Dubai-based Emirates, one of the fastest growing international airlines, ranked number one in a survey of brand perception in the UAE, followed by Samsung and Apple.

Emirates scored 58.2 points in the 2012 BrandIndex Buzz Annual Rankings for UAE published by leading market research company YouGov.

Samsung and Apple, both new entrants to the list, scored 47 and 44.7 points respectively, while Carrefour, which slipped out of the 2011 BrandIndex Annual Buzz Ranking Top 10 List, came in fourth with 44.6 points.

The brands were ranked using YouGov BrandIndex’s Buzz score, which assesses more than 500 brands across 20 different sectors in the UAE by asking respondents: ‘If you’ve heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, and if so, positive or negative?’

Dettol dropped three ranks, from second to fifth position with a score of 44 points. Supported by growth in the tourism sector, Dubai Mall and Mall of Emirates made a strong entry onto the 2012 BrandIndex Annual Buzz Ranking Top 10 list at sixth and eighth position, with 42.5 and 41.1 points, respectively.

Luxury brand, Givenchy, witnessed the largest increase in Buzz score this year, which improved by 20.1 points.

Similar to last year, Samsung ranked second in Buzz Improvement, witnessing an increase of 15.5 points. Personal care brand, Fair & Lovely, witnessed a Buzz score increase of 12.1 points, earning them third place in the Buzz Improvement rankings.

YouGov BrandIndex is the first and only service that measures the fundamentals of brand health every day. It interviews over 25,000 – 30,000 people per year in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which not only gives an instantaneous picture of a brand’s health, but also of the competitors and whole sector. – TradeArabia News Service