Adnoc’s Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber leads the strong Emirati contingent in ranking of world’s leading brand guardians in a report by leading global brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance.

 

Picked as the top brand guardian CEO Dr Al Jaber has led Adnoc, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, since 2016 and faced the difficult challenge of delivering an increase in Adnoc’s oil production while seeking to transform the business to satisfy changing customer demands and address environmental protection concerns.

 

Olayan Mohammed Al Wetaid of stc is the top Saudi brand guardian and Hana Al Rostamani is the top-ranked female brand guardian CEO at First Abu Dhabi (FAB).

 

Facing a difficult challenge

As the CEO of one of the world’s leading oil companies, Dr Al Jaber faces a difficult challenge to balance commercial and environmental demands. To face this challenge, he has overseen the development of an Adnoc sustainability strategy to extend their legacy as a responsible producer of oil and gas so that they can continue to deliver maximise value for the UAE and key stakeholders.

 

Richard Haigh, Managing Director of Brand Finance, commented: “Ultimately, the role of a brand guardian is to build brand and business value. Our ranking recognises those who are building business value in a sustainable manner, by balancing the needs of all stakeholders – employees, investors, and the wider society. More and more, the CEOs ranked in the Brand Guardianship Index must work in partnership to build a sustainable future, redefining the role of a CEO from ultracompetitive entrepreneur to collaborative diplomat.”

 

Dr Al Jaber is the highest-ranked CEO outside of the US and China, and ranked higher than any CEO in all of Europe and Africa. Ranked 15th globally in the ranking, he is also the top-scoring leader in the oil and gas sector. In addition to his role at Adnoc, Dr Al Jaber holds senior positions within the UAE government, and is a key figure in promoting the diversification and growth of the UAE economy.

 

Saudi brand guardian

In Saudi Arabia, stc’s Al Wetaid has the tough job of replacing Nasser Sulaiman Al Nasser as CEO. Under Nasser, stc undertook a profound evolution into a leader for digital transformation.

 

With Al Wetaid serving as CEO and a brand guardian, stc is now pushing ahead with deploying 5G services for the Middle East and diversifying the Saudi economy in line with the Saudi Government’s broader objectives. Al Wetaid has a strong opportunity to build upon Nasser’s legacy for the future.

 

Brand Finance’s research found that Al Wetaid scores highly on attributes related to focusing on long-term sustainable value which are at the core of brand guardianship and demonstrate long-term vision and commitment. Another metric where Al Wetaid scored highly was ‘Inspire positive change.’ In a pivotal moment for the world economy as digitisation is increasing, inspiring positive change is important as STC is heavily involved in high priority growth opportunities within the 2030 vision such as smart cities, the digitalisation of Saudi’s healthcare system, and the cloud-first policy.

 

Impressively, there is already widespread familiarity with Al Wetaid, a notable achievement given his relatively new appointment in the role. Wetaid has an excellent opportunity to serve as a guardian of the stc brand, and industry stakeholders will continue to keep an eye on his leadership in coming years.

 

Top-ranked female CEO brand guardian

Al Rostamani, the highest-ranked female brand guardian CEO, is the 15th ranked brand guardian CEO overall in the Middle East. Serving as CEO of the Emirati bank since January 2021, Al Rostamani has extensive internal experience and previously lead personal banking within FAB.

 

Since her appointment as CEO, Al Rostamani has served as an excellent custodian of the FAB brand which is currently expanding internationally throughout the Middle East with the acquisition of assets such as the Egyptian division of Bank Audi, a Lebanese bank. Her appointment sends a strong signal to key stakeholders that FAB is able to serve people of various demographics in different roles.

 

Ranking the world’s top CEOs, the Brand Guardianship Index evaluates the performance of chief executives according to how well they manage and grow their companies’ brands. The ranking is informed by the results of an original survey of over 1,000 market analysts and journalists. The top 250 ranking is drawn from a sample of over 500 chief executives of the world’s top companies with at least one brand featured in the annual ranking of the world’s top 500 most valuable brands – the Brand Finance Global 500.-- TradeArabia News Service