Apple celebrated the 10th anniversary of the iPhone with both updates to its existing product lineup and the opening of the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, CA on its new campus with the much-anticipated doughnut or spaceship building.

Apple generates its revenue from selling hardware or products with most of the revenue from iPhones. Convincing consumers both to upgrade and adopt new products is challenging. Moreover, experiences with products are ever more dependent on its ecosystem of partners for content and services. Apple (as always) did an outstanding job of showcasing the experiences consumers can have with its products. It also dropped the price on older (yet still very new) devices to make them more affordable.

Here’s my take on Apple’s three big product announcements of the day:

Series 3 Watch: The Apple Watch has already overtaken the Rolex as the number one selling watch in the world. With the Series 3, Apple continued to build out health and fitness capabilities, and this year’s enhancements focused on the heart – the monitor, EKG’s and more. The combination of fitness apps, GPS, waterproofing, seamless syncing with apps and more makes this a compelling fitness device. Apple also added a cellular radio to the Watch to allow consumers to make/receive phone calls, use Siri, and access the Internet to stream music, for example. The Watch will share a phone number with the iPhone. What isn’t yet clear is if it will demand extra service charges from the carrier.

The Watch keeps getting better and the fitness enthusiast in me can’t wait to get the Series 3. I’m completely hooked on the magic of the existing use cases such as paying, tracking speed and swim laps, getting notifications and more. I look forward to leaving both my wallet and smartphone at home. However, these experiences are unlikely to offer a compelling enough experience that the Watch crosses the chasm from “nice to have” to “I can’t leave home without it” for the vast majority of consumers. Apple needs that to happen to turn the Watch into a substantial revenue stream.

AppleTV: The new AppleTV will have 4K including apps for live sports with personalization features. Apple will also upgrade users’ content libraries free of charge. Apple experiences depend more and more on the quality of content and services from its ecosystem partners. Consumers will be more willing to pay for content whether it is an app, music, video and more if they can use it seamlessly across their own ecosystem of devices in the home, car and on-the-go. The more components or devices a consumer owns, the less likely they are to switch brands. The open question will be the role of apps and how ubiquitous they become across platforms. In addition to Google, Apple competes against Amazon as well as both content and service providers in the home.

iPhone X: The updates to the iPhone 8/8S was the appetizer – and everyone in the audience knew it. After discussing the usual updates, Tim Cook then announced the ‘future of the smartphone’ and key new features weren’t far from the press leaks. Apple’s iPhone X new features include more advanced cameras, FaceID, an AI chip to make the magic happen on the hardware, and more gesture or swipe-based controls. These features will have the most impact on how consumers use the phone for photography (the technology will make us all look like professionals), communication (Animoji), finding/opening apps and gaming. I’m in love with portrait-mode photos and selfies – now portrait-mode selfies – killer. And, finally, Apple introduced its users to wireless charging.

Each time the price increases on the smartphones, we question whether consumers will ante up for new devices. Is there enough new there? Apple has a loyal base of users who will – its customers are accustomed to paying a premium and appreciate the quality of the experience and the seamless integration with other devices they own.

Apple excels at demonstrating the experience consumers can have with its devices. Getting consumers to upgrade devices isn’t easy, and experience improvements will be more subtle as we go forward and are more dependent on AI. Consumers won’t pick up the new iPhoneX necessarily and think it is so much better, but in 2019 they will look back at the iPhone7 and earlier models and think to themselves, “This experience is so much better than the one I had before.”

Written by Julie Ask,Vice President, Principal Analyst at Forrester

These days, brands in all shapes and sizes are posting actively on social media sites, trying to get their market’s attention. If you’re launching a new brand or business, you need to prepare to fight for some of the social user’s precious browsing time. Get ready to use your digital space the right way.

Social media marketing goes far beyond sharing photos, streaming live videos, or posting news. Even a combination of brilliant timing, insightful knowledge, and sharp wit cannot always guarantee success. So, if competition is tough, careful planning is necessary. 

Here are five of the most common misguided marketing practices on social media today:

Misunderstanding Your Target Market

Take the case of Dove’s marketing team, for instance. They thought it would be a good idea to ask women to pick the right shape of soap bottle that matches their body type. The campaign drew a lot of flak from social media users. Dove misunderstood its market, because it failed to consider what women don’t want: being categorized and labelled.

The same thing applies in social media marketing. Knowing the market demographics means barely scratching the surface of your market profile. It is necessary to study your targets market’s principles and goals. Understanding your market means knowing what they value and why.

Sharing Fake News

It’s bad enough that the internet is teeming with fake reports and alternate facts, but we live in a world where social media users are too lazy to verify the accuracy of a ‘shocking’ news before spreading it out.

If you have to share news and current affairs, do it methodically. Run a bit of research. Study the reputation of the publication that originally published the story. You will lose your market’s trust if they cannot trust you to sort fact from fiction.

Redundancy

Your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and other accounts are probably followed by the same readers. So, instead of posting the same thing across all channels, think of ways to make your post unique for each platform.

Some digital advisers would even advise against having accounts in all the social media channels. For your market to stay close to you, you should really focus on them one social channel at a time.

Flooding

If there’s a developing story (say, you’re reacting to a live broadcast or a big news), your series of relevant tweets and status updates would be acceptable to some extent. On normal days, however, stick to a minimum of three posts a day, with a maximum of six.

Social media users generally log on to their social accounts around brunch, lunch, and dinner time. These are great timings for posting new updates. Even if you’re posting just three items a day, your reach will be good enough as long as you follow the right schedule for posting stories.

Poor Support Communication

Being on social media does not only mean you would be promoting your brand. It also means you will be opening your door to anyone who can leave a comment on your page. Make sure you can reply to the comments right away.

Should you receive some form of complaint on your page, make sure you could address the issue in a calm and professional way. This way, other followers could see that you are able to handle concerns in a professional and timely manner.

Written by Manish Agarwal, Brand Head at Zee Entertainment Enterprises and a Digital and Social Media Strategist from IIM Calcutta.

To establish a formidable partnership in Middle East retail

Leading international retail franchise operator to list leading apparel, health & beauty and home & lifestyle brands on Noon’s e-commerce platform

Investment underlines Alshaya’s commitment to e-commerce and Noon’s focus on becoming the digital platform of choice for regional retailers

Leading international retail franchise operator M.H. Alshaya Co. has acquired a strategic stake in Noon, the region’s new e-commerce platform. As new investors in Noon, Alshaya joins forces with other prominent Gulf investors. Additionally, Alshaya will become a seller on Noon’s marketplace platform, listing a portfolio of international brands covering the fashion, health & beauty and home & lifestyle categories.

Alshaya becomes the latest large retailer to list its products on Noon, which serves as the value-added digital platform for retailers to reach a wide and fast-growing base of online customers in the Middle East.

Noon’s partnership with regional retailers underscores its unique value proposition. Noon offers its suppliers market intelligence, single brand sourcing, authentic products, and fast delivery to customers.

Mohammed Alshaya, Executive Chairman of Alshaya, said: “We see great value in our partnership with Noon, which complements our existing online channels. We are impressed by Noon’s capabilities, and we are excited to partner with the Noon team to present a winning value proposition for the region’s online shoppers. We are focused on delivering a multichannel retail experience for our customers and creating added value for our brand partners. Our partnership with Noon will allow us to expand our customer base, reach new market segments, and participate in the next level of growth in regional e-commerce.”

Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Noon, said: “It is our privilege to partner with Alshaya and give our customers access to Alshaya’s leading international brands. Noon brings a new business model for e-commerce, developing a strong supply chain that benefits regional businesses. We will work with the region’s leading brands and retailers to help them grow their business through Noon.”

Set to launch later this year, Noon will offer an extensive range of international brands, covering categories that are popular among youth, families and children.

Noon will deliver sought-after brands that enjoy strong regional customer patronage through its retail partnerships. With the region’s most diverse catalogue of products, a platform that is optimised for mobile – increasingly the first point of customer engagement – and an intensively trained, locally-based customer service team, Noon is set to become the region’s favourite e-commerce destination.

Noon will use its advanced technology, fulfilment infrastructure, captive payment gateway and final-mile delivery systems to provide a world-class experience that will surprise and delight all types of customers including: sports fans, fashion shoppers, book lovers, adventurers and new parents. Every product segment has been carefully curated to fulfil the needs and aspirations of the region’s customers, especially its tech-savvy young population. 

Apple’s iPhone X is now a reality rather than the subject of rumor and, yes, it now has facial recognition, an all-screen design and a significantly faster processor. While commentators debate whether the iPhone X really is the “biggest leap forward since the original iPhone” it seems clear to me that the primary objective of the launch is to set a new price benchmark for the iPhone range.

Price anchoring is a well-known cognitive bias by which people’s perception of value for cheaper options is influenced by the highest known price. In my book Brand Premium I noted the use of this anchoring effect on VW’s Golf. The introduction of a limited range of R32s at a substantially higher price point made the price of the GTI look that much more acceptable. (I should note that the R32 has now been replaced by the R with a 2 liter TSI engine rather than the 3.2 liter V6 but the anchoring effect is the same.)

As noted in the Marketing Week article Apple is also introducing the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which are essentially updated versions of 2016’s iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, and lack the all-screen design of the X. This takes the iPhone range to a total of 8 available models. The iPhone X anchors the range at the top end at $999 and the SE is the most accessible offering at $349. This is a textbook strategy (if Brand Premium can be considered a textbook) of ensuring that a brand is as accessible as possible (without undermining margins) and will no doubt stand the iPhone in good stead in India and China.

While the difference in features and functionality between the X and SE are obvious I do wonder whether the trade-offs between the intervening models is clear enough. A key principle of branding up or down is to make sure that people are giving something up by opting to buy a cheaper model. Is wireless charging going to be enough to separate the 8 from the 7? (Yes, I know the chip is different, but unless Apple can make that difference tangible I suspect it will not be enough to swing a sale for the more expensive model).

I am sure that many people had high expectations of the iPhone X, this year’s BrandZ data finds that compared to the average brand ‘excited to see what they do next’ indexed at a massive 152 in the UK, 150 in the U.S. and 135 in China. Even if the new features are not enough to justify the $999 price point I suspect that the availability of the cheaper models will keep many potential buyers in the iPhone fold instead of jumping ship to Samsung.

Written by Nigel Hollis,Executive Vice President and Chief Global Analyst at Kantar Millward Brown.

WPP announces that its wholly owned global digital agency Wunderman has acquired a majority stake in Pierry, Inc. (“Pierry”), an industry-leading marketing software integration and solutions company specializing in optimizing campaigns on the Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

Pierry’s revenues were US$14.5 million for the period ended December 31, 2016. Clients include LifeLock, Louisiana Tech University, Major League Soccer team the San Jose Earthquakes and YETI Coolers. Pierry is based in Redwood City, CA, with offices in New York City, Kyoto and Boulder, CO. It employs approximately 100 people and was founded in 2008.

A recognized leader in creating technology-driven consumer experiences using Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Pierry’s mission is to help companies optimize their digital marketing initiatives through a unique combination of technology expertise and creative excellence. Utilizing its proprietary MaaS™ (Marketing as a Service) approach, Pierry helps clients design, develop and execute customized marketing programs that dramatically improve efficiency, impact, and increase ROI. Pierry is a Salesforce Platinum partner and was ranked #6 in the “2016 Fastest Growing Companies” by the San Francisco Business Times.

The investment continues WPP's strategy of focusing on three key areas that differentiate the Group's offering to clients: technology, data and content. WPP's digital assets include companies such as Acceleration (marketing technology consultancy), Cognifide (content management technology), Conexance (data cooperative), Deeplocal (innovation studio founded as a spin-off from Carnegie Mellon University), Marketplace Ignition (Amazon-focused ecommerce), Medialets (mobile ROI measurement), Salmon (e-commerce), The Cocktail (digital consultancy) and Hogarth (digital production technology). WPP also has investments in a number of innovative technology services companies such as Globant and Mutual Mobile, as well as ad technology companies such as AppNexus, Celtra (creative management platform), comScore (data investment management), mySupermarket, Percolate, ScrollMotion and Within Unlimited (VR/AR).

The Group has invested in digital content companies like Russell Simmons' All Def Digital, Fullscreen, Gimlet, Indigenous Media, Imagina (a content rights and media company based in Spain), MRC, Mic, Mitú, Refinery29, Uproxx Media Group and VICE. WPP's roster of wholly owned digital agencies include AKQA, Blue State Digital, Essence, F.biz, Mirum, POSSIBLE, Triad Retail Media, VML and Wunderman. 

The Emirates Woman, Woman of the Year Awards is the region’s most prestigious, glamorous and inspiring annual event. The awards were held at The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi, where 350 guests gathered to celebrate the achievements of women in the business, arts and culture, philanthropic and visionary fields in the UAE. 

The esteemed event celebrating its 13th year, and the 36th anniversary of the magazine, saw a total of six awards presented during the evening. More than 12,000 votes were cast resulting in Jumana Abu-Hannoud being crowned the Emirates Woman, Woman of the Year 2017.

The event’s guest of honour and Emirates Woman September cover star, Mariah Idrissi, spoke on stage about opening the door to diversity and how she became the first hijab-wearing model.

Editorial Director, Gina Johnson, said: ‘Emirates Woman was the first magazine in the region for women and these awards were also the first of their kind celebrating female game changers. With a combined audience of more than half a million people every month, Emirates Woman is proud to offer a significant platform to champion the achievements of women in the GCC. The nominees, the category winners and Jumana herself are an inspiring example to all women of what is possible. Sponsors: Tory Burch, 55 Fifty 7, Grand Optics and Volvo.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS

·ACHEIVER AWARD – SHAFEENA YUSSUFF ALI

Shafeena Yusuff Ali is the CEO of Abu Dhabi-based business Tablez. Since its launch, the food and beverage company has successfully brought several home-grown brands, such as Peppermill and Bloomsbury’s, and internationally renowned food concepts like Famous Dave’s, Genghis Grill and Sugar Factory, to the GCC and India.

·ARTIST AWARD – LAYLA KARDAN

After completing a Master’s degree in business and working in the corporate world for 13 years, Layla Kardan quit her job to follow her dream of being a singer/songwriter. Despite the social stigma of being a female performer in the region, Layla has an EP in the works and wants to be the first Middle Eastern female crossover artist in the electronic soul/pop genre globally.

·HUMANITARIAN AWARD – JUMANA ABU-HANNOUD

As the Managing Director of the Gulf area office for SOS Children’s Villages International, Jumana Abu-Hannoud is responsible for developing strategies, mobilising resources and spreading awareness of children’s rights and healthcare issues. Prior to this role, Jumana worked alongside H.R.H. Princess Haya for five years implementing national, regional and international strategies around education, peace and health. 

·VISIONARY AWARD – SHABANA KARIM

After seeing a gap in the Middle Eastern beauty market, Shabana Karim launched The Nail Spa (of which she is CEO and Founder) in 2002. In the 15 years since, the company has expanded to also include Marquee hair salons, with over 16 locations across the UAE that provide one-stop pampering for the women of the region.

·YOUNG TALENT AWARD – SAIMA KHAN

Saima Khan is the 18-year-old CEO and Founder of Dubai-based social club Step Up, which serves as a platform for the region’s youth to be exposed to social and humanitarian activities. She is also a delegate of the United Nations Youth Assembly, a breast cancer awareness ambassador and the recipient of the prestigious International Diana Award.

·EMIRATES WOMAN, WOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD – JUMANA ABU-HANNOUD

A new survey conducted by Juniper Research has found that over 40% of iOS users in the US consider themselves unlikely to use facial recognition as a payment security technology.

This suggests that a core use case for the iPhone X’s main security feature may struggle to gain traction amongst consumers.

Contactless payment users considered fingerprint sensors and voice recognition more appealing authentication methods, with 74% and 62% respectively saying they are likely to use these technologies.

Sluggish Contactless Growth for Mobile-first Markets

The survey asked 500 US and 500 UK smartphone users about mobile banking and contactless payments.

Overall the number of contactless payment users grew by only 2% year-on-year in the US, with most deployments coming from smartphone OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).

Contactless user numbers in the card-first UK grew by 12%.

The survey shows that while mobile contactless payments usage will grow in both markets, existing users will fuel most of that growth:

In the US, 73% of OEM-Pay users (Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay etc) expect to increase their usage, but only 39% of non-users expect to start using mobile contactless payments.

This proportion is even lower in the UK, with only 26% of non-users reporting that they will start to use these services.

Security Still a Big Obstacle for Many

The survey found that, while contactless payment non-users have less concerns overall, 32% have concerns about the security of the transactions, a far higher proportion than users (14%). Mobile banking has a similar pattern, with 30% of non-users concerned about the security of transactions, compared to 10% of users.

“Transaction security is a key barrier for mobile financial services adoption” remarked research author James Moar. “Addressing these concerns will bring many consumers to the point where they will consider using such services.”

Allocating marketing budgets is an eternal struggle for brands and marketing professionals. The number of ways to spend your money are seemingly endless, and the stakes are high. Over-allocate to the wrong channel and you can blow most of your budget on a marketing tactic that doesn’t generate results. Under-fund a high-performing channel and you’ll miss out on valuable leads and opportunities.

So, how can you avoid mistakes in allocation and ensure you make the most out of the marketing budget that’s available to you?

1 - Align spending to goals 

Before you can decide where to allocate your marketing budget, you have to know what your goals are. The channels in which you decide to invest your budget should be determined by your business objectives. Certain channels will actively support the achievement of your goals, while others may end up being a waste of valuable marketing spend. Be aware of your goals before you begin so that you can make informed decisions about where to allocate your money.

2 - Analyze past performance 

In finance there’s a common disclaimer that “past performance is not indicative of future results”, but in digital marketing there’s a lot to be learned from past campaign performance. Always track the performance of your campaigns to get a clear read on which marketing channels bring you the strongest returns. When allocating future spend you should pull back on underperforming channels, or analyze why those channels have underperformed and find ways to optimize them.

3 - Prioritize channels with proven ROI 

If you have to make difficult decisions about which channels to invest in and which to ignore, prioritize those where you’ve already seen proven ROI. It’s okay to allocate some budget toward testing new strategies, but don’t throw substantial budgets at untested methods.

Budgeting is an intensely personal journey for brands. Doing it effectively requires assessing what works for the specific business needs of the individual brand, even it means passing up on trends other companies are jumping on. Even though each brand’s needs are unique, there are a few channels we think are nearly universally worth the investment if your goal is to get the most out of your marketing budget.

Content marketing

When you think of ways to stretch your marketing budget, you might not immediately think of content marketing. It takes a reasonable investment, both of time and money, in order to create valuable content. But even though content creation isn’t cheap, it’s essential to the success of your digital marketing efforts.

Content is the backbone of everything you do. It’s the foundation of effective search engine optimization. It’s the reason people engage with your social channels. It’s what gets people to click on your ads and convert on your site. Without content, your digital marketing efforts don’t have any fuel to run on.

If you’re looking to economize, you can easily find ways to repurpose the content you create to support your efforts on multiple channels. For example, longer form video content created for your website can be clipped and edited for use on social media. The content used in a whitepaper can be repurposed to form the basis of a webinar. Creative ways to repurpose research and content will help stretch your budget further.

Targeted paid search

It’s easy to get started with paid search even on relatively small budgets. You can start small with conservative daily spend limits, and gradually increase budgets as you begin to optimize your campaigns.

Paid search delivers ads to users based on their searches. Those searches indicate an interest, need, or desire for a product or service your brand provides, which means that through paid search you’re attracting users who have self-identified as likely potential customers. It’s a much more targeted and cost-effective strategy than the so-called “spray and pray” channels.

Because paid search starts generating traffic as soon as you enable your campaigns, you’ll be able to achieve results quickly, provided your campaigns are properly set up and managed. Paid search also provides a testing ground where it’s possible to observe and analyze campaign performance very quickly, so you can make your campaigns stronger as you go.

Remarketing

Remarketing — the process of showing targeted display ads to users who have visited your site after they leave and continue browsing elsewhere on the web — is a useful way to recover lost sales. It’s inexpensive to execute, and it helps support other channels at a low cost.

Email marketing

Email marketing is a highly cost effective way to turn leads into sales, and to increase the lifetime value of a customer. Users have opted in to receive emails from you, indicating a level of interest that makes them a valuable audience. What’s more, the costs of running an email marketing campaign are low compared to most other channels. Creative is generally pretty simple, and it’s easy to build templates that can be repurposed across mailings. The cost of distribution is also minimal. These factors combine to make email marketing a pretty safe bet for just about any brand.

Conversion rate optimization

Conversion rate optimization will make the most of the traffic you generate from all your other efforts. Through this process of testing and optimizing the performance of different elements of your site, you can ensure that the work of attracting users isn’t wasted because they encountered a subpar experience once they got to your site. When you focus on the user-experience with your website, you’re far more likely to generate sales and long-term customers, so it’s a worthwhile investment. Allocating a portion of your marketing budget to conversion rate optimization will allow you to continually optimize the performance of your site, ensuring fewer sales are lost.

There’s no single answer for how to allocate your marketing budget. The optimal breakdown will depend primarily on what your brand’s key objectives are and which channels can best contribute to the achievement of those objectives. When determining how best to optimize your spend, focus on the channels that deliver proven ROI, as well as on those that allow you to connect meaningfully with target audiences.

Written by Manish Agarwal, Brand Head at Zee Entertainment Enterprises and a Digital and Social Media Strategist from IIM Calcutta.

With India and the UAE forging strategic ties across a spectrum of shared interests, this is an opportune time for key stakeholders from both nations to engage in strategic discussions and catalyze economic growth.

It is in this context that The Economic Times India UAE Strategic Conclave is being held in Dubai on 27th and 28th September under the patronage and in the presence of His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Cabinet Member and Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, UAE, seeks to give a further fillip to India-UAE bilateral relations.

Trade and commerce forms the backbone of historically strong bilateral relations, with India being UAE's top foreign trade partner. In 2015-16, India exported goods worth $30 billion to the UAE with heavy machinery, petroleum products, and food and dairy products being the main export commodities. Indian businesses have equally established a strong footprint in the UAE. 4365 Indian commercial companies are registered with the UAE Ministry of Economy, as of end-2016 and over 2.8 million Indians reside in the UAE.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landmark trip to the United Arab Emirates in August 2015 and the recent return visit of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, served to further fortify bilateral ties between India and UAE, leading to a long-term and stable strategic partnership.

Commenting on the significance of the Conclave, Deepak Lamba, President, Times Strategic Solutions, said, “At The Economic Times, we have closely evaluated the full spectrum of relationships between India and UAE and we strongly feel that this association will act as a significant contributor to the economic progress of the region. Hence, we have designed this conclave to discuss the potential areas of investment, collaborations and ways to further improve the business environment.”

Through continuous engagement from Ministries, Government Departments and industry veterans like H.E. Navdeep Suri, Honorable Indian Ambassador to UAE; H.E. Suhail Mahmoud Al Ansari, Executive Director, Mubadala Healthcare; H.E. Capt. Mohamed Al Shamisi, CEO, Abu Dhabi Ports;  Dr. Tayeb Kamali,Chairman, Emirates Driving Company and Former Vice Chancellor, Higher Colleges of Technology, UAE; Harsh Mariwala, Chairman, Marico; Gautam Singhania, MD, Raymond; and Rana Kapoor, Founder & CEO, YES Bank and Chairman, YES Global Institute, in addition to more doyens from diverse spheres. Moreover, the conclave will aim to identify potential areas of investment and collaborations between India-UAE, thus helping to drive landmark projects in the region.

The Conclave will focus on areas that should be tapped for growth. This includes matters of defence, energy, security and maritime trade, among other issues. Another significant pillar of India-UAE ties that will be discussed is the geopolitical and economic impact of strong India-UAE relations on the Asian region. Given the current state of flux in West Asia, both countries can be critical drivers to maintain peace and stability in the region. The Conclave will also announce the launch of the second edition of the Economic Times Best Asian Healthcare Brands coffee table book in India. During the event, the leading healthcare brands from Asia, across various segments will be felicitated and featured in the coffee table book.

List of speakers:

•         Harsh Mariwala, Chairman, Marico

•         Gautam Singhania, MD, Raymond

•         CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra

•         K Ramchand, Group CEO, IL&FS

•         Ravi Khanna, CEO, Aditya Birla Solar

•         Rajiv Agarwal, MD & CEO, Essar Ports

•         Jayant Mhaiskar, Vice Chairman & MD, MEP Infrastructure

•         Rana Kapoor, Founder & CEO, YES Bank and Chairman, YES Global Institute

Majid Al Futtaim, the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, unveiled the results of a first of its kind neuroscience study in the region, designed to identify the most powerful drivers behind emotional attachment to urban developments and communities.

Conducted by Neurons Inc and commissioned by Majid Al Futtaim; the UAE-based study used Electroencephalography (EEG) and Eye Tracking technology to measure how participants subconsciously as well as consciously responded to nearly 100 images of urban developments and landscapes from around the world. Over 1 million data points were then analysed to determine the findings.

Neuroscientists found the elements of everyday human activity (a visual focus in 80% of the 10 best performing images), greenery (70%), artistic features (50%) and bright colours (50%) were the most powerful drivers of emotional engagement with destinations and environments.

An emphasis was put on greenery, which was naturally landscaped and positioned in a way that provided a sense of human scale and privacy. The study also highlighted a subconscious preference for shades of blue and green in design and artistic features that people can interact with and embrace natural materials.

The strongest negative responses were recorded in images that displayed a visible lack of human interaction and natural landscapes. Dirt and damage were also shown to have an immediate negative and lasting impact on participants.

The announcement comes as the governments across the region; continue to place significant emphasis on transformative policies and practices for the real estate sector in a bid to drive economic diversity. In the UAE, both public and private sector entities are focused on enabling a nation-wide happiness agenda that seeks to enhance happiness and satisfaction for citizens and expats in the UAE through better services and infrastructure.

Hawazen Esber, Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim – Communities, said: “Historically, researchers and developers have focused on the conscious drivers of preference for real estate design and development. In a testament to the region’s progressive take on the transformation of the real estate sector; our unique neuroscience research study enables a deeper understanding of what subconsciously drives emotional value and a sense of belonging for our customers and the wider community.”

Through the study, neuroscientists identified a clear distinction between conscious and subconscious responses. For instance, when asked, respondents consciously indicated a liking for vibrant environments with highly active social interaction. However, when analysing subconscious brain activity, scientists found that simple, everyday human activities around homes and communities have a more positive and lasting impact on our minds.

“As destination creators, it is our vision and role to create mixed-used destinations with a heart and soul; where people can come together to celebrate life and create great memories with their loved ones, every day. The study helps us identify crucial elements that make for happy, heathy communities and become the foundation for how we bring our integrated retail, leisure and entertainment offering to design mixed-use destinations that drive holistic value for residents and surrounding communities,” he continued.

The neuroscience study was designed in collaboration with Neurons Inc to inform Majid Al Futtaim’s unique approach to placemaking - an approach to property planning, development and design that encourages emotional and functional value. Across the globe, the effective integration of placemaking principles has been seen to substantially enhance the commercial value of destinations and improve resident and visitor experiences.