Image sourced from Pexels for illustrative purposes. The recently launched Saudi Digital Ad Maturity Framework from Snap Inc. and Kearney MEA, outlines new benchmarks for marketing effectiveness in an effort to provide advertisers with practical guidance to improve business outcomes.
The framework, based on extensive market analysis, is designed to help brands address a growing challenge in Saudi Arabia: translating rising digital advertising investment into measurable growth.
The research finds digital ad spend in the Kingdom grew 23.5 per cent year-on-year in 2024, the fastest rate in MENA, yet e-commerce growth lagged by 8 percentage points, revealing a widening gap between investment and business outcomes.
Furthermore, more than 30 per cent of Saudi consumers believe advertising from local brands lacks cultural relevance. The report also finds that nearly 70 per cent of platform-driven impact is linked to cross-channel synergies.
This reveals key opportunities in optimising digital ad spend for large local enterprises, established global enterprises, and government as well as semi-government entities. The framework provides a comprehensive assessment of marketing maturity alongside tailored recommendations based on an organisation’s needs, capabilities and market objectives.
The challenge is not one of opportunity or spend, but of maturity. Organisations that consistently outperform have developed stronger capabilities across four critical areas of marketing effectiveness.
“Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies, and brands today need more than increased media investment to capture that opportunity. They need fit-for-market strategies grounded in local audiences, behaviours, and platforms,” said Julie Caironi, Head of Marketing, Snap Inc. MENA & APAC.
“Through our partnership with Kearney MEA, we are helping marketers – global, regional and local, large and small – assess and strengthen their digital capabilities, improve campaign effectiveness, and deliver stronger business outcomes, while supporting the continued evolution of the Kingdom’s marketing landscape,” she added.
The framework evaluates advertisers across four key pillars:
- Strategy and organisation;
- Creative and localisation;
- Experience and activation; and
- Data, tech and measurement.
Built on research with Saudi consumers and in-depth interviews with advertisers, it aims to help brands build more localised, customer-centric, and measurable marketing strategies.
“Together with Snap, we developed this framework to help advertisers identify the gaps limiting performance, prioritize where to focus, and define a clear path toward stronger and more sustainable results,” said Hadi Hammoud, Partner, Kearney.
All in all, the framework aims to helps organisations evaluate their current capabilities, identify opportunities for improvement, and build more effective marketing strategies for long-term growth.
The framework was compiled through a consumer survey of 400 Saudi-based consumers (aged 16–44),
across gender, income, and nationality groups; industry interviews with CMOs marketing heads, and digital leaders across Saudi-based organisations and market research focused on trends, channel dynamics, and evolving advertising practices in Saudi Arabia.
