e&’s 701% Surge: Unified Identity Fuels Global Brand Value.
From Etisalat to e&: Identity as Growth Engine
In 2025, e& (formerly Etisalat) posted the largest brand value jump in the Brand Finance Global 500: +701%, from about US $2.1 billion to US $15.3 billion. This was not a change of nameplate but a full re-architecture of identity. By abandoning the geographic and category limits of a legacy telecom brand, e& created a design system and naming structure that could host acquisitions, partnerships, and category extensions under one coherent platform. (eand.com, brandfinance.com)
Architecture That Enabled Investment
The e& identity was built deliberately as a platform brand, not a telecom logo. That structure allowed over US $20 billion of deals, acquiring PPF Telecom Group in Central Europe, expanding into PTCL in Pakistan, and deepening its position in Saudi Arabia through Mobily, to sit visibly under one master identity. The design clarity mattered: investors and partners could now read these moves as scale within one system, not scattered bets. (prnewswire.com, eand.com)
Design and Liquidity: Brand as Signal
In Q1 2025, e&’s profits rose 130%, supported by the US $2.2 billion sale of its 40% Khazna stake. These numbers are evidence that the market responded to more than balance-sheet mechanics, it responded to a brand that signaled discipline and ambition. The identity redesign functioned as shorthand for coherence, enabling investors to trust that the capital strategy matched the corporate story. (techafricanews.com, eand.com)
Visibility Through Branded Worlds
The new identity was not kept in boardrooms, it was placed on global stages. Sponsorships with Manchester City FC and the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix embedded e& in cultural arenas where design, visibility, and prestige converge. Crucially, the sponsorships carried the e& mark, a minimalist and flexible identity system designed to travel across industries and borders, ensuring recognition beyond telecom. (prnewswire.com)
Comparative Context: Gulf Identity in Motion
Where NVIDIA’s 98% surge reflected AI infrastructure demand, e&’s +701% rise was achieved by restructuring a commoditized category through identity discipline. It joins ADNOC, stc, and Aramco in showing how Gulf corporations are using brand architecture and design to elevate incumbents into global platforms, redefining the region not just as an energy hub but as a brand hub. (brandfinance.com)
Bottom Line
e&’s trajectory illustrates the hard power of identity and design. By shifting from a national telecom logo to a unified platform brand, the company created clarity for investors, consistency for acquisitions, and cultural resonance for audiences. The result is exponential brand equity: a case where design architecture did not decorate strategy, it delivered it.
