Campaign Middle East has successfully concluded its first event of the year, Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Ramadan Advertising and the Year Ahead for Media & Marketing 2025. The event witnessed more than 200 industry experts – including client-side marketers, creative and digital agency leaders, media owners, production houses, as well as measurement and adtech players (photo gallery linked) – gather at the Grand Plaza Mövenpick hotel in Dubai Media City on Friday, 7 February 2025, to set the pace for the year ahead.
Leaving the clichés and typical motifs of the past where they belong – in the past – marketers discussed making more meaningful marketing a reality. Leaders from DCT Abu Dhabi, Mars, Mashreq, New Balance, Aramex, Mercedes-Benz, Ounass, Al-Futtaim Automotive and Landmark Group, among other key speakers, called on the industry keeping up with changing consumer behaviour and to place their needs above all else.
Marketers discussed hyper-personalisation in practice, and embracing a world where brands resonate with several cohorts of hyper-local communities in relatable, organic manner. They revealed that brands are not only investing significant budgets, time and resources to be distinctive, deliberate and discerning, but also to curate meaningful customer experiences, create culturally sensitive campaigns, contribute to social impact, and communicate stories “of people in the region, created by people in the region, for people in the region”.
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The event organised by Motivate Media Group’s Campaign Middle East, was held in partnership with Criteo, MBC Media Solutions and Snap Inc.
Welcome speech
The event began with a welcome speech by Nadeem Quraishi, Publisher, Campaign Middle East, who briefed the attendees about the brand’s latest developments.
He introduced the latest print edition: Predictions 2025 and the Digital Agency and Adtech Guide, and briefed attendees about Campaign’s Editorial and Events calendar for 2025, which includes four breakfast briefings events, new industry roundtables, as well as the highly anticipated Annual Agency of the Year Awards in December.
Chair’s opening remarks
Campaign Middle East Editor Anup Oommen then took the stage to deliver the chair’s opening remarks, setting the scene for what turned into an incredible event filled with actionable insights and interesting takeaways.
Oommen laid a line in the sand, explaining how “everything is changing” – from the timing of Ramadan, to perceptions of how its celebrated in the Middle East, to methods of targeting specific consumers with relevant hyper-personalised content, to investments in Connected TV, which are overtaking budgets set aside for linear TV in the region.
He also emphasised the need for marketers to prioritise memories, moments and meaning, in addition to meeting consumers where they want to be met, instead of bandying about mere motifs during Ramadan.
Keynote speech
To begin proceedings, Gosia Wajchert, Managing Director, MEA, Criteo, delivered a keynote presentation on Hyper-personalisation: Moving from the ‘why’ to the ‘how’.
Wajchert explained that the consumer path to purchase is no longer a straight road; it’s more like a tangled nest of interactions. She shared that if brands rely on outdated, rigid segmentation methods, they risk losing relevance, and instead, called for marketers to embrace a model that can understand intent in real time — one that shifts with the consumer’s journey and adapts dynamically.
Wajchert said, “For too long, marketers have been throwing budgets at the wall to see what sticks. Personalisation efforts have often been ineffective because they rely on outdated audience models that don’t reflect real-time consumer intent. Here’s the reality: Three in four marketing executives believe personalisation doesn’t work in paid media. About 75 per cent of consumers abandon online purchases due to irrelevant targeting.”
“It’s time for digital advertising to catch up and use real-time data, AI-driven insights, and first-party signals to create meaningful, hyper-personalised experiences,” she added.
She suggested tapping into commerce signals, behavioural signals, engagement signals as well as hyper-personalisation.
“Intelligent personalisation — that’s the game-changer. It’s about delivering relevance in the moment, using AI to anticipate needs and adapt in real-time. Imagine being the brand that knows what your customer wants before they do,” Wajchert added.
Panel 1: Localisation: From preaching to living for Ramadan and beyond
The first panel discussion of the day witnessed multiple advertisers and industry leaders taking the stage, including:
- Ana Elisa Seixas, Head of Marketing, New Balance Middle East, Africa & India,
- Mahmoud Maghraby, Media Director | MEA + Global Emerging Markets, Mars,
- Suad Merchant, Head of Brand & Corporate Communications, Mashreq, and
- Hicham Fakhoury, Content Solutions Lead at MMS.
The panel, moderated by Anup Oommen, Editor of Campaign Middle East, in partnership with MBC Media Solutions, had marketers discussing the need to truly understand and experience what it means to be ‘local’ before creating and selling the ‘localisation’ narrative within their campaigns.
The panelists deliberated whether local audiences are truly represented in regional advertisements and the role that local influencers, content creators and user-generated content has to play in bringing ‘localisation’ to life rather than mere tokenism during Ramadan and Eid.
“We need to truly ask ourselves: Does the messaging within the content truly ‘fit’ with local audiences? Are they moved by what we are narrating to them? Are we truly shifting their emotions to accomplish happiness and joy? Are we truly shifting their purchasing behaviour? Localisation is not about pretending or disguising ourselves to look or sound like them. We need to reflect their lives, resonate with their problems and truly live alongside them. Else, we’re just wasting our investments, time and effort,” said Hicham Fakhoury, Content Solutions Lead at MMS.
Mahmoud Maghraby, Media Director | MEA + Global Emerging Markets, Mars, said, “Let’s start with the fact that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. While there are certain insights and best practices that are relevant across borders, the way we bring that to life matters. It needs to be meaningful and relevant for Saudis, as much as it is for people in the UAE, Brazil or in India, especially in a world where people are more than happy to skip an ad.”
Suad Merchant, Head of Brand & Corporate Communications, Mashreq, said, “Localisation is not really about Arabisation or using supposedly local images. Marketers must learn to dig deeper, do their research about the people in the region, about traditions, about culture – and this is not just for a one-off campaign, but should be a critical part of the long-term brand building process. That’s how you connect with the emotions of key audiences, therefore, creating consideration, loyalty and advocacy.”
Ana Elisa Seixas, Head of Marketing, New Balance Middle East, Africa & India, added. “Over the last 20 years, I’ve seen many things change within marketing, but we’re still not getting this concept of localisation right. We still have so-called Emiratis being portrayed in ads who are not Emirati, and any local Emirati can immediately identify that – which means that you’ve lost your local audience within seconds. We do need to do better,”
Marketers agreed that when we’re creating content for specific communities, we need to ensure that they are part of the content creation process. We need to welcome influencers, personalities or icons from those communities – who resonate with and can represent brand values – to partner with the brand and be ambassadors of the brand to build a close connection with each individual community within the region.
Panel 2: How communications and creative storytelling around Ramadan has changed
The second panel, conducted in partnership with Snap Inc. and moderated by Rasha El-Ghoussaini, Head of Agency – Snap Inc. MENA, welcomed to the stage,
- Ghadeer Khub, Director of the Creative & Production Department, DCT Abu Dhabi,
- Roxane Magbanua, General Manager – Marketing, Al-Futtaim Automotive, and
- Stanislas Brunais, Marketing Director, Ounass
The panelists discussed how the way we design and execute campaigns that speak to several different generations at once has changed. Marketers on the panel discussed how the values of transparency, honesty and inclusivity have begun to reflect the diverse perspectives and experiences that people have around Ramadan and how brands can connect with them during the Holy Month.
Ghadeer Khub, Director of the Creative & Production Department, DCT Abu Dhabi, said, “There are a lot of misconceptions around Ramadan that need to be addressed. Marketing during Ramadan is not only for a specific group of people. You can imagine, Western travelers from outside of this region who have not been here before would probably not consider coming to this region during Ramadan because of misconceptions that you can’t eat in public and everything’s closed for business, which is not true. So actually, we have a collective story to tell and a a huge perception change to be involved in over the next couple of years. Ramadan is moving closer and closer to our busiest season.”
Roxane Magbanua, General Manager – Marketing, Al-Futtaim Automotive, said, “If we talk about consumer behavioural changes, Ramadan is normally about three things: which is memories of togetherness, moments with family and friends, and the rising trend of ‘me time’, especially around the young generation in the region. If we don’t understand this as brands and we don’t lean into it, we’ve missed the main point of it all.”
Commenting on the move toward talk to people on technology platforms of their choice, Stanislas Brunais, Marketing Director, Ounass, said, “People prefer augmented reality, newness and innovation, rather than a simple SMS, right? Like, who uses SMS anymore? It’s better to send a Snap with a bit of a lens or AR. So yeah, we do jump on the latest trends and leverage most of this innovation. And we, as brands, need to do that basically because that’s where the audience is at and that’s the way they prefer to be communicating. To be honest, brands are actually always in the catch-up mode in this regard, rather than in the innovation mode.”
Panel 3: Purpose-driven marketing: A powerful tool left rusting in the cabinet?
The third and final panel of the event shifted gears at the event with a conversation around purpose-driven marketing.
The panel, moderated by Fadi Khater, Managing Partner, Netizency, welcomed on stage three client-side marketers, including,
- Shahir Sirry, Global Creative Director, Aramex
- Siddarth Sivaprakash, Head of Brand & Marketing, Home Centre, Landmark Group, and
- Taniya Chandra, Head of Marketing and Communications, Mercedes-Benz Middle East
Panelists discussed how they define and implement brand purpose, and the importance of it within a world that seems to often be drowning in short-term business outcomes.
Shahir Sirry, Global Creative Director, Aramex, said, “I always try to see brands as people. So, in this case, if Aramex would think ‘why am I going to get up this morning and brush my teeth’ other than delivering parcels and making money, what would it be? It’s like a commitment tattooed on a brand’s DNA and the deeper reason a brand exists. If we use the wise words of Spiderman’s uncle or Voltaire: With great power comes great responsibility.”
Sirry added, “I feel brands that don’t have a brand purpose that is clearly visible and audible are not only vanilla, but also very replaceable. There is no real reason to give that brand your loyalty. Every once in a while a new brand might give you a good price or claim to have a similar service. But, if you have an emotional, value-based connection with a brand you don’t just drop them like they’re hot.”
Siddarth Sivaprakash, Head of Brand & Marketing, Home Centre, Landmark Group, said, “I think purpose today, unfortunately, gets confused with cause marketing. Brand purpose isn’t only cause marketing. It’s the reason why brands exist in the first place, and how it makes a meaningful difference to your life in terms of its product and service.
He added, “We’re in the business of making ads and communicating a message that stands out from the noise, but let’s be honest: everyone hates ads, especially online. So, if you’re not staying true to your product, service and purpose and if the authenticity doesn’t shine through, you’ve lost your audience. And authenticity comes from being able to clearly articulate a purpose, which tells someone why they should pick you. This is why purpose is becoming increasingly important.”
Taniya Chandra, Head of Marketing and Communications, Mercedes-Benz Middle East, summed it up well, saying, “On one hand, you want to build a great business; you want to be profitable. But the most important thing, which what brings not only our customers back, but gets us all out of bed in the morning, is the story that we tell ourselves about why associating with this brand is worth the while. This is purpose. This is what we need our brands to communicate.”
After the keynotes and panels at the Campaign Breakfast Briefing event, delegates stayed back for a time of networking. For those of you who were unable to attend this stellar gathering of like-minded leaders shaping the top trends and addressing the top challenges in the industry, keep an eye out for the YouTube video of the entire event.
Mark you calendars. Campaign Middle East‘s next event, Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Talent & Technology will be held on 11 April 2025 at the Metropolitan Hotel Dubai.
