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posted on May. 25, 2026 at 9:58 am

How are the MENA’s industry associations responding to pressing marketing challenges?

posted on May. 25, 2026 at 9:58 am

The round table discussion focused on identifying common pressures and exploring practical ways to build a more connected, resilient industry.

Athar Round Table industry

The Middle East’s marketing and creative industry is expanding at a pace few global markets can match. With that acceleration comes a new set of pressures: capability gaps, rising expectations from clients, and a workforce seeking clearer, more structured pathways for developing the skills needed to progress in their careers.

This was the backdrop for Athar Festival, which convened the region’s leading industry associations for a closed‑door round table. Athar brought them together with a simple purpose: to gather ground-level insights, understand where their challenges intersect, and understand how industry bodies can work more collaboratively to support the region’s rapid growth.

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Tags:Advertising Business Group Alasdair Hall-Jones Athar Festival commercial competitiveness creative Dalya Mohamed duplication Eleni Kitra fragmentation industry associations marketing Middle East Middle East Public Relations Association Migrate Nick Walsh professional development resilience Saria Hayek talent The Alliance of Independent Agencies - Middle East The Chartered institute of Marketing The Marketing Society transition

the authorAnup Oommen

Anup Oommen is the Editor of Campaign Middle East at Motivate Media Group, a well-reputed moderator, and a multiple award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of experience at some of the most reputable and credible global news organisations, including Reuters, CNN, and Motivate Media Group. As the Editor of Campaign Middle East, Anup heads market-leading coverage of advertising, media, marketing, PR, events and experiential, digital, the wider creative industries, and more, through the brand’s digital, print, events, directories, podcast and video verticals. As such he’s a key stakeholder in the Campaign Global brand, the world’s leading authority for the advertising, marketing and media industries, which was first published in the UK in 1968.