UAE: Mohamed Alabbar, the visionary CEO and Managing Director of Emaar Properties, challenged conventional marketing wisdom, asserting that genuine products, honesty, and credibility outweigh traditional marketing strategies.

Addressing a captivated audience during a thought-provoking session entitled "Why I Let Go of My Marketing Team," as part of the 1 Billion Followers Summit 2025, Alabbar, whose leadership has propelled Emaar and other property companies to develop over $350 billion in real estate projects across 18 countries , shared his unconventional approach to building one of the world's most recognized real estate and hospitality brands.

The session is part of the third edition of the 1 Billion Followers Summit, the world’s largest gathering dedicated to the content creator economy. The UAE Government Media Office organised the summit from 11 to 13 January across iconic venues, including Dubai’s Emirates Towers, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), and the Museum of the Future. Held under the theme ‘Content for Good,’ the event brought together over 15,000 content creators and influencers, more than 420 speakers, and 125 CEOs and global experts.

Alabbar underscored the importance of focusing on product quality, citing Emaar's distinct business model compared to companies like Emirates for instance, which necessitates a different approach than massive ad campaigns. "When I started Noon, I learned that massive ad campaigns are not necessarily what we need. What we need is to monetize and measure how spending affects our sales. My marketing team couldn’t do that, so it had to go."

While eschewing traditional marketing, Alabbar occasionally collaborates with content creators, emphasizing the importance of aligning the right product with the right audience and the right location. He believes in leveraging content creators strategically for specific products and targeted audiences, rather than relying on broad, untargeted marketing campaigns.

Alabbar revealed that Emaar initially outsourced marketing services before ultimately ceasing all traditional marketing activities. He played for the audience a video featuring himself and his grandchildren, which, despite a $70,000 production cost, generated $3.5 billion in real estate sales. "You can’t do this if you’re not genuine and if your product isn’t good. You also need to be supported by the best team and choose the right audience."

The Emaar CEO's advice to social media influencers and content creators echoed his core message, urging them to focus on genuine content, authenticity and quality products. He emphasized the foundational elements of Emaar's success: "Success never lasts if you don’t have these key elements: quality, credibility and authenticity – as well as a good team. We are lucky because we have the best team and we live in the best city in the world, Dubai."

To prove his point that he can’t be impressed easily and that was in part why he let go of his marketing team, Alabbar issued two challenges to the audience, inviting them to submit creative content ideas for a chance to win a significant financial reward and potentially a contract with his company.