MENA’s content-advertising gap: Time for a new approach

As our region continues to produce increasingly ambitious and high-quality film and television content, a critical gap within advertising has emerged that threatens to limit the full potential of this creative renaissance.

While production values are improving and storytelling is maturing, the integration of brand and content remains surprisingly primitive compared to global standards.

This disconnect represents not just a missed opportunity for brands and producers, but a fundamental structural weakness in how we approach the business of entertainment in the region.

Current state of brand integration

The current state of brand placement in MENA productions is best described as inconsistent, superficial, and painfully clichéd. Unlike the sophisticated product integration seen in Western productions, where brands become natural elements of the narrative landscape, MENA content frequently features awkward, disrupting placements that feel forced rather than organic.

A good example is the popular 2020 Egyptian mosalsalat (series) like “Valentino” that featured product placements where actors break character to directly address audience about products, the antithesis of organic integration.

Even high-budget productions like Shahid’s “Rashash” struggled with integration, with luxury SUVs prominently framed in ways that serve the brand rather than the story, creating jarring moments that pull viewers out of otherwise compelling narratives.

A good example of how its done is “Emily in Paris,” where luxury brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton are written seamlessly into the storyline, becoming essential components of the protagonist’s world rather than distractions from it.

This gap exists largely because we lack specialised expertise. While major global markets have agencies and departments dedicated exclusively to branded entertainment and content integration, with companies facilitating sophisticated placements worth billions annually, MENA advertising and media agencies have been slow to develop these skills.

Dubai-based agencies still primarily approach content as a distribution channel rather than a collaborative creative opportunity. According to a study by Ipsos MENA, 64 per cent of regional viewers report finding product placements in local content “distracting” compared to just 37 per cent for international productions.

Global shift from advertising to entertainment

Global markets are experiencing a profound transformation where brands are evolving from advertisers to entertainment producers. This shift represents a fundamental rethinking of how brands connect with audiences, moving away from traditional interruption-based advertising toward creating content that audiences actively choose to engage with.

The gold standard for seamless brand integration is Apple’s presence in entertainment. Rather than paying for placement, Apple’s products are organically woven into narratives across films and TV series like “Modern Family” and “Succession,” where characters naturally use iPhones and MacBooks as extensions of their personalities. Similarly, the James Bond franchise has elevated product placement to an art form, with Aston Martin becoming inseparable from the character’s identity across decades.

Red Bull has masterfully executed this strategy through Red Bull Media House, producing award-winning documentary films like “The Art of Flight” that embody their brand values while delivering compelling entertainment that stands on its own merits. Similarly, Lego transformed its brand through entertainment with “The Lego Movie” franchise, creating blockbuster films that celebrate creativity while driving substantial merchandise sales.

“Stranger Things” demonstrated how brand integrations can enhance storytelling, with Eggo waffles becoming a character-defining element for “Eleven”, and Coca-Cola’s New Coke resurrection serving as both period-authentic detail and major marketing coup. The show’s 1980s setting provided natural opportunities for brands to enhance the story.

This approach acknowledges a critical truth that MENA marketers must embrace: modern consumers, particularly younger demographics, actively avoid traditional advertising while simultaneously consuming more content than ever before. According to data from WARC, Gen Z consumers are 5x more likely to engage with branded entertainment than with traditional advertisements.

MENA’s untapped advertising potential

For MENA brands, this global trend presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The region’s rich storytelling heritage provides a unique foundation for creating authentic branded content that could resonate not just regionally but globally, especially now as the race is on amongst regional producers to give us our “Squid Game moment”

However, capitalising on this potential requires a significant evolution in how we approach the relationship between brands and entertainment.

There are promising signs of progress. Rotana Studios’ partnership with Saudi Telecom Company (STC) for the drama series “Mamno’ Al Tajawol” demonstrated a more thoughtful approach to integration, where the telecommunications provider’s services were naturally incorporated into the narrative of a family navigating social changes.

More ambitious is Zain Telecom’s “Shabab El Boom” series, which moved beyond simple product placement to allow the brand’s values and services to inform the actual storylines. This youth-focused comedy became one of the region’s most successful streaming properties, proving that brand-supported content can achieve both commercial and creative success when the integration feels authentic.

Additionally, OSN’s original production “No Activity” successfully integrated Talabat’s food delivery service as a natural plot element, with characters ordering meals during stakeouts without disrupting the comedic flow, a subtle yet effective approach that enhances rather than detracts from viewer enjoyment.

Building a new framework

To truly close this gap, MENA needs to develop a specialised ecosystem that supports sophisticated brand integration. This requires:

1. Dedicated Content Partnerships Teams: Media agencies must create specialised departments with entertainment industry expertise, not just advertising backgrounds.
2. Early-Stage Integration: Brands need to be involved during script development, not after production is complete.
3. Measurement Beyond Exposure: Success metrics must evolve beyond visibility to measure audience sentiment and narrative impact.
4. Content-First Thinking: Brands should prioritise storytelling value over product visibility.

The economics of content production in MENA demands this evolution. While regional productions are increasingly ambitious, with budgets for premium content rising, they often still lack the budgetary resources of global competitors. Sophisticated brand partnerships could provide critical funding while enhancing rather than compromising creative integrity.

Forward-thinking MENA brands have the opportunity to lead this transformation, evolving from interruptive advertisers to valued creators and enablers of premium entertainment. Those who succeed will build deeper audience connections in an era where traditional advertising continues to lose effectiveness.

The question isn’t whether this transformation will happen, but which MENA brands and agencies will have the vision to lead it. The foundations for a more sophisticated approach to branded entertainment exist in our region’s rich storytelling tradition, we need only the courage and expertise to build upon them.

As MENA’s entertainment industry continues its remarkable growth trajectory, the opportunity for innovation in branded premium content has never been greater. The brands that understand content is no longer just a vehicle for advertising, but the very essence of how they connect with audiences, will define the next chapter of marketing in our region. It’s time to close the content-advertising gap.

by Hussein Fakhri, Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Producer, Katara Studios