UNCOVERED | Episode 01 | ‘Brand’ in Times of Crises

When crisis hits, most brands either go silent or perform. Both fail.

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In the first episode of UNCOVERED, a Brand Lounge podcast series, Ibrahim Lahoud (Head of Academy & Insights) and Mo Saad (Head of Design & Creative Impact) unpack what crisis actually reveals about a brand — and why presence, not performance, is what audiences remember once the noise settles.

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The conversation moves through five thresholds:

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• Why crisis exposes the foundations beneath a brand, never builds new ones
• The line between presence and performance, and why audiences spot the difference instantly
• How innovation is born under pressure, with Airbnb's Frontline Stays and Fine Hygienic's Fine Guard line as case studies
• Government as a brand leadership benchmark — the UAE, KHDA, and what institutional behaviour at scale teaches the private sector
• The real risk of going silent versus saying the wrong thing — and which one trust forgives

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Brands and bodies referenced: Government of the UAE, KHDA, UAE Ministry of Education, Fine Hygienic Holding, Majid Al Futtaim, Airbnb.

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Topic: Government & Public Sector Brands

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This video sits within our wider focus on Government & Public Sector Brands — a growing body of Brand Lounge articles, videos and insights exploring how public sector brands build trust, shape perception and hold strength under pressure.

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For a deeper read on this theme, explore Fatima Zara P's article, A Public Sector Brand Is a Nation’s Strategic Power, and Ibrahim Lahoud’s report, Brands During Conflict, each examining a different angle of the topic.