Latest news with #TRIBE–TheCMOConnect2025
Khaleej Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Emirates airline aims to create jobs, build wealth for Dubai, says top official
Dubai-based Emirates' objective is to build an airline and make money, create jobs, and wealth for the city, said Boutros Boutros, executive vice president, corporate communications, marketing and brand at Emirates Group. While speaking during the TRIBE – The CMO Connect 2025 event hosted by Khaleej Times, Boutros said Dubai's flagship carrier is run like a private entity, rather than a government firm. "We don't have a board of directors and shareholders who come every three months, and we have to produce enough figures to keep our jobs. This is a strength for us. This is a strength because our motive is not only to make money. We have to be profitable, but more than profitable, to build an airline; it is to create jobs and wealth for the city. Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels. "This mentality doesn't exist in many other companies, because we are a unique company in terms of ownership. It's run like a private company, not run as a government," Boutros said during a fireside chat on "Marketing Beyond Borders: How a Homegrown Brand Became Truly Global." He stressed that Emirates' success should be attributed to teamwork and the environment it provides to its employees. "Emirates is a unique airline for a unique city. You cannot say it's a Dubai company. It's a global company. We cater for everybody." Key highlights of TRIBE – The CMO Connect 2025 were the exclusive announcement of the GCC's Most Influential Marketing Leaders, recognising excellence, innovation, and leadership in the field. The summit also featured a networking lunch, providing opportunities for attendees to foster strategic partnerships and engage with top marketing visionaries. Loan repaid Last week, Emirates said its 2024-25 revenues increased by 6 per cent to Dh127.9 billion ($34.9 billion). The world's largest international carrier hit a new record profit after tax of Dh19.1 billion, outstripping last year's Dh17.2 billion ($4.7 billion). This is the best performance in the airline's history, and in the airline industry for the reporting year 2024-25. "We have been the most profitable airline for the last three years. After the pandemic, we repaid the loans to the government. We were running a tight, good operation (during Covid-19). To be honest, this would not have happened if we were in another country. A lot of people ask why the Emirates is so successful. It is because we are in Dubai. Of course, this is one of the major reasons, and a huge part of Dubai's and the UAE's growth story," said Boutros. Dubai's flagship carrier obtained billions of dollars in loans from the government due to the coronavirus pandemic as the aviation industry came to a halt due to the pandemic. Going from good to better An industry veteran, Boutros relocated from the UK in 1991 to join Emirates. 'We had just seven aircraft and 11 destinations. It was a small airline; nobody took us seriously. I was fortunate enough to have the courage to move from the UK to join the Emirates. I came to Dubai for the first time in 1989, and I could see this place only going from good to better. I strongly believed in Emirates and the vision of Dubai,' he said during a fireside chat with Michal Divon, chief client officer, Khaleej Times. He added that Emirates' strategy is parallel to Dubai's strategy. 'From day one, Emirates management knew that they needed to provide the experience. We, as an airline, carry people from place A to B. But then every other end line does the same. But we are different and that's why we are successful.' Citing an example, he said in 1992, Emirates was the first airline in the world to introduce in-flight entertainment. Smart spending Butrous dismissed the general impression that Emirates spends a huge amount of money on marketing. Instead, he stressed that the airline spends much less than the market rate on marketing, 'In reality, our spending is less than 3 per cent of our total revenue. In our industry, you need to spend between 3 to 7 per cent of your total revenue on marketing. Sometimes I'm challenged internally by our financial department, that I take 3 per cent. This year, my budget is 2.4 per cent. So you have to be smart about how to spend it. Because if you are doing something right, people think we have so much money to spend. In reality, we spend much less. But it seems it's working,' said the executive vice president of corporate communications, marketing and brand at Emirates Group. Contrary to current times when sports and other companies willingly embrace big brands on their shirts, he noted that it was quite a challenge for people to convince to embrace aviation brands on the players' shirts.
Khaleej Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Dubai: Property brokerages trends revealed; offline has higher conversion
The majority of leads for property brokerages come from online sources, but offline sources are still important as they have higher conversation rates, industry executives said on Wednesday. While speaking during a panel discussion at a conference organised by the Khaleej Times, they highlighted the importance of both online and offline marketing and mixing the two in a balanced manner. 'Even though the majority of the leads are coming from online sources, we still have to mention the quality and importance of different offline touch points – referrals, events and networking. These are the leads that really have higher conversion rates,' said Diana Dzaka Bico, Marketing Director, Engel & Völkers. Speaking during a panel discussion at the TRIBE – The CMO Connect 2025 conference hosted by Khaleej Times on Wednesday, she said everything shifted towards digital platforms, not just in marketing during the pandemic. 'That's definitely reflected in real estate, especially on the brokerage side. The lead generation become very focused on online marketing. The majority of leads are coming from offline sources. For brokerage agencies, property portals, social media ads, Google ads, email and WhatsApp are online sources used to generate these leads,' she said during the panel discussion. On the other side, she noted that developers are quite heavily focused on the offline side of marketing such as billboards, events and project launch launches that are happening daily. 'However, in recent years, I've noticed a big shift in terms of their focus on digital marketing and that aspect of lead generation.' She added that offline is important and brokerages should not leave that out of the mix and balance online and offline marketing. Katie Allen, head of advertising and revenue at Khaleej Times, moderated the panel – Let's Talk Billboards, Algorithms & Buyers: Cracking the Code of Real Estate Marketing in 2025. Quoting Ipsos, she said that in 2024, UAE ad spending was Dh9.4 billion. 'Of that enormous amount, Dh1.4 5 billion was spent by the real estate and 79 per cent of Dh1.4 5 billion went towards outdoor advertising,' she added. Sevgi Gur, chief marketing officer of Property Finder, said research showed that there is a huge role of offline when it comes to real estate decisions from the consumer perspective. She pointed out that trust is key in real estate. 'When there is no trust, there is no trade. When consumers see someone spending a huge amount of money on high-impact media, they think that they have the pocket. If you are buying a developer who has that kind of marketing budget, your mind is going to believe that most probably it will deliver what it promised to you. Is outdoor advertising helping them to make the decision? Yes. I don't think that the shift from digital to outdoor is a function of Covid, per se. It is a function of real estate, started growing post-Covid and the ability of developers to launch new products,' she said during the panel discussion. Curtis Schmidt, CEO of RAPP for Mena, said authenticity is not just a campaign, but a commitment. 'Brands that consistently embody their values —especially in times of crisis — are the ones that earn lasting trust. Curtis highlighted how RAPP leverages CRM to help brands turn complex financial messages, such as rate changes or data sharing, into trust-building opportunities. From proactive communication to humanized automation, preparing in a way that is personal, swift, and customer-focused is key to maintaining trust when it matters most,' Schmidt said. Cluttered ads Ahmed El Sherbini, CEO of Think Human, said everything starts with strategy in the beginning, and if there is no clear strategy and a good understanding of the brand, then there will be challenges moving forward. 'It's a very transactional business. It's a very cluttered category. However, it's one of the highest spending categories in the UAE,' he said. 'We still believe in the integrated marketing communication approach. We can still rely on offline and online. Offline has its own kind of KPIs and parameters – the outdoor activation, print ad etc. Digital is more targeted communication for certain consumers with certain messages at a certain time through different platforms. You have to have the data and the insights to be able to reach that,' he said. Think Human's chief executive noted that unfortunately, a lot of ads are very cluttered, whether they're from brokers, developers or individuals. 'You feel that they do not even understand the brand, and the ad is only about price, price, price, price. It's very important to look at the brand whether you're a developer or a broker. By the end of the day, you work for a brand,' he said.
