Mohamed Alabbar emphasises product quality, authenticity as drivers of business success

DUBAI: Mohamed Alabbar, CEO of Emaar Properties, shared his bold approach to marketing, prioritising authenticity and product quality over traditional strategies. Speaking at the 1 Billion Followers Summit 2025, Alabbar captivated the audience with his session, “Why I Let Go of My Marketing Team.”

Alabbar, whose leadership has driven Emaar and other ventures to deliver over US$350 billion in real estate projects across 18 countries, explained how his unconventional methods shaped Emaar into a globally recognised brand. The summit, hosted by the UAE Government Media Office from January 11-13, gathered 15,000 influencers, 420 speakers, and 125 CEOs, focusing on the theme ‘Content for Good.’

Alabbar attributed his marketing evolution to real-world lessons. Citing his experience with Noon, he revealed, “Massive ad campaigns don’t always work. Measuring how spending impacts sales is key. My marketing team couldn’t do that, so it had to go.”

While Emaar once outsourced marketing services, it eventually ceased traditional campaigns altogether. Instead, Alabbar leverages strategic partnerships with content creators, aligning the right products with the right audience and location. He emphasised genuine storytelling, sharing a personal anecdote about a US$70,000 family video that remarkably generated US$3.5 billion in sales.

He encouraged influencers to embrace quality, credibility, and authenticity, noting, “Success doesn’t last without these elements. Emaar thrives because we have the best team and live in the best city, Dubai.”

To underline his point, Alabbar issued two challenges, inviting attendees to pitch creative content ideas for a financial reward and a potential contract with Emaar. “Create a one year campaign, creatively, with incredible content. Talk to me and I will give an incredible reward, for good ideas. Impress me – I really love my city and I really want to do it for Dubai. Give me a good idea, I will sign the cheque,” Alabbar said.

“I want someone to create a global campaign for me, to ignite and unite opinion leaders, technology providers, to create a hub for us to really talk and try to solve this global housing shortage. You need to be good to people – but, what have you done? I am challenging each of you,” he added.

Alabbar reaffirmed to reviewing all promising proposals and to provide funding for authentic projects.