Careem’s Tayab Hasan on how retail media bridges brand and performance marketing.One of the most frustrating discussions for a chief marketing officer can be convincing the C-suite or the board to ramp up the awareness marketing spend. The cost leaves a dent in the profit and loss (P&L) statement and the uplift isn’t seen anytime immediately, nor is it always so easy to measure. Sometimes, it’s difficult to prove if there was any impact at all.
Marketers have long wrestled with balancing immediate, measurable results against building lasting brand equity. Lower-funnel performance marketing is data-driven, conversion-focused and ROI-obsessed. Upper-funnel awareness shapes brand perception, loyalty and emotional connection over time.
The objectives differ:
Brand-building reaches consumers who aren’t yet in-market, planting seeds of future demand through emotional resonance and memory structures, ensuring your brand is top of mind when they are ready to buy.
Performance marketing captures existing demand, targeting ready-to-buy consumers with calls to action such as ‘add to basket’ or ‘view product’.
In the past, media consumption was relatively predictable. A brand might reach consumers through a TV campaign, complemented by print ads and radio – with a fairly linear journey from awareness to purchase.
Today, however, media channels are highly fragmented. A single consumer might see a brand’s Instagram ad while scrolling at breakfast, listen to a podcast sponsorship on their commute, get retargeted with a YouTube ad over lunch, read a review on an e-commerce site in the evening, and complete a purchase through a mobile app while watching Netflix.
At the same time, consumer journeys have become more fluid and unpredictable. Shoppers no longer follow a neat path from awareness to consideration to conversion. They might move instantly from discovery to purchase – or loop back through stages multiple times – influenced by content, peer reviews, promotions and convenience at any given moment.
This complexity makes it harder for brands to separate brand-building and performance into distinct activities. Platforms such as retail media, where consumers can be influenced and converted in the same moment – are increasingly necessary to meet customers wherever they are in their journey.
The rise of retail media: A dual-purpose engine
Retail media is reshaping how brands connect with consumers. E-commerce platforms or super apps are no longer just points of sale – they’ve become powerful advertising ecosystems.
Traditional digital advertising is limited to the mid and upper funnel as users can’t typically transact in the environment they consume the advert.
In contrast, retail media, typically lower down the marketing funnel, allows brands to achieve both within a single ecosystem – building awareness through sponsorships and driving purchases through native placements, often in the same session.
For marketers, this means no longer having to choose between long-term brand-building and short-term sales; retail media enables both simultaneously, backed by real-time measurement and first-party data.
Logged-in environments: A strategic advantage
A major strength of retail media is that it operates within logged-in ecosystems. Unlike traditional web traffic, where advertisers rely on cookies and proxies, retail media platforms have direct, first-party relationships with users.
This unlocks precise targeting, personalised experiences and accurate measurement – all while respecting privacy. As third-party cookies disappear and data regulations tighten, logged-in environments are becoming the gold standard for digital advertising.
At Careem, our Everything App connects millions of logged-in users across ride-hailing, food delivery, groceries and more. Through Careem Ads, brands can engage high-intent audiences in real-world moments, whether it’s sponsoring a grocery category to drive awareness, promoting offers based on ride destinations, or activating around food and basket behaviour to boost conversions.
With first-party data and real-time optimisation, advertisers can deliver targeted, measurable campaigns that build brand and drive performance – all within a single user journey.
Beyond retailers: Retail media opens doors for non-endemic brands
Retail media is no longer just for endemic brands selling through the platform. Increasingly, non-endemic brands, from financial services to telecoms and entertainment, are tapping into retail media to reach high-value, logged-in audiences at moments of real intent. A bank promoting a cashback card during a ride-hailing trip, or a streaming service advertising a new show in a food delivery journey, are no longer exceptions.
At Careem, we’ve seen non-endemic advertisers creatively leverage our ecosystem to engage consumers at meaningful points of their everyday lives. This shift dramatically expands the retail media opportunity, opening new demand sources and accelerating innovation in how platforms are monetised.
Regional momentum and maturity
The Middle East’s retail media landscape is evolving fast. Major e-commerce players are building sophisticated platforms that serve both brand and performance goals, fuelled by high mobile adoption, a young digital-first population, and a booming online commerce sector.
As privacy regulations tighten, the importance of first-party insights – a core strength of retail media – is only growing, making it a strategic choice for marketers seeking both reach and responsibility.
Practical impact: Meeting marketers where they are
Retail media enables brands to run full-funnel strategies within a single, logged-in environment. Platforms such as Careem allow marketers to target specific premium audiences, personalise campaigns and attribute results accurately – delivering both brand-building and conversions seamlessly.
For non-endemic brands, this unlocks a powerful new channel to engage audiences without needing a direct retail relationship.
Rethinking the funnel in the age of retail media
The classic marketing funnel – awareness, consideration and conversion – assumed a linear path. Today, consumers move from discovery to purchase in minutes, often across multiple devices and platforms. Retail media matches this reality, allowing brands to reach and convert audiences seamlessly within trusted environments.
In a region as dynamic as the Middle East, adopting integrated, full-funnel retail media strategies isn’t optional; it’s becoming essential. Brands that separate brand-building and performance risk missing out on both growth
and efficiency.
Looking ahead
As marketing budgets face more scrutiny and expectations for ROI increase, the industry will need more solutions that don’t force a binary choice between short-term results and long-term brand strength. Retail media offers a compelling answer with its ability to deliver both.
By Tayab Hasan, General Manager – Ads, Careem
