The US-Iran tensions sent shockwaves far beyond the news cycle. Tourism slowed. Footfall dropped. The high-spending international visitor that so many UAE brands had built their entire customer strategy around, simply wasn’t here. And in that absence, something became very clear, very fast. The brands that were fine didn’t get lucky. They got there early.
Community is not a campaign
The businesses that continued to perform during this period share one thing in common: they had spent months building a genuine consumer base. Not an audience. Not a following. A community. People who chose them not because they were the most Instagrammable option in the city, but because there was a real relationship there. Trust. Consistency. A sense that the brand understood them.
That kind of equity does not appear in a crisis brief. It is built slowly, through authentic communication, meaningful storytelling and the discipline to invest in the long game even when the short-term numbers look fine.
The brands now scrambling to activate their “local community” after years of targeting exclusively high-spending tourists and luxury-tier visitors are discovering that community cannot be borrowed when you need it. It has to be earned long before you do.
The investment made before the storm is the only thing that holds when the storm arrives.
What people will remember
But there is a harder conversation that our industry needs to have, and I say this as someone who believes deeply in the power of brand.
Many people across the UAE experienced this period not just as a geopolitical news story, but as a genuine economic shock. Some are losing their jobs suddenly. Salaries are reduced for others. The insecurity is real, but for the most part, we all carry on ‘business as usual’ despite it not being ‘usual’.
Policies exist for a reason. Business continuity matters. But there is a difference between maintaining operations and being tone-deaf, and some brands did not find that line. People notice when a brand does not acknowledge the room it is in. The clients and consumers who were not supported, who were not seen, during this period will carry that with them long after the news cycle has moved on.
The strategic argument for humanity
This is not a moral lecture. It is a strategic one. The brands that acknowledged, adapted, even in small ways, are the ones that will emerge from this moment with their relationship with their consumer base intact, possibly stronger. The UAE has shown, time and again, a remarkable resilience. This country moves forward. Business continues. And that is something to be genuinely proud of. But moving forward does not have to mean moving without awareness. The most powerful thing a brand can do in a moment of collective difficulty is demonstrate that it understands the people it serves, not just as consumers, but as human beings navigating something hard.
That is not softness. That is the most sophisticated form of brand strategy there is at the moment.
The brands that will survive future crises are the ones that invested early in credibility, consistency and emotional connection. The ones that understood that communication is not only about selling when times are good, but also about showing up correctly when times are difficult.
Because in moments of uncertainty, consumers stop asking “What does this brand sell?” and start asking something far more important: “Do I still trust them?”
And the answer to that question is never built during the crisis itself. It is built long before it begins.
By Marjorie Chapas, Head of PR at Umami Comms & Good Juju.
