Essays Archives - Campaign Middle East

Digital Essays 2025: CTV – The screen that brought us back together

Ishwari Khatu — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 13:31:08 +0000

For decades, the world’s stories unfolded on front pages, linear channels and around the majlis. Then came the era of endless scrolling – where culture scattered across countless feeds and fleeting stories. Now, the script is shifting once more. In a region that has always loved gathering – for Ramadan series, football nights, or everyday […]

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Digital Essays 2025: Bots with clout

Shantelle Nagarajan — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 12:20:22 +0000

Some time ago, a colleague was telling me about a holiday she’d booked on a remote island in the Philippines that I’d never heard of before. “It’s amazing! Let me show you,” she said excitedly as she pulled out her phone to search. In typical Gen Z fashion, it wasn’t Google Images she was reaching […]

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Digital Essays 2025: New rules of search

Ishwari Khatu — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 07:57:06 +0000

Search is being rewritten. AI search is changing how people find and trust information. Instead of scrolling through pages of links, users increasingly receive direct, conversational answers shaped by sources the systems trust. For MENA brands, this represents a pivotal moment. Rules of search are shifting fast. With 60 per cent of searches ending without […]

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Digital Essays 2025: The case for real DOOH transparency and trust

Ishwari Khatu — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 06:11:36 +0000

In advertising, trust isn’t a soft metric – it’s the currency that keeps the industry moving. Yet in digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising, trust has been steadily devaluing. As the sector races toward $55bn by 2030, a fundamental question remains unanswered: How do we know what we’re actually buying? Advertisers approve budgets based on promised impressions. […]

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Digital Essays 2025: Remodelling the metrics of success

Anup Oommen — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 06:00:11 +0000

In the modern digital world, success metrics often feel measurable. Numbers rise, graphs appear healthy, dashboards shine green. However, a higher click-through rate (CTR) might mean more users are clicking, but it does not necessarily mean they are buying. A low cost per lead (CPL) might signal efficiency, but it does not guarantee profitability. The […]

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Digital Essays 2025: Seen across every screen

Anup Oommen — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 05:20:28 +0000

Globally, the lines between TV, streaming and digital video have blurred and, honestly, in MENA, they might have disappeared completely. People here aren’t thinking about platforms; they’re chasing stories. From YouTube on mobile, to connected TV (CTV) in the living room, to that 2 AM reel a friend sends, it’s all just video now. This […]

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Digital Essays 2025: The performance reset

Anup Oommen — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 04:40:42 +0000

The digital media landscape has become a theatre of efficiency. We are constantly chasing lower cost per acquisition (CPA) and higher return on ad spend (ROAS). In the performance marketing trenches, the gospel is simple: do more, spend less. We find ourselves asking a far more complex question: are we merely efficiently digging ourselves a […]

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Digital Essays 2025: Digital’s next chapter

Anup Oommen — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 03:40:19 +0000

As 2025 is nearing the end, the rules of engagement have been rewritten once again, as digital media enters a transformative new era defined not just by innovation, but by intelligence. Rules that are being rewritten by artificial intelligence (AI), attention and authenticity. Platforms, brands and consumers alike are on an accelerated upward trajectory, driving […]

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Digital Essays 2025: Online just went outdoors

Anup Oommen — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 03:00:18 +0000

What once lived on screens and servers now lives in streets, malls and metros. The algorithms that power online ads are no longer trapped behind glass; they’ve stepped into the real world, illuminating the city itself. Every screen around us, from the phone in your hand to the billboard above your head, is now part […]

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Digital Essays 2025: Automation without blindfolds – how marketers can reclaim strategic control

Ishwari Khatu — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 13:08:26 +0000

Automation has become the default answer to shrinking budgets. Faced with rising sales targets and leaner media spends, many marketers have turned to AI-driven tools that promise efficiency at scale. Yet the very solutions built to simplify our work are quietly changing their nature, shifting control from human strategy to machine logic. The Middle East’s […]

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