People queuing for the sales launch of the Town Square property townhouses and apartments. Duncan Chard for the National
People queuing for the sales launch of the Town Square property townhouses and apartments. Duncan Chard for the National

Best served with trust



Any marketing expert would say that trust is essential to gain a foothold in the consumer psyche. People normally want to do business with entities they can trust. But one property developer seemed to have forgotten this on Friday, as The National reported yesterday, by releasing just 10 townhouses instead of the 60 it had promised.

What’s worse is that it had so keenly whet the appetite of potential buyers that hundreds queued through the night outside the company’s sales office in the hope of snapping up one of the houses. It’s safe to say that the estimated 500 people who stood in line left feeling misled and disappointed.

One has to wonder what the developer was thinking by playing what has to be said is a poor marketing tool. Did they think it was a clever way to keep excitement at fever pitch? If so, it’s a once-only game. In business, as in life, one must honour a promise and pay one’s vows.

Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

Torque: 985Nm

Price: From Dh439,000

Available: Now

The specs

Engine: 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 715bhp

Torque: 900Nm

Price: Dh1,289,376

On sale: now

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Sam Smith

Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi

When: Saturday November 24

Rating: 4/5

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.