventh in the number of Internet users in the total population (90.6%)[2]

UAE telecom brands field notes 2 The brands

Established Established Established Established February 2007 September 2017 January 2017 October 1976

Tagline Tagline Tagline Tagline Add Life to Life The New Mobile Experience Mobile Made Simple Together Matters

Brand promise/vision Brand promise/vision Brand promise/vision Brand promise/vision To Enhance Your Life Anytime, Your Lifestyle Companion The Future of Mobile Driving the Digital Future Anywhere

The review criteria

For our field notes review, we focused on how each brand delivered on its promise through its essence, story and experience. Specifically we reviewed:

Registration Purchase and usage Mobile applications Customer service Sign-up requirements, ease of Sign-up costs, plan value and Complexity of sign-in, design, Ease of contact, clarity of registration, sign up costs, time flexibility, over use and add-on breadth of functionality communications, issue for SIM activation charges, network connectivity resolution

Marketing campaigns Website content Social media In-store experience A selection of the brands’ latest Following the steps to get a Brand presence and Overall impressions and campaigns across different prepaid line via the website communications on Twitter, customer service at the store, channels Facebook and Instagram where available

UAE telecom brands field notes 3 Ranked 10th overall in the telecom industry in our most recent Brand Intimacy Study, Etisalat is the UAE’s incumbent provider. Its promise of innovation is compelling, yet it may be too ambitious to implement across products and channels.

Essence Experience

Etisalat’s influence is visible Etisalat’s consumer-driven everywhere in the UAE, message is replicated in its from its infrastructure to its physical and digital channels Etisalat Etisalat sponsorships and consumer with consistent visual branding advertising. The brand’s promise and a uniform voice throughout invokes the power of digitizing materials. However, in a city Etisalat Etisalat communities and businesses. inundated with convenient online It is currently ranked as the 12th services, a key digital strategy most intimate brand across should be online registration, but all industries in the 35-64 age Etisalat has yet to implement Etisalat Etisalat category. With millennials, this for prepaid customers. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQSTUVWXYZ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQSTUVWXYZ however, Etisalat is ranked abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz !@#$%ˆ& 1234567890 !@#$%ˆ& 1234567890 in the 45th position. Within their brick and mortar stores, Etisalat representatives The Etisalat brand offers a helped address our needs, compelling promise, it has a asking about our usage patterns clear purpose and its identity is to provide tailored service distinctive. The brand is clearly and information. However, delineated and has an ownable this industry is very much force of attraction implemented offer-driven, and customer across its digital and physical representatives focused more environments. on upselling than on the

services that would make life Etisalat Etisalat Story easier. The brand also has a dedicated street sales team Etisalat’s brand narrative across the city, but their leverages its legacy as a premier knowledge of Etisalat’s offerings national brand–one that has is restricted to the specific shaped the communications product they are promoting. landscape and is determined to helping consumers across The brand’s mobile application the UAE. Occasionally, this and website are designed message adopts a feature driven to cover its wide range of approach that covers every services and functions. While digital need, underlined with the comprehensive, site navigation brand’s vision of empowering and information hierarchy suffer, people. Etisalat delivers on its as a result, making it difficult promise through its breadth of to find information and offerings, but how its messaging challenging the brand’s promise of a digital future. differentiates between its Etisalat wide range of prepaid plans is The experience of using convoluted, and its distinction Etisalat’s network was seamless, between types of data (social with excellent connectivity and general-use) is confusing: + throughout Dubai. But when both are at odds with the it came to post-sale service • A wide range of home and • No online registration and message of empowerment. interactions, representatives mobile solutions SIM delivery for prepaid gave us different solutions mobile services • Strong nation-wide mobile or could offer no immediate resolution. The experience connectivity • Limited flexibility due to a clear distinction between was time-consuming and • Consistent store design and social media and general use frustrating, creating barriers to experience administered communication and indifference data by store customer towards the brand. representatives • Weak customer service communication and lack of issue resolution

UAE telecom brands field notes 4 This new contender differentiates through a focus on a lifestyle proposition.

Essence Experience

Positioning itself as the swyp’s mobile application is “companion brand to your multi-functional and user- lifestyle”, swyp promises users friendly, save for some minor a rewarding experience and a bugs. The app experience sense of belonging; however, was worthy of the brand’s its product is only available to ‘companion’ identity. consumers ages 15 to 29. swyp entered the UAE market in 2017, swyp’s online registration and swyp so we don’t yet have data on its SIM delivery seemed convenient brand intimacy with consumers and helpful, but our SIM card in the target group. took two weeks to arrive, and customer care wasn’t helpful. Catering to the young modern And while swyp’s membership customer, the brand provides a plan offers value and provides an prepaid-only, social media- and enhanced social experience, lifestyle-focused product. As it comes at a cost: other services Etisalat’s youth-only brand, it is such as minutes, SMS and swyp swyp reliant on Etisalat’s product and general data are all treated service infrastructure. as add-ons.

Story Our interactions with customer service started with a warm swyp adopts a youthful and greeting by name, but we faced quirky tone across its brand long call holds and follow-ups narrative. It also connects that never occurred. Speaking and creates dialog with its to swyp’s alternate Etisalat audience through social media helpline was even worse, as the engagement. Similar to other Etisalat team couldn’t find our brands, its overarching message registration details at all. We

swyp hinges on the concept of expected superior service to empowering users and helping align to the promise of being them get what they need, but the a companion, and the brand underlying details of its various didn’t deliver. + offers sometimes become Overall, swyp offers some • The low-cost membership • Call minutes and general unclear and difficult to discern attractive features for users plan is accessible for its data offerings are treated through the tone of voice. in its target demographic, but target audience as add-ons swyp’s principal offering is its flaws like lost registration details • A wide range of customer • Lack of balance between monthly “membership plan” with and a two-week wait for a SIM experiences in the form of fun youthful language, and 5GB of social data and “perks” card drastically reduced the perks, reward system and clarity in describing the (discounts and buy-one-get- brand’s opportunities to build competitions that come brand’s offering one offers) at multiple retail intimacy with us. with the membership • Reliance on Etisalat and F&B outlets. The service • Option to use Etisalat prevents swyp from having is differentiated, has a clear recharge cards is a a clear and distinct brand audience in mind, and aligns with welcome feature for the brand’s ‘lifestyle companion’ teenagers with no bank promise, offering plenty of accounts advantages for those who truly care to track and use discounts.

UAE telecom brands field notes 5 This global player has brought its digital-first approach to the UAE, with online registration and SIM delivery.

Essence Experience

Promising the “future of mobile”, Virgin Mobile’s story of total Virgin Mobile takes cues from user control is evident in the its family of brands, claiming to sign-up experience: users can deliver a different experience immediately search for and than what customers have choose their own numbers, become used to. This promise and DIY mobile plans make hinges on customizability, choosing data, minutes and SMS flexibility and the immediacy configurations incredibly flexible, of services, offered through while still staying transparent digital app-only registration and straightforward. While the Virgin Mobile and account servicing. Because six and twelve-month payment Virgin Mobile is a newcomer periods offer great value, the to the UAE market, we don’t story of control does falter yet have brand intimacy data a little, as there is no refund on the brand; however, we offered upon cancellation. anticipate that it will score highly with millennial users, who are Virgin Mobile’s investment in typically digital-first themselves. its digital medium is evident, providing a simple, fast and

Story hassle-free experience while Virgin Mobile Virgin Mobile registering for, ordering and Virgin Mobile concentrates its maintaining our service. messaging on social and digital Interesting details included channels in an attempt to appeal live tracking of our quick and to millennials and tech-savvy efficient SIM delivery and consumers. Virgin Mobile’s straightforward usage and narrative is centered around how billing views. its mobile plans and application offer total user control. The At the time of our review, the brand’s story focuses less on only way to contact help was user lifestyle and places more through the in app-chat function. emphasis on value-based This option was only offered Virgin Mobile benefits and convenience. during business hours on Occasionally, this narrative weekdays—a major downside. ties into other Virgin Group However, we did find replies to offerings present in the UAE, be quick and straight forward. helping a brand with various The customer care was also disparate verticals create consistent, with representatives + a more unified voice. prompt in understanding and • DIY plans ensure you pay for • Lack of refund policy addressing our issues, whether what you want and up-front payments live or through follow-up emails. don’t align with the ‘no • One hour delivery means you commitments’ messaging Overall, the brand offers UAE get a sim immediately with consumers a fresh experience. no need to go to a store • No process for customers to generate invoices for past With a strong essence and story, • Distinct identity from du months and with many aspects of the that is built on the innovative experience aligned, the potential Virgin brand narrative of developing an intimate bond with users seemed much higher than with any other brand.

UAE telecom brands field notes 6 Ranked 9th overall in the telecom sector of our most recent Brand Intimacy Study, du is the UAE’s second oldest mobile brand. It pledges to delight customers and enhance their lives, but faces challenges similar to that of its larger competitor.

Essence Experience

du was launched to break a du’s message of consumer du du monopoly and facilitate growth convenience is realized through within the telecom sector by its online registration and SIM giving customers more choice. delivery, while its website and du du The brand promises to “enhance app offer a full suite of functions your life anytime” by delighting that track all requisite services.

du du customers and improving quality However, rather than delighting of life at every moment with a us, the website’s breadth ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz broad suite of telecom services. of information and complex !@#$%ˆ& 1234567890 hierarchy made navigation In our Brand Intimacy Study, challenging. The mobile app du ranks 7th among all brands imposed unexpected redirects across industries within the to the website and suffered from 35-64 years old category. With bugs that slowed us down. Our millennials, it tumbles to 31st. registration experience also While its original launch in 2007 weakened the brand narrative. may have brought exciting new A timed page prompted us changes to how the industry to change our chosen number worked, such as seconds-based multiple times, and we call billing and data-plan flexibility, were forced to purchase its prepaid offering in 2018 recharge cards. doesn’t match that promise. Our interactions with customer Story care failed to deliver on the promise of enhancement: du’s du du’s consumer messaging service team left us feeling focuses on empowerment and helpless with long wait times enhancing consumers’ lives and a lack of clear solutions. through transparency, ease of We found the Interactive services and the latest digital Voice Response (IVR) system solutions. The brand utilizes complicated to navigate, and the friendly narratives and imagery email form kept resetting that consumers can identify with due to glitches. to speak about its offerings. Overall, we experienced du du du The brand offers a set of voice- to be very similar to Etisalat: only or voice-and-data plans, bringing a strong message which are renewable monthly, and infrastructure to support + weekly and daily, which du continuous growth, which with describes as the “future of prepaid”. careful delivery on the promise • Customer enhancement • Complex purchasing and These plans are similar to Etisalat’s can create greater intimacy with realized through online maintenance processes offerings, and like its competitor, its customers. registration and sim delivery across digital channels the brand separates its data into via the website • Outdated and complex social and general-use. • A wide range of offerings in segregation of product While du describes the offerings the realm of mobile, home offerings clearly, the breadth of choice and digital services • Weak, non-uniform customer and data segregation don’t align • Tailored service offerings for care guidelines with the simplicity expected various ethnic groups from the future of prepaid.

UAE telecom brands field notes 7 With our data exhausted and dead batteries, we identified our top choice…

Over a year into its operation, swyp comes in second, While these two brands offer to create stronger bonds, and Virgin Mobile is a breath of delivering a no-frills great flexibility, they are there’s also an opportunity for fresh air with its intuitive and experience. Given that swyp new to the market and only the newer players to break into easy to use app, its efficient is not available to anyone age offer prepaid services. du other service territories. delivery and registration over 29 however, a large share and Etisalat have dominated processes, and its unmatched of UAE customers are out of the market for some time flexibility. The brand really luck, and those who do sign up and offer a wider range of does deliver on providing a enjoy Etisalat’s infrastructure offerings from home services new mobile experience. but may have to endure to business lines. There’s still customer service issues. room for these larger brands

UAE telecom brands field notes 8 Opportunities

Throughout our testing, common insights emerged

Applications drive the The eSIM revolution brand experience With three of the four brands Virgin Mobile managed to check offering the option to deliver our all the boxes with the most user- SIMs, convenience seems to be friendly app of the four brands. at the front door. It’s clear that There are many things that can delivery is the future: a quick go wrong when creating a mobile way to activate services like application, from deep sitemaps mobile telecom subscriptions. and infinite subsections to slow Moreover, the arrival of the load times and website redirects. eSIM will place even more It’s essential for brands to clearly focus on digital registration define a digital strategy for a experiences. Given the component that is going to be importance of online ordering, so core to users’ experience. it is vital that brands perfect the Repeated frustrations across process, avoiding complications digital channels, especially as much as possible. when mobile applications drive brand experience, lead to lost The changing mobile opportunities for brand intimacy. landscape Good customer care is Virgin Mobile and swyp are Mobile Network Virtual lacking Operators – independent Stellar customer care is critical operators dependent on to forming intimate bonds with du and Etisalat for network customers, though service infrastructure. This allows both brands always struggle to get the companies to concentrate formula right. During our review their efforts on building in this industry, we were largely stronger brands, while network met with inaction and uncertainty infrastructure is managed by when dealing with customer others. As the average customer representatives. Telecom brands becomes more global and data- need to take a hard look at how hungry, brands that pair truly they train their service reps–the differentiated offerings (such as face and voice of the brand–as free roaming and uncapped data) well as the guidelines and core with a strong essence, story principles they hold to heart to and experience, will start to rise support the brand narrative. to the forefront.

UAE telecom brands field notes 9 Which carrier is right for you?

Facing a tough decision between telecom brands in the UAE? Let our chart help!

Start

Interested in a Need more than Yes just prepaid and family, business Yes lifsetyle? or enterprise plan?

No

No Age 29 and under?

Yes

UAE telecom brands field notes 10 Insights from Brand Intimacy

Brand Intimacy is a new becomes more significant and paradigm in marketing which committed. However in the most leverages and strengthens the intimate stage, fusing, where emotional bonds between a a user and a brand become person and a brand. Every year, co-identified, both brands MBLM conducts the world’s underperformed against the largest study on brands and industry average, highlighting the emotion, and 2018’s report difficulty these brands are facing analyzes the responses of 6,000 in creating lasting emotional consumers and 54,000 brand relationships. evaluations across 15 industries Telecom services is a cutthroat in the U.S., Mexico and the industry, and every small UAE. The study reveals that top detail above and beyond basic intimate brands deliver superior functionality leads to a superior results related to revenue outcome, and can increase and profit growth by creating the chance of customers not deeper relationships with their jumping ship based on minor consumers. price differences. swyp and While looking into the Virgin Mobile are capitalizing on a experiences that create niche in the market with younger differentiators between these customers, but it remains to telecom competitors, we also be seen if they can effectively looked into the emotional leverage the archetypes of Brand connections between the brands Intimacy to create deep long- and their customers. In our 2018 lasting bonds. study, du and Etisalat ranked With a more competitive ninth and tenth respectively landscape offering greater within the tech and telecom choice than ever before, industry, but they continue to consumers have the last word face competition from larger on which brand they choose to international brands that focus partner with. For telecom brands, on devices and suites of digital taking a closer look at their services. essence, story and experience The depth and degree of intensity to form stronger emotional of an intimate brand relationship connections with customers will can be measured by the stages play an enormous role in moving of Brand Intimacy. From least customers through the stages of to most intimate, these are: intimacy. Sharing, bonding and fusing. In our 2018 study, du and Etisalat both had a higher number of users in the bonding stage than the industry average (10%). Bonding is when an attachment is created and the relationship between a person and a brand

UAE telecom brands field notes 11 Emotion drives our decisions and behaviors. Brand Intimacy is the new paradigm that examines, measures and builds the bonds we form with the brands we use and love.

Experience

Story

Essence

Architecting a brand Crafting a strong narrative Orchestrating an for greater impact by that connects audiences elevated experience that creating an ownable to a brand in emotionally focuses on delivering more force of attraction driven ways while personalized, memorable, and connection. fostering engagement and well-considered and relevance. moments in more places across more devices.

Learn more on

mblm.com/lab Credits

Written in collaboration with: Ashwin Kulothungun Arcangelo Anthony Lisa England Saneesh Sukesan

Brand intimacy advisor: Mario Natarelli

Partner in charge: William Shintani

Sources

1. Vall, I.V. (2018), ITU Regional Workshop on ICT Statistics: Telecommunication indicators. [e-book] Bahrain: International Telecommunications Union, p.19. Available at: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Regional-Presence/ArabStates/Documents/ events/2018/ICT-Statistics/Presentations/Session_5_7_ITU_admin_data.pdf

2. Steele H. (2018), Arab World Competitiveness Report 2018, [e-book] Geneva: World Economic Forum, p.145. Available at: https:// www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/fdeefc9a-1283-402c-8845-e9f5e7d5eb73/AWCR+2018.post-launch+updates.180824_1442. pdf?MOD=AJPERES

3. Burke C., (2015, April 22), 100 Customer Service Statistics You Need To Know, Available at: https://www.insightsquared. com/2015/04/100-customer-service-statistics-you-need-to-know/

4. Nagraj A. (2017, Monday 06). What Will Virgin Mobile’s Entry Mean for The UAE Telecom market. Available at: http://gulfbusiness.com/ what-will-virgin-mobiles-entry-mean-for-the-uae-telecom-market/

5. Oxford Business Group Editorial Team, (2015), Growing Market Saturation in Dubai Telecoms Increasing Competition for High-Quality Content. Available at: https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/overview/growing-market-saturation-dubai-telecoms-increasing-competition- high-quality-content

6. Everington J. , (2017, January 31) Du Owner To Bring Virgin Mobile Brand To UAE, Available at: https://www.thenational.ae/business/ du-owner-to-bring-virgin-mobile-brand-to-uae-1.53343

7. Du, Etisat, swyp and Virgin Mobile logotypes, ads, wordmarks and imagery are copyright by their respective brands. Other imagery sourced from Getty Images. Let’s get intimate

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