“I live in Dubai” is a statement that’s usually followed by questions ranging from “How tall is the tallest building in the world?” and “You can go to jail for holding hands there, right?” What’s interesting about these questions is that they are a portrayal of the Dubai brand; you might just not notice it at the time the question is asked. Something else that you probably didn’t notice is that you got defensive about the second question and said something along the lines of “Nooo, don’t be silly. You can’t go to jail for holding hands. You have a lot more freedom here then the foreign media lets you think. But, yea, some of the laws are strict.”

What I find interesting about that answer, which I’ve heard and repeated countless times, is that whoever is answering the question is answering it like they’re defending their favorite designer, restaurant, or boutique. Answering with a rejection of the negative, inserting a positive, and then adding a disclaimer. Why do people (generalization, I know) in Dubai answer questions like this? It’s because they’re defending their brand, Dubai.

Dubai is one of the most well known brands in the world. “Dubai?” you might say. Yes, Dubai.

That’s the logo to prove it.

When considering all the little facets that make up the city, you realise that you are truly part of and making up a brand. The job you have, the airline you take for your business trips, the things you do on Friday afternoon, and where you spend your evenings all make up the Dubai brand. Dubai has done a great job of promoting itself, not through advertising and marketing campaigns (which it has), but through its residents, its little minions in its campaign to attract as many tourists and future residents. Your wage is tax-free and you love that because you’re coming from a country where you pay taxes. You swear by your life that Emirates Airlines is the best airline in the world. On Friday afternoon, you head to a brunch with all your best friends where you drink free-flowing alcohol and some of the best food you’ve ever had for 4 hours straight, for one, set price. All the things that Dubai-ans do make their way back home to their friends, who end up wanting to move to Dubai, and to their families, who want to visit you because they probably live in suburbia where nothing interesting happens except maybe the neighbour got a new cat. Let’s not also forget, Dubai is littered with attractions, malls, and nature (desert counts) and this helps attract the tourists. When these tourists visit all they see is people going to work, dressed professionally, making money, and going out to busy restaurants and bars at night. All is well and good. No poverty. No violence.

It takes a lot to maintain this image. One must accept that the government of Dubai has done a remarkable job of transforming what was literally a desert to one of the fastest developing cities in the world. But as with any brand, and as I’ve mentioned multiple times on this blog: is it sustainable?

To describe Dubai as a brand, I can think of about 5 words off the top of my head:

• Tax-Free
• Modern
• Developed
• Alive
• Competitive

Let’s take these as the main components of the Dubai brand (I know, I know, there’s many more). In order for the Dubai brand to remain sustainable, it must preserve its main components, all the while strengthening them, keeping the attraction alive for tourists and future residents. However, there is a question I’ve heard at least 80,000 times (slight exaggeration), “How many biggest, tallest, things can Dubai build?” The answer to that is “many more”. It’s a simple formula really, the more that’s done to attract people to work and visit Dubai, the more successful the city will be. It is not based on purely building big and tall things, but its based on sound business models (and if they’re not sound, the market takes care of that) that incorporate millions of dollars of financial investment and human capital, and with the help of Emirates Airlines to bring people to Dubai, the brand will keep growing. However, as with any brand and/or product, development and growth can’t be gained by just throwing money at it. It’s a process of internal development (laws, etc.) and transferring that development onto the brand. Dubai possesses all the potential to remain the strong world-wide brand it is, but the city as a whole, including its residents, must not forget what makes it the brand that it is and why it is so attractive.