Every month, Campaign Middle East selects a collection of work to display in its monthly issue. The same selection then gets offered to industry professionals for their review in Campaign’s Private View section for the following month.
These are the work picks for May 2026 – featuring campaigns from Al-Futtaim Toyota, Magix, AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027, Almarai and DIB.
Al-Futtaim Toyota: The Accidental Win
This campaign builds on decades of Al-Futtaim Toyota’s reliability. It reignites an age-old emotional brand connection with Emiratis and long-term residents of the UAE. The objective is to bring back customers with high respect for Al-Futtaim Toyota, but who get swayed by the high-tech spectacle of newer brands at the point of consideration.
Creative agency: Memac Ogilvy UAE Production house: Vibe Content Creators Media agency: PHD PR agency: Gambit Communications
Morocco’s leading laundry brand, part of the Mutandis Group, released a five-episode unscripted social experiment to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The brand landed on the Moroccan Arabic word ‘l3chra’, which has no direct translation in English or French, but embodies the deep, unspoken bond between people built on trust and loyalty accumulated over time. Ordinary Moroccans were stopped in the street and asked an ‘on the spot’ question that would test their loyalty to their dear ones. Those who passed the test won prizes to share with their dearest friend or relation. The campaign witnessed 125.2 million cumulative views across the five episodes, of which 27 million were entirely organic.
Agencies: Brainbow Agency, Casablanca
AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027: Ahlan Asia
Ahead of the January kick-off of the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 competition, this campaign introduces the tournament’s official slogan. The slogan was designed to be recognised, repeated and emotionally connect across different cultures, languages and audiences throughout Asia. The campaign was created with the intention of building emotional familiarity with the phrase through moments of connection between fans, players and communities. The film draws heavily on the energy and emotion of football fandom, featuring packed stadiums, waving flags, roaring crowds and more. The spot rolled out on digital and social platforms in Arabic and English.
Agency: Purple Brain
Almarai launched a campaign on Fortnite to connect with younger generations and the rapidly growing gaming community in Saudi Arabia. The immersive branded experience allows audiences to engage with the brand in a more authentic and entertaining manner. The rollout included digital and gaming-first channels, livestreams, social content and in-game ecosystems in collaboration with Webedia Arabia. The influencer livestream activations featuring Fortnite creators, allowing audiences to discover and engage with the experience organically through gaming content. The campaign was primarily focused on Saudi Arabia, with additional organic reach and audience spillover across GCC markets.
Agency Webedia Arabia
This series of campaigns, linked to the unforeseen geopolitical situation that the country and the region witnessed, shows the bank’s solidarity with the nation and its leaders, highlighting how it stood tall with UAE and its people. At a time when many brands chose silence, DIB took the lead and intentionally rolled out its series of campaigns. The campaigns were rolled out on out-of-home bridge banners; LED televisions across all 54 of its branches in the UAE; ATM banners; digital banners across owned online and mobile channels; and carefully curated WhatsApp and email marketing messages to its customers in the UAE.
Agency: Blueapple Advertising Production house: PressPlay Media: Wavemaker, WPP Media MENA
