Noon's Christian Eid On Building A Brand That Resonates With People On the sidelines of STEP 2018, Noon Senior Brand Director Christian Eid discusses the enterprise's scaling strategy, how they go about distinguishing themselves from competitors, and his tips to startups who are developing their branding strategy.

From a mobile mentoring sessions and fishing rubber ducks out of a lake in Dubai Internet City, Noon certainly made its brand felt its presence felt at the STEP Conference 2018 in Dubai. In this episode, Entrepreneur spoke to Noon Senior Brand Director Christian Eid on the venture's strategy to having its impact felt across the Arab world.

Having launched in 2017, the e-commerce platform founded by Emaar Properties Chairman Mohamed Alabbar and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has since grown, with Eid commenting on its swift scaling rate. "The way we position ourselves and the way we think about ourselves and the brand is that, we're from here, for here. We were born in the region, in the UAE, in Saudi Arabia, and we're serving our local customers that way we know to do it, as part of their community," says Eid, on how the enterprise's focus is to be relevant as much as possible to its customers.

Like any startup, Eid also notes the lessons they've learnt- from setting their infrastructure, taking their time and finally being able to deliver the needs of the market. He notes that every startup in a marketplace needs three key factors: having decent and relevant assortment, the products your customers want and well-priced products, and at the same time, a convenient and reliable platform. Eid says these are what they, at Noon, believes are table stakes for any business, "We believe that's your right to play [in the market.] We don't believe that's how you're going to compete. The way you compete is, you build a brand that actually resonates." He also asserts that being agile to customer needs is a key trait in today's market, "The nimbler you are, the more energy you have, the more localized you are as a brand, the readier you are to serve the people that you want to serve."

He also shares his thoughts on the digital enterprise in the region, encouraging regional entrepreneurs to really leverage opportunities in the blooming scene- even crediting STEP's scalability over the years as an indication of how the ecosystem has developed. His tips to startups building up their branding strategy is pretty straightforward: "Wear your emotion on your sleeve. Build a brand that is purpose-led. Don't just build a brand that's just talking about functional benefits, build a brand that is based on value and purpose. Build a brand that resonates with people. Build a brand that solves an emotional problem, not just a functional service."

Related: Five Tips For Building Your Startup's Brand Strategy