This article was originally published in the Brand Finance Telecoms 150 Report 2026.
As telecoms brands increasingly compete on experience, relevance, and digital ecosystems, Mobily has positioned its brand around a simple but powerful promise: bringing customers “Ever Closer.” Over the past two decades, Mobily has evolved from a connectivity provider into a broader technology and digital services player, guided by a strong customer-first philosophy and sustained brand investment. In a recent interview with Brand Finance, Nora Al Shiha, Senior Vice President of Corporate Brand & Communications at Mobily, reflects on the company’s brand journey, including its “Ever Closer” platform, and how artificial intelligence and Mobily’s SHINE strategy are shaping the brand’s next phase of growth.
Insight from Nora Al Shiha, Senior Vice President, Corporate Brand & Communications, Mobily
There is a truth about technology that experience teaches us over time: the most powerful tools are not the ones that impress. They are the ones that become invisible, woven quietly into daily life, making it easier, richer, and more connected. This insight has long shaped how Mobily approaches brand differentiation. A brand is not a logo. It is a promise. And at Mobily, that promise is now defined by two words: 'Ever Closer'.
Senior Vice President,
Corporate Brand &
Communications,
Mobily
When Mobily was founded two decades ago, our purpose was simple: to connect people. As the market evolved, so did our ambition. We focused not only on expanding connectivity, but on widening customer choice and elevating the overall experience of telecom services in the Kingdom.
Over time, this focus became deeply embedded in how we operate. Milestones such as the formalisation of our customer experience commitment in 2007 and the launch of the Best Customer Experience Initiative (CEX) in 2011 were not isolated programs. They were signals of a broader shift toward designing services around real human needs. Every step brought us closer to our customers and reinforced a principle that continues to define Mobily today.
This evolution was not theoretical. It translated into measurable business impact. Since 2020, our customer-led focus has driven sustained double-digit brand value growth, with Mobily’s brand now valued at $3.5 billion. This progress has been reinforced by external recognition, including being awarded the Customer Experience Award by the Communications, Space and Technology Authority (CST) for three consecutive years. Today, we rank 42nd globally in Brand Finance's Top 50 Telecom Brands and fifth in the Middle East.
Today, Mobily is no longer simply an alternative. It is a brand customers actively choose. That shift has been enabled by a consistent discipline: starting with people and building around their needs.
As Mobily marked its 20th anniversary in 2025, we set a clear course for our next phase of growth. Launching the SHINE corporate strategy for 2026 - 2030 and introducing our new brand platform ‘Ever Closer’ through a high-impact, market-wide brand campaign designed to signal our strategic evolution and reinforce our commitment to placing customers and stakeholders at the centre of every move. 'Ever Closer' embodies our promise to understand, serve, and inspire customers in more personal and meaningful ways. It signals our evolution from a traditional telecom provider into a technology, media, and telecommunications player.
One embedded in people's daily digital lives through an expanding ecosystem of services, including Mobily Pay, Mobily Gamers, and Mobily TV. More importantly, it sets the standard for what a strong brand must be today: not just recognised, but genuinely relevant.
The SHINE strategy is built on five imperatives: strengthening our customer experience leadership, harnessing a digital-first approach, increasing the depth of our enterprise solutions, navigating growth from digital infrastructure, and enabling evolution through operational excellence. Across all five, the key enabler is artificial intelligence. And what gives AI its clarity of purpose at Mobily is exactly this guiding principle: To be 'Ever Closer' to customers.
Artificial intelligence without purpose risks becoming noise; with clear intent, it becomes a powerful engine of transformation. At Mobily, AI is embedded across the customer lifecycle enabling us to anticipate customer needs before they are expressed, resolve issues faster, personalise services at scale, and optimise networks proactively.
During the Hajj season, AI-enabled network management allows us to keep millions of pilgrims connected, accommodate traffic spikes and optimise efficiency. For our enterprise customers, AI is enabling smarter, more responsive solutions for government and private sector clients alike.
Internally, as our CEO Eng. Nezar Banabeela has outlined, we are building an 'AI culture' by equipping our teams with a shared language, skills, and understanding to apply AI in ways that bring Mobily ever closer to customers and bring the aspirations of Saudi Vision 2030 ever closer to reality.
From a brand perspective, 'Ever Closer' creates coherence. Every product decision, customer interaction, and investment can be tested against a single question: does this bring us closer? This clarity enables us to translate internal alignment into consistent external impact across campaigns, partnerships, and our expanding digital ecosystem.
A strong brand does more than differentiate; it provides direction. 'Ever Closer' does both. It sets clear expectations for our customers, sharpens focus for our people on what to build toward, and signals to the market the kind of company we are choosing to become.
