The concept of nation branding is nothing new, and has long been recognised as an important way for countries to compete in the world, enabling them to attract investment, visitors, talent and ultimately achieve their social, cultural and economic goals.
The UAE’s prowess in this field is undeniable, rapidly ascending globally recognised nation brand rankings – most recently being named as the only Gulf country to feature in the top 10 of the 2024 Brand Finance Soft Power Index – and welcoming ever-growing numbers of people each year, who recognise the Emirates as a place to visit, to live, and to do business.
But while the theory of nation branding is well-established, the tools being used are changing. As a marketing professional with over 40 years’ experience working on some of the world’s biggest branding exercises, I have seen a paradigm shift, with artificial intelligence and sophisticated programmatic marketing tools enabling us to optimise campaigns, better predict trends, and create highly personalised content and experiences.
Yet, despite all these valuable technological developments, I firmly believe that nation branding and brand management remain an art, not a science.
Case in point: Expo 2020 Dubai brand
With time our biggest enemy, we needed to supercharge the traditional ‘awareness, consideration, conversion’ marketing approach. We weren’t just selling an event, and our brand wasn’t just Expo 2020.
It was necessary for us to promote the concept of a World Expo to a region that had never staged such an event, while also convincing the world that the UAE was a worthy host.
Before the event would even start, we needed to secure the participation of more than 190 nations, build commercial partnerships that delivered real value, and create an engaged community at a local level that would become the Expo’s most vocal advocate.
The global pandemic offered another curveball, pushing us to re-write the rules of marketing and media as our visitation campaigns constantly pivoted in response to changing travel restrictions and operational constraints. Trends and forecasts became meaningless overnight, forcing us to make bold decisions that would impact our targeting models and media plans.
We had to strip back our messaging and adapt our creative content to address the challenges of the ‘new world’ and look beyond existing channels to reach those who could not be physically present, including rapidly upscaling plans for our innovative Virtual Expo platform.
While the 24.1 million recorded visits, online buzz and widespread media coverage were an immediate affirmation of our unconventional marketing approach, the true impact of our brand became even more evident when Expo 2020 was cited as the biggest factor in the UAE jumping five places in the Brand Finance Global Soft Power Index for 2023.
How the Expo City brand evolved
But ambitious as always, our story did not end there, and in just two short years, our brand has evolved from Expo 2020 Dubai, as Expo City Dubai continues to establish itself as a world-class destination for people to live, work and play.
Last month we were proud to have our work recognised at the prestigious Transform Awards, where Expo City Dubai enjoyed nine wins, including golds in the Best Place or Nation Brand and Best Brand Consolidation categories, contending against globally recognised brands, some of which have been established for many decades.
Our work was further endorsed just a few weeks later, when Expo City topped the Brand Evolution category at the 2024 Marketing Society Awards.
Transforming a brand requires rising above features and functions to focus on true differentiators and a higher purpose. This is what sets us apart.
Intelligent marketing tools and generative AI have their place in achieving this – automating complex tasks, streamlining processes, providing nuanced targeting insights into our audiences and helping us reach them in the most effective way.
But we must be guided by our heart as much as our head.
Powerful purpose in branding
As Dubai’s real estate sector continues to boom, we introduced Expo City as a master developer, with the launch of Expo Valley and Expo Central residential projects.
In a competitive market, this new arm of the Expo City brand remain laser-focused on the core values that had defined Expo 2020, creating communities that would prioritise wellbeing and social connection – all developed with the greatest respect to the natural environment.
Our free zone is also flourishing, with entities such as global logistics provider DP World already establishing operations in the city. Unlike many free zones, which focus on a particular sector or industry, Expo City welcomes all who share our commitment to working together to create a better future.
While our commercial brand proposition incorporates seamless business operations and premium offices spaces, with the latest marketing tools enabling us to provide the right information to the right audiences – from MNCs to SMEs – our true USP is our higher purpose, with a strategic marketing approach that positions Expo City as the place to be and compels people to join us.
The power and the draw of our brand can also be seen in the events we continue to host. Our proven track record and pioneering ambitions in the fight against climate change positioned us as the natural home of the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) – notably the first to be fully powered by renewable energy.
Expo City has also recently been named as host of the 2025 Asia Pacific Cities Summit – testament to our growing reputation as a blueprint for the cities of the future.
Nation branding and brand management is undeniably an art, sculpting a unique personality which must be reflected in every product, service and touchpoint.
Expo 2020 provided an important starting point and as the Expo City brand continues to evolve, it is not a case of relying solely on data or analytics to drive decision-making but conveying a powerful purpose and a deep-rooted vision for a brighter future.
By Sholto Douglas-Home, chief sales and marcomms officer, Expo City Dubai
