The creator economy has matured to a point where brands can no longer afford to view it as a decorative media channel or a peripheral part of the marketing mix. Creators are no longer merely amplification channels meant to extend a campaign’s visibility after the strategy has been decided and the planning is complete. Influencers who, true to their name, influence nano, micro and macro communities and authentically build brand trust with people in the region can no longer be treated transactionally or as plug-ins for one-off campaigns.

On the latest episode of Campaign Middle East’s On the Record podcast, Olfa Messaoudi, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, L’Oréal Middle East, and Antoine Challita, UAE Country Head at Snap, discuss all this and more in a market where creator recommendations, social circles and community opinions carry significant weight and are becoming part of how consumers discover, assess and eventually spend on brands.

They explore a shift in the way brands and platforms partner with creators and consumers. The discussion moves beyond the vanity metrics of reach, impressions and engagement to touch upon credibility, education, measurement, cultural relevance and the importance of longer-term creator partnerships.

At the heart of the conversation is a simple but important idea: creators are most valuable when they are brought into the process early, onboarded with clarity on brand guidelines, given space to contribute community insights and be the voice for their followers, offered the opportunity to shape the work, and understood as people with communities and as an extension of brand and marketing teams, rather than as inventory with reach and influence.

For both L’Oréal and Snap, the future of creator marketing is less like buying a billboard and more like building a team: it requires patience, care, repeated interaction and the humility to listen before expecting growth.

Creators are no longer an add-on

Challita explained that one of the biggest mistakes brands make is bringing creators in too late. If the campaign idea, message and creative route are already finalised, creators are reduced to a distribution layer. His point is that their value sits much deeper: they understand the conversations already taking place among their audiences and can help shape work that feels more natural to those communities.

He also linked this to how discovery works in the GCC, where people often rely on social proof, personal networks and community opinion.

“The perception that creators are an add-on is fading,” said Challita. “There are still brands that consider them as reach amplifiers, or the extension of reach. I think that’s probably misplaced. Creators generally are a channel by themselves. They are not really simply an amplification channel. When you think about discovery in the GCC, we talk about it being around community validation. We talk about it being around word of mouth. So creators play an intrinsic role around conversations.”

The implication for marketers is clear: creators should not be treated as the final coat of paint on a finished campaign. They need to be part of the architecture. Challita argues that brands get more value when creators are invited into strategic planning, because that is when they can bring their understanding of tone, community and cultural timing into the work.

Challita added, “We need to bring creators more upstream into all the strategic planning that’s happening, so you’re empowering creators to leverage the things that they’re good at, which is authenticity and being connected to the community.”

Using the World Cup as an example, he explained that major cultural moments do not live only in the event itself; they continue in the conversations that happen around it.

Challita explained, “Conversations are not happening when the match is going on. Fandom goes beyond the match itself. If we look at our data, we had around 12.7bn impressions generated by Snapchatters alone during the last World Cup that was in Qatar.”

Beauty consumers are more informed, and they expect more

Messaoudi turned the conversation back to the consumer, highlighting how audience behaviour and preferences have changed significantly.

She explained that people have moved past polished brand films and aspirational imagery. She added that audiences are becoming more curious, more informed and more willing to interrogate claims.

Messaoudi explained that high-quality storytelling now needs to sit alongside creator-led education and recommendation, especially because creators can translate product knowledge into a language and emotion that communities understand.

She said, “Consumers are super educated. They’re informed. They know the product. They want to know the science behind it. But consumers are also looking for beautiful storytelling, very nice content and craftsmanship. They are looking for authenticity and trust. And this trust comes from creators who resonate with them.”

For L’Oréal, working with creators is not a new experiment. Messaoudi pointed to the company’s long-running use of creator “squads” across brands such as YSL and Kérastase. She added that the creator economy strategy works best when creators hear what brands cannot always hear, and when brands are willing to listen to them. This provides a lot of perspective to brands because creators sit close to the questions, hesitations, needs and everyday language of their communities. For a beauty brand, that proximity can help shape stronger product communication.

When L’Oréal works on new launches, creator insight can influence the campaign itself. The brand does not simply hand over a brief and wait for posts or a content calendar; instead, it uses creator feedback to understand what people want to know, how they speak about products and what kind of explanation may create a closer connection with specific cohorts of consumers.

She shared, “Recently, we worked with some content creators on new launches from La Roche-Posay and Garnier. What was important for us was to get their insight, because they have a lot of signals when they talk with their followers who are our consumers. They know what these consumers want, what works, what tone of voice they should use. So, instead of doing our own content in our way, we built the campaign together. We co-created the content with these creators.”

This is where Snap’s role becomes especially relevant in the discussion. Messaoudi described Snapchat as a platform where recommendations can feel closer to a personal exchange than a formal advertising message.

Her comparison was simple: people have always asked friends for advice. Social platforms have changed the scale and speed of that behaviour.

She explained, “Snapchat is an amazing platform because people are looking for peer-to-peer recommendations. They want to talk to a friend and take advice from a friend. Today, content creators can play that role at scale and really make an impact. Snapchat is beautiful for that because it’s a place where you feel safe. It’s authentic. It’s trusted. And it really makes content creators’ communities feel like they are talking to a friend.”

The creator sits between the celebrity and the friend

Challita brought in Snap’s own way of looking at creator proximity. On Snapchat, he said, creators sit in what the platform describes internally as a “middle circle”: not as distant as celebrities, but not quite the same as close friends either. That position gives them a distinctive role in how people absorb recommendations and form opinions.

The platform’s data, according to Challita, supports this sense of closeness. He said Snapchatters often perceive creators in a friend-like way, and that creator content has a notable effect on purchase decisions. This is why he believes marketers should look beyond audience size alone.

Challita said, “80 per cent of our Snapchatters view creators as friends. 86 per cent of our Snapchatters are impacted by creator content that they’re consuming on the purchase decisions that they’re making..”

He also explained that the more important question is not who has the biggest following, but who has the strongest relationship with the audience they already have.

In a region shaped by community-led commerce, a smaller creator with deep engagement can sometimes move people more effectively than a larger name with less relevance.

Taking this a step further, he added, “It’s also not about one viral moment. That’s not going to create the impact or the value that creators can bring to a business. It’s about consistency over time, and trust is built with consistency.”

A major part of L’Oréal’s approach is also the brand’s investment in the creator ecosystem itself.

Messaoudi pointed to the launch of LOREALISTAR in the GCC, a programme designed to build authentic, long-term relationships between the L’Oréal Group’s brands and the region’s digital creator community.

Open to creators with as few as 1,000 followers, the platform rewards genuine passion for L’Oréal brands with exclusive access to more than 20 iconic brands, upskilling opportunities, and visibility across L’Oréal’s brands.

Messaoudi explained, “Our objective is to build the next beauty entrepreneur in the region, to make them grow, to nurture their capabilities, while continuing to support the creator economy with masterclasses, empowerment and networking.”

The programme offers content creator education, masterclasses, networking opportunities, mentorship and access to exclusive experiences and the L’Oréal community, in addition to long-term collaboration opportunities.

“Whether they’re just starting out or already building an established community, we want to help creators at different stages of their journey develop their skills and build lasting careers in the industry,” said Messaoudi.

Measurement of creator influence and impact through the marketing funnel

The conversation then moved from influence to accountability. Messaoudi was clear that views and engagement still matter, but they are no longer enough. Marketers need to understand how creator content works across the consumer journey: whether people watch, save, share, remember, consider and eventually buy.

Her point was that some signals are more revealing than surface-level metrics. A save, for example, can suggest that a consumer wants to return to the content, learn more or perhaps make a purchase later. For beauty brands, that kind of behaviour can be especially meaningful.

She said, “Today, the content is not measured only by views and engagement. These KPIs still matter, but what we are really looking for today is the full consumer journey. It’s about content health. Are people watching it? How long are they watching it? It’s also about brand health. Is this content building awareness and the perception of my brand? Do people save my content? Because when someone saves content, it means, ‘I’m interested. I want to know more. I want probably to buy this product.’”

Challita added that the old idea that creators only build awareness is outdated. He said Snap sees creator-led activity having an effect across the funnel, from awareness and consideration to cost per purchase. That matters because creator marketing must increasingly stand up in conversations not only with marketing teams, but also with finance and leadership.

He said, “on ad awareness, whenever we’re comparing creator advertising versus branded creative, we see almost 1.8 times better effectiveness on the creator side. In the mid-funnel part, we are seeing 2.5 times more effectiveness when it comes to consideration through creator-led ads. We also see almost 25 per cent better efficiency when advertisers are using creator-led advertising on cost per purchase.”

Messaoudi supported this with an example from L’Oréal’s work with Snap on Kérastase.

She explained, “We tried something together on Snapchat with Kérastase. The point was to work with content creators to create real stories, real transformation, using the product and being true. This campaign, and the work that we have done closely with the creators, drove purchase, and it was very impactful. We discovered that the second biggest driver of purchase today is content creators. Media is still part of what we do, for sure, but content creation is the second key driver of purchase today.”

The parting advice: listen first, then build

As the discussion closed, Challita returned to the idea that influence is not the same as audience size. The most powerful creator partnerships are not necessarily built around the biggest names, but around depth of connection and longer time horizons.

His advice to brands was to stop seeing creators as a last-mile tactic. If creators understand the broader ambition, they can contribute more meaningfully to the work and build a stronger bridge between the brand and the consumer.

Challita said, “Trust drives influence, decision-making and action. Creators are not amplifiers of reach. Creators are the ones that translate what you’re really looking for, which starts with the consumer. It doesn’t matter who has the largest audiences within the creator space. What matters is the depth of the engagement they have with their communities.”

Messaoudi’s closing thought was a reminder that creators are not just another line in the media plan. Their greatest value lies in the conversations they are already having with consumers. For marketers, the task is to approach those conversations with curiosity rather than control.

She concluded, “Don’t think of creators as another media investment. Of course, they create content, but their greatest value is that they are having conversations every day with consumers. Consumers are extremely generous because they tell us stories, and they tell us exactly what they need. What we need to do is to be humble enough as marketers to listen, to act with humility, and to work with people to create authentic stories.”

What emerges from the conversation is a more mature view of creator marketing. The creator is not a megaphone held at the end of a campaign. The creator is not a shortcut to cultural relevance. At their best, creators are interpreters: they understand the dialects, emotions and real challenges of their communities, including the questions people are asking, the doubts they carry and the signals that brands may miss from a distance.

For L’Oréal Middle East, that means combining beauty craft with education, product storytelling with creator insight, and AI-led signals with human judgement. For Snap, it means helping brands understand that creator-led work can influence the full journey, from awareness to purchase, when it is planned properly and measured with discipline.

Both perspectives point to the same conclusion: the value of creators grows when brands stop treating them as temporary and transactional campaign elements and start building with them over time.

In a marketing landscape hungry for certainty, the creator economy offers something more human and less mechanical. It is a campfire, not a spotlight. People gather around it because the voice feels familiar, the story feels close and the recommendation feels earned.

For brands willing to listen, co-create and commit for the long run, that may be where the next chapter of advertising in the Middle East is written.

Watch the full podcast here.

CREDITS:

Guests:
– Olfa Messaoudi, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, L’Oréal Middle East
– Antoine Challita,UAE Country Head, Snap
Host: Anup Oommen, Editor, Campaign Middle East
Production: Surajit Dutta, Content Production Manager, Motivate Media Group
Videography: Mark Mathew, Creative Content Producer, Motivate Media Group
Editing: John Melencion, Content Producer, Motivate Media Group

The most effective destination marketing does not announce itself. It creates a moment so connected to a place that the place becomes inseparable from the memory. Qatar used Art Basel to tell a global audience something about who it is. Dubai used a creator platform to put itself at the centre of a conversation reaching millions. Sharjah used light and public programming to give people a reason to visit, stay, and return. Three destinations. Three different tools. One idea: that experience, done well, is the most powerful channel in destination marketing.

Art Basel Qatar 2026: Culture as a destination signal

When Art Basel came to Qatar in 2026, it was a statement about where Qatar sits on the global cultural map, and an invitation to the world’s most influential collectors, curators, and cultural figures to see it for themselves.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

MCH Global delivered SONG (2026), a Special Projects commission featuring large-scale bilingual poetry projections across the Museum of Islamic Art’s façade and inner courtyard, synchronised with a choreographed drone performance. Delivering within a heritage landmark required projection mapping on stone geometry, strict site protection, controlled lighting transitions, and precise drone cueing. The result brought contemporary art, Islamic architecture and live technology together in a single high-impact public moment. Doha was not simply hosting the art world. It was ready for it.

Tiktok live fest Dubai 2026: The Destination as content

Dubai has long understood that destination marketing works best when it meets its audience on their own terms. TikTok LIVE Fest Dubai 2026 placed the city at the centre of one of the most influential creator communities in the MENA region. More than 290 invited creators and guests from the UAE, KSA and Turkey gathered for a night that was, in effect, a live broadcast of Dubai’s creative energy to millions of followers watching in real time.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

MCH Global delivered end-to-end creative and operational execution: interactive content zones, mirror booths, glambot capture, multi-screen production and the full awards show. Every element was designed with shareability in mind, because each creator in attendance carried the experience back to their audience, turning a single-night event into extended destination storytelling across the region. When the night ended, Dubai was still trending.

Public realm: programming as a reason to visit

Public programming is one of the most underused tools in destination marketing. When it works, it gives people a reason to visit, residents a reason to take pride, and the destination a story worth telling beyond its own borders. In 2025, MCH Global contributed to large-scale light activations across Sharjah, including floating sculptures, a first-of-its-kind whale installation, an AR experience, and a shell-form sculpture built from 90 per cent recycled materials. The Light Village at University City, Sharjah, returned for a second year in 2026, combining F&B, retail, and live programming into a space that turned a single visit into a habit.

The work speaks for itself

Destination marketing works best when it shows rather than tells. Each of these examples demonstrates the same thing: when an experience is genuinely rooted in a place and made with real craft, it does the work no campaign can. It makes people want to be there. When done well, experience does not just market a destination. It becomes part of what the destination is remembered for.

Dubai-founded social and creator marketing agency MKV Digital has announced its expansion into Saudi Arabia alongside a strengthened leadership structure, marking the agency’s next phase of growth across the GCC and international markets.

The expansion follows growing demand from brands and agency partners for specialist social and creator capabilities, as organisations increasingly look to build stronger connections with audiences through culturally relevant storytelling, creator partnerships and platform-first content.

MKV Digital officially registered its Saudi Arabia entity on 30 December 2025, strengthening its ability to support brands and partners in the Kingdom while continuing its work across the GCC and Europe.

Founder Asia Ali has been appointed Founder & CEO, leading MKV Digital’s strategic vision, partnerships and regional growth.

Waqas Ali has been appointed Managing Director, GCC & Europe, overseeing client relationships, regional operations, media solutions and creator partnerships. Having been part of MKV Digital’s growth journey over the past four years, Waqas has supported the agency’s expansion across the GCC and international markets.

The leadership evolution comes as social and creator marketing continues to become a more central part of how brands build relevance and engage communities.

Following Asia Ali’s appointment as a Cannes Lions 2026 Jury Member for Social & Creator, MKV Digital continues to strengthen its position within one of the fastest-growing areas of the global creative industry.

Commenting on the agency’s next chapter, Asia Ali, Founder & CEO of MKV Digital, said, “The way brands connect with audiences has fundamentally changed. Social is no longer just a communication channel; it has become a space where brands build communities, participate in culture and create meaningful relationships with audiences.”

She added, “We believe the future belongs to agencies and partners who bring deep expertise while collaborating to solve modern marketing challenges. Social and creator marketing require an understanding of platforms, communities and culture at a much deeper level, and our role is to bring that expertise to brands and partners to create stronger outcomes. Saudi Arabia represents an exciting opportunity in this evolution. The Kingdom’s cultural transformation and digital growth are creating new possibilities for brands to build authentic connections, and our expansion reflects our ambition to support this next chapter of social and creator-led marketing across the region.”

Waqas Ali, Managing Director, GCC & Europe, said, “Over the past few years, we have seen brands and agencies place greater importance on specialist expertise in social and creator marketing. The opportunity is not about replacing existing teams or partners, it is about bringing the right capabilities together to create stronger work.”

He added, “Following the launch of MKV Creators, our dedicated content creation team, creator-led campaigns have become one of the fastest-growing areas of our work. We help brands and partners develop authentic, platform-native content and creator strategies that connect with audiences in meaningful ways. Whether working directly with brands or alongside agency partners, our ambition remains the same: to create culturally relevant work that helps brands build stronger relationships with their audiences across markets.”

With its expanded presence in Saudi Arabia and strengthened leadership team, MKV Digital continues to support brands and partners through social strategy, creator partnerships, media solutions and digital storytelling across the GCC and international markets.

GP Inc has launched of Aurum Advisory, a specialist advisory firm that helps businesses understand, organise and commercialise their first-party data.

Co-founded by Rahul Nagpal, Chairman of GP Inc, and Sohail Nawaz, MBE, Aurum will work with retailers and other consumer-facing businesses across the GCC to develop retail media and data monetisation opportunities.

Retail media allows businesses to generate revenue from customer data and owned digital channels by connecting brands with audiences. While globally, it has become a meaningful source of revenue for retailers and commerce businesses, adoption across much of this region remains at an early stage.

Aurum has been established to help organisations assess the value of their data assets, identify commercial opportunities and build retail media capabilities suited to the region.

The business is led by Sohail Nawaz, one of the pioneers of retail media in the GCC. Most recently, he built and led Landmark Reach, the retail media business of Landmark Group. Prior to that, he served as Chief Digital Officer at Khaleej Times, where he oversaw the development of digital products and revenue platforms.

At the heart of Aurum’s advisory services is RMAIOS (Retail Media AI Operating System), a proprietary platform developed by Nawaz from years of operational experience in digital advertising and retail media. The platform helps businesses evaluate data assets, prioritise revenue opportunities and support decision-making across retail media operations.

As consumer product discovery increasingly shifts towards AI-powered search, recommendation and shopping environments, RMAIOS also helps organisations assess how visible their products and services are to emerging AI shopping agents and answer engines. This gives businesses an opportunity to better prepare for new paths to purchase that are beginning to influence consumer behaviour globally.

“Businesses have spent years investing in customer data. The question today is how that data can create additional commercial value,” said Rahul Nagpal, Chairman of GP Inc and Co-Founder of Aurum Advisory.

“What attracted us to Sohail was not the theory but the fact that he has already built and operated this business successfully in the region. Aurum brings that experience to organisations looking to better understand the value of their data and the opportunities it presents.”

“Many organisations possess valuable first-party data but have never looked at it as a business asset,” said Sohail Nawaz, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aurum Advisory.

“Our role is to help clients understand what they have, determine where their opportunities lie and build curated solutions that create lasting, measurable commercial outcomes.”

Aurum Advisory is now open for client engagements across the GCC.

Brazen MENA, which is ranked among the 100 Best PR Agencies in the World, has officially launched in the Asia Pacific region, with offices in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and the appointment of Angeline Tan as General Manager, APAC.

Tan brings 19 years of experience across integrated communications, brand reputation and business growth in Asia Pacific, EMEA and beyond. She has built and protected the reputations of leading brands across the region and understands how culture, media and commercial reality intersect in each APAC market, and how global expertise is made to work at a local level.

Throughout her career, Tan has led communications strategies and creative production for global and regional brands, including Netflix, Dutch Lady Malaysia (part of the global dairy leader FrieslandCampina), and consumer health company Haleon.

She has also been named a judge for the 2026 Asia-Pacific SABRE Awards, the region’s benchmark for excellence in public relations.

“In a region as diverse as APAC, the most powerful stories are shaped with both insight and cultural understanding,” said Angeline Tan, General Manager, APAC. “Brazen has built its reputation on doing things the right way, with strategy, intelligence and genuine care for clients. Communications here need cultural fluency and strategic depth, underpinned by real data. I am proud to lead the agency’s next chapter in Asia Pacific.”

Brazen MENA enters APAC with a track record built over more than a decade in the Middle East, where the agency has represented more than 500 brands across luxury, lifestyle, hospitality, fashion, beauty, corporate and government sectors.

Global clients, including Marriott, Abercrombie & Fitch, SKIMS, Hilton, Veuve Clicquot, and Raffles, have trusted Brazen MENA to build and protect their reputations in competitive, fast-moving markets.

The agency has already begun building its APAC portfolio. Brazen MENA & APAC is now working with Bosom, a maternal-care platform that connects mothers to trusted lactation and mental health specialists through secure consultations.

As part of RAIYN, the trust-led communications network of more than 700 professionals across MENA and beyond, Brazen MENA & APAC gives clients in the region access to an integrated platform spanning strategy, creativity, digital and intelligence.

RAIYN operates within News Group International, which also owns CARMA, the global media intelligence company, with the intention that every client engagement is underpinned by real-time data, analysis and insight from day one.

FAST, a Dubai-headquartered marketing technology group, has appointment of Hashim Mahmood as Head of People and Culture. His remit covers the group’s human teams and the 180 AI agents now working alongside them.

FAST runs 180 AI agents across its companies. The agents carry the work that was holding growth back, and the group is hiring more people now than at any point in its history. Mahmood’s job is to make the two work together.

Mahmood joins from TikTok/ByteDance, where he served as Regional HR Director for METAP (Middle East, Turkey, Africa and Pakistan) and CSA (Central and South Asia) – one of the platform’s most complex and commercially significant territory clusters.

He brings extensive experience building people functions and organisational capability at scale across high growth and emerging markets.

Waseem Afzal, Founder and CEO of FAST, said, “We are hiring more AI equipped people now than at any point in our history, and the agents are the reason why. They take on the work that was holding the business back, which frees our teams to do the work that grows it. That is how we get ten times out of the same business. It also creates a management problem that nobody has a manual for.”

Afzal added, “Hashim has built people functions inside one of the world’s fastest growing technology companies, in some of the most demanding markets there are. That is the experience this job needs.”

In his new role, Mahmood will lead FAST’s people agenda across the group’s ecosystem of companies, including Platformance, PULSR, PerformR, Radius, LION, MATTE MENA and Calibrate Commerce.

Alongside culture, leadership and talent, he owns the question of how human teams and AI agents are structured, managed and measured together.

Hashim Mahmood, Head of People and Culture, FAST, said, “Every company is being told that AI is changing how they work. Few have had to answer what that means for their people on a Monday morning. FAST has 180+ agents across the business and is hiring more people than ever, which tells you the two work together.”

He added, “The questions that arise are real and largely unanswered. How do you build a team when part of its capacity is software? What does a career look like, and what counts as good work, when routine work is already handled? I would rather work on those questions here than read about them in someone else’s case study five years from now.”

I have judged most of the shows that matter: Cannes, Effies, One Show, Clio. After enough of them, you admit the part we usually leave out. You judge these shows mostly for yourself. For the credential. For permission to open an article with a sentence like the one I just wrote.

They are the reason for those “thrilled to announce” and “honored to judge” posts that can feel more like the objective than the judging itself. The work matters, of course. But so does the private little career scoreboard we all pretend not to keep.

The region has done well at those shows for years. We judge there, we win there, and we hold our own. But at an established show, you are often affirming a greatness the industry already knows how to admire. You are one vote on a verdict reached long before you arrived.

Judging the Innovation category at Athar this past August was the first time in a while that the exchange ran the other way.

I judged it the same way I judge my best friend: alone, online, case after case, for days. Most of it is labour. You watch the films, read the results, and compare ambition to outcome. The danger is not that the work bores you; it is that the work blurs.

Around the sixty-seventh entry, polish starts sounding like proof, and you catch yourself mistaking competence for consequence. That is the real risk in judging. Not bad work, but a tired judge.

What sets Athar apart is not romance. It is responsibility. Every other show ends in a room, physical or virtual, where disagreement becomes part of the process. You argue, test your instincts, and sometimes hide inside consensus. Athar did not give me that escape. No room to disappear into. No final table to soften your view. No committee to blame. Just the work, the screen, and your own standard staring back.

Away from the screen, the true weight of the assignment settled in. At an established show, greatness has history behind it. But sometimes you get the rare privilege of judging while the standard is still being formed. I felt this when I judged the inaugural Creative Commerce Lions at Cannes. We were not just choosing winners; we were writing the criteria. We knew our picks would tell the industry what creative commerce meant for years to come. It felt less like attendance and more like authorship.

Athar carries that feeling across the whole show. Saudi advertising is in that rare, exciting phase where the canon has not fully hardened. The list of work that a young creative in Riyadh or Jeddah may one day study is still being written. Not in manifestos, but in what gets rewarded now.

A young industry’s standards are like wet cement. Whatever sets now is what the next decade presses itself against. Reward the glossy campaign anyone could assemble from the outside, and that becomes the bar.

Reward the work that could only have come from here, and that becomes the bar instead. The cement does not care which. It sets either way.

This is work from local brands actively writing the playbook for the Kingdom. Take campaigns like HungerStation’s “The Shaded Route,” which mapped the moving shadows of Riyadh’s buildings in real time so people could cross the city in the cool, or stc’s “Blind Seats” which translated live match data into real-time haptic vibrations so visually impaired fans could physically feel the fierce energy of the stadium.

You cannot fake that. It does not come from polish. It comes from understanding the country from the inside; the heat, the codes, the rivalries, the absurd little behaviors no presentation deck can reverse engineer.

The other shows mattered to me. This one matters to all of us. The work is being written from scratch, here, by the people it belongs to. Recognising a standard while it is still forming is harder than applauding one after everyone agrees it exists. We are not just deciding who gets a trophy. We are deciding what kind of work deserves to be remembered.

The only unforgivable thing would be to keep treating it like admin.

By Ali Cheikhali, Creative Strategy & Innovation Lead, Google

We all know how digital has changed the marketing industry; for most industries digital is arguably the primary channel for brand engagement. And yet, it can be hard to gauge how our customers feel about these brand experiences, especially in an age where they are increasingly reaching out to and deal with AI-designed tools.

The key emotion here, which we all care about, is the notion of trust. With automation and artificial intelligence increasingly removing the ability for a consumer to deal with another person, what does that do to the trust they feel for brands?

So, in partnership with Ipsos we set out to ask consumers globally how they judge trust across a number of key global markets. The findings in general, and specifically for the UAE’s consumers, threw up some fascinating insights for the country’s marketers.

Before I jump into the findings, let’s talk about the research design. We tracked nine signal designs using three key concepts. These were credibility – namely whether consumers believe a brand is accurate, honest and dependable – as well as relevance – whether a digital experience feels useful, appropriate, and aligned to a consumer’s needs or context – and responsibility – whether consumers believe a brand is transparent, accountable, and acting in their best interest.

We also looked at four big topics, including what builds and breaks trust, perceptions of AI and automation, differences across markets and demographics, and changes in expectations over time.

The headline findings were eye-opening, and it’s clear that marketers need to do more to bridge the trust gap for their brands when it comes to online experiences.

The study found that 89 per cent of those surveyed believe brands need to do more to improve digital authenticity, and, even more concerning, 58 per cent said they reduce or stop altogether their engagement with brands when digital experiences feel untrustworthy.

When it came to the UAE, marketers and consumers were the closest aligned when it comes to brand consistency. Digital experiences reflect the brand’s identity well, with a gap of only 9 per cent when it came to expectation versus performance.

In contrast, the largest gap was with human accountability. Almost everyone surveyed in the UAE (95 per cent) wanted a human to be on hand for support. The reality was that half don’t feel as if there is anyone who can help them if they have an issue.

As digital experiences become more automated, the absence of visible human accountability can quickly make brands feel distant or difficult to trust to consumers. They may accept automation, but they still expect human responsibility behind it.

Our team came up with four insights for marketers who care about improving the online experience for their consumers. They are:

1. Accuracy and honesty are key to consumers. They want to feel that the brand is there to help them, and information is clear and easy to understand. This matters especially in the UAE, where we found a 33 per cent gap between expectations and performance for brand intent. Marketers need to ensure product info, claims, customer-service content, and AI-assisted answers are clear and dependable.
2. Personalization boosts trust. When done right, personalisation can greatly increase trust, by making everything much more helpful. There is a watch-out here, in that when personalization is done wrong it can make the brand feel disconnected, intrusive, or careless.
3. Not all AI is the same. AI can help or hinder trust. It depends on how marketers use AI tools. It can help consumers find the information they need. Marketers should clearly state when a service is AI-enabled, thus improving trust. What we also found is that individual use cases for AI carry different expectations for transparency, accuracy, and accountability.
4. There is a “new” buyer journey. AI platforms are reshaping the online journey, by influencing how consumers discover a brand, the impression they make of and whether or not they will purchase from that brand. From the content to the landing pages and digital touchpoints, digital experiences need to be reshaped based on this new, AI-influenced buyer journey.

As our CMO has said, consumers don’t think of a brand in terms of a campaign, a channel or technology. All they see is countless interactions that can either reinforce or weaken their view of a brand.

We are going through a period of time where digital is rapidly changing, thanks to AI, and marketers need to think long and hard about how they are perceived online.

The UAE’s marketers need to ask themselves if consumers feel as if the brand is there to help them, if the information they are sharing is accurate and relevant, and if they are seen to be open and transparent. Finally, are they using AI in a way that will reinforce trust, or are their efforts eroding trust?

Digital has never been more important for our consumers, but we need to remember that on the other side of the screen is a person, not an algorithm. Customer trust in their digital experience needs to be at the top of every marketer’s to-do list, and, as our survey has shown, there’s still work we must do in this space if we are going to meet the expectations of consumers in the UAE.

By Mohammed AlThaher, Regional Vice President – MEA, Sitecore

Here is Campaign Middle East’s inaugural 40 over 40 list, an annual initiative starting 2026. This new annual initiative bears a simple purpose: to recognise leaders who have shaped the regional brand and marketing industry over the past 15 years and more, often silently and steadily without applause.

This is not a ranking. It is not a hierarchy. It is not a definitive roll call of every accomplished leader in the region. It is the first edition of an annual platform created to spotlight senior industry figures aged 40 and older, representing different disciplines and different leadership styles, but who are all builders of brands and businesses.

These leaders have become caretakers of client trust and custodians of culture. Their influence is seen most evidently in closed rooms and felt most tangibly in the careers of the people they have mentored.

The 40 over 40 list celebrates the people who have moved the needle – not for a season or for a single campaign cycle, but for several years.

They have helped shape agencies, advise brands, grow teams, win new business, protect existing relationships and raise industry standards. They have carried institutional memory while adapting to new rules. They have proven that leadership is not only about visibility; it is also about responsibility.

These are leaders who have shown that the market is not only shaped only by moments of disruption, but also through the right advise at the right time from people who show up – constantly and consistently – and keep the candle burning long after the spotlight fades.

Campaign Middle East recognises and honours each of these leaders who’ve made it to the 40 Over 40 2026 list.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Saad Abu Touq, Managing Director, Memac Ogilvy

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Saleh Agha, Managing Director, OMD UAE

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Tariq Al Sharabi, Executive Advisor, Cicero & Bernay

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Hessa Al Sudairy, Executive Creative Director, Publicis Communications KSA

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Ibrahim Al-Mutawa, Cofounder & Managing Partner, Jummar PR

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Muhammad Ali, Executive Creative Director, Leo UAE

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Tarek Ali Ahmad, Managing Director, FP7 McCANN UAE

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Bandar Altuwairqi, Co-Founder, Chief Creative Officer, Habbar

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Souheil Arabi, CEO, BPG Kuwait

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Antonio Boulos, President MENA, Frontline BPN

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Naveen Chacko Mathews, General Manager, Havas Media Group

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

David Do Rosario, SVP Digital, Havas Media Middle East

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Karen Doumet, Regional Managing Director, PHD MENA

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Jad El Rabahi, Managing Director, Impact BBDO Dubai

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Layal El Sayed, Business Director, C2 Comms

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Tarek Esper, Managing Director/ Head of Agency, SOCIALEYEZ

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Marc Ghosn, President, Client Solutions MENA & Head of WPP Amazon Opendoor MENAT, Wavemaker

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Majdi Ghraizi, Co-Founder & General Manager, Bold Influence

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Loma  Jaber, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Hewar Group

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Razmik Kalaidjian, Regional Managing Director, Boopin

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Lea Koyess, General Manager, UM Dubai

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Joe Lahham, Managing Director, TBWA\RAAD

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Alex Lopes, Media Director, Interesting Times

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Kinloch Magowan, Managing Partner, Assembly

Provided by Campaignme.com 1
Nadine Matar, Head of Strategy & Insights, Publicis Middle East

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Moustapha Mikaty, Managing Director, FP7McCANN Doha

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Ramy Mouganie, Client Leadership Director, Fusion5

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Reham Mufleh, Managing Director, Horizon FCB

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Carlos Nadal, Managing Director, Havas Creative UAE, Havas Creative UAE

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Piero Poli, Chief Executive Officer, Viola Communications

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Santadip Roy, Regional Managing Director, Magna Global MENA

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Mathilda Saad, Acting Deputy MD, MENA Private Sector, APCO

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Abdallah Safieddine, Senior VP, UAE & Lower Gulf, Mindshare

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Aasim Shaik, Managing Director, LPS

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Natalie Shardan, Managing Partner, Serviceplan Middle East

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Uli Stanke, Managing Director, MCH Global

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Rishi Talwalker, Head of Communications – Corporate/Consumer & Strategy, HAVAS Red Middle East

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Maya Tayara, Managing Director, iProspect

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Junwen  Wang, Group Director – Omnichannel, Cheil MEA

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Ali Zein, Executive Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi

There is a moment every traveller knows. You are sitting somewhere new, in a café in a city you almost did not visit, or by a coastline you only found because someone told you about it, and you think: how did I end
up here?

The answer, more often than not, is destination marketing. Not the brochure kind, but the kind that made you feel something before you ever booked a ticket.

Destination marketing sells a feeling, not a place

Destination marketing sits at the intersection of storytelling, psychology and economics. At its core, it is the practice of promoting a place, whether a city, region or country, to attract visitors, investors or even new residents. But if you reduce it to that definition, you miss what makes it work.

The best destination campaigns do not simply show landmarks. They show you who you could become when you get there. New Zealand did not just market beautiful scenery. It sold the idea of adventure, freedom and clean air. Japan did not just market temples. It captured the quiet joy of finding something ancient within something modern.

These campaigns work because they tap into something many travellers are chasing: a version of themselves they want to meet.

Living in Saudi Arabia, I have watched this shift happen in real time. A country that was largely invisible on the tourism map just a few years ago is now being discovered for both what it has and how it is being presented. AlUla alone changed the conversation. When international media started showing images of rose-red rock formations beneath a desert sky, the reaction was not simply “that looks beautiful”; it was “wait, is that in Saudi Arabia?”

That moment of surprise and impactful reframing of long-held perceptions is destination marketing working at its highest level.

The stakes are enormous

This is not a soft industry. Destination marketing is serious economic strategy. The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that the travel and tourism sector contributes more than 10 per cent of global GDP. For countries diversifying away from oil, cities rebuilding after conflict, or small island nations with limited exports, tourism can be essential to growth and resilience.

Getting the story right matters. A destination can have every ingredient – history, food, nature and infrastructure, and still fail to attract visitors because the narrative is unclear, outdated or simply has not been told well. Meanwhile, a place with fewer natural advantages but a compelling story and a smart marketing team can outperform it year after year.

What has changed

The biggest shift in the past decade is that authenticity has replaced aspiration as the dominant currency. Travellers are deeply sceptical of curated perfection. They have seen the Instagram versions of too many places and arrived to find something different.

What they want now is the real texture of a destination: the energy, the imperfections, the kindness of strangers and the food that may not photograph well but tastes unforgettable.

The most effective destination marketing today leans into this. It does not hide complexity. It celebrates it.

User-generated content has become as powerful as any official campaign. A single video from a solo traveller can influence visitor interest more than a major media investment. This has democratised the field in interesting ways, but it has also made the job of destination marketers harder.

They are no longer the only ones telling the story. The place now tells its own story through every visitor who posts, shares and reviews.

The human thread in destination marketing

What I find most compelling about destination marketing is that, at its best, it is about connection. It closes the gap between people who have never met and places they have never imagined. It is about someone in Seoul opening their phone and seeing something that makes them think, “I want to go there.” It is about turning the unknown into the deeply desired.

That is not just economics. It speaks to something more elemental: the human pull toward elsewhere, toward discovering that the world is larger, stranger and more generous than we assumed.

Every destination has a story worth telling. The question destination marketers wrestle with, and what makes this field endlessly interesting, is figuring out not just what the story is, but who needs to hear it, and how to make them feel before they have even packed a bag.

By Karim Halabi, Associate Media Director, dentsu KSA.

Podcasting was built on intimacy – the ability to listen anywhere, letting voices, stories and conversations fill moments when screens were not an option. But as video becomes important for discovery through platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and social media, the podcast format is increasingly being shaped by cameras, clips and visual-first consumption.

So we asked industry experts: Is the rise of video podcasting diluting what made audio powerful in the first place?  Some said that the change risks shifting the focus away from the authenticity and imagination that made audio unique, while others believe video is simply expanding podcasting’s reach without taking away from its core strength.

Here’s what they all said:

Provided by Campaignme.com 1

Provided by Campaignme.com 1 Kassandra Panagiotopoulos
Head Of Strategy, The Romans

NO

Video may be a great storefront for podcasts and a great discovery tool, but once people are in, audio consistently outperforms. Its real strength is its simplicity. When all you have is voices, the conversation becomes the experience, no visuals, no distractions, just ideas, stories and personality. That creates a level of engagement few formats can match. It’s still one of the most powerful storytelling mediums we have, and the continued growth of podcasting shows people haven’t lost their appetite for it. Long may it continue.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1 Ajit Ramaswami
Chief Communications Officer, VFS GLOBAL

NO

Video podcasting isn’t dimming the shine of audio. Poor content is. Audio remains one of the few formats that fits around everyday life. We listen while driving, working out, cooking, commuting or doing chores. Moments when our eyes are busy but our minds are open. We do ourselves a disservice by treating audio as a mere delivery channel rather than an entertainment medium. Great audio doesn’t just communicate; it meets the audience where they are, it stirs up emotions and rewards them for listening. Nobody opens a film, concert or halftime show with something forgettable. Audio deserves the same creative ambition. When it gets it, audiences still show up.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1 Eid Abu Musaed
Head of Production, SOCIALEYEZ

NO

Audio isn’t powerful because it lacks pictures. It’s powerful because it creates intimacy. Video podcasts don’t take that away; they simply give audiences another way to engage. The best podcast conversations still work when you close your eyes and listen.

Video has expanded discovery, particularly among younger audiences who often encounter podcasts through short clips and social platforms before becoming loyal listeners. It has also opened up new creative and commercial opportunities for creators.

The challenge isn’t the video itself. It’s remembering that the conversation remains the product. If the audio experience is strong, adding a camera doesn’t dilute it. It simply expands its reach.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1 Dalia Baddar
Associate Integrated Communications Director, Gambit Communications

YES

Podcasts have been around since the first iPod. People often forget their original purpose: content you could download and listen to while running, exercising, painting, or commuting. Today, video podcasts give almost anyone the chance to have their own “Joe Rogan” moment. Many hosts aren’t experts; they’re simply creating content because it looks good on social media. With anyone able to rent a studio and appear professional, credibility is often confused with production quality. In my opinion, podcasts should aim for the standard of Diary of a CEO – delivering meaningful conversations, genuine insights, and real value to the listener.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1 Rayan Ahmed
Director of Action Studios and Social Media, Action Global Communications

NO

Video podcasting is not diluting what made audio powerful, in fact, it is expanding its reach. The core strength of podcasts has always been authentic storytelling and meaningful conversations that engage audiences in a personal and immersive way. Video simply provides another way to consume the same content. What matters is not whether a podcast is audio-only or video-first, but whether the content is compelling enough to hold attention.

In today’s media landscape, audiences consume content across multiple platforms and formats. Video podcasting allows brands and creators to increase discoverability, engagement, and extend content across channels while preserving the authenticity and depth that made podcasting successful.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1 Malek Sleem
Performance Manager, Equation Media

YES

It doesn’t. If anything, it made the audio more powerful. Every podcast now works in two layers, the visual and the audio, and the audio actually gets sharper because of the camera.When people know they’re being recorded, they pay attention to how they speak: their pronunciation, pacing, and confidence. That carries straight into the sound.

On top of that, it lives in more places at once, like YouTube and short clips on social. So, nothing got diluted. It got amplified and picked up by the dominating social layer, which is video.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1 Aurelien Fonteneau
Managing Director, We Are Social

NO

It’s not diluting, it’s diversifying: video meets people in different moments. I listen in the car, switch to video while cooking because it feels like company in the room, and grab a social clip when I’ve got 90 seconds to spare. Same content, three formats, three moods.

What made audio powerful was the intimacy of the content and the host, not the absence of a picture – that doesn’t disappear with video. Data backs it up: 66.2 per cent of UAE users and 62.4 per cent in KSA tune into podcasts weekly, both well above the 52.5 per cent global average, putting the UAE in the top five worldwide.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1 Neha Sathe
Senior Creative Copywriter, Amber Communications

NO

Podcast formats and genres have constantly been evolving. However, the core concept of a podcast hasn’t changed. Screen or no screen, podcasts still seem to cast the same spell on its audience.  Of course, the risk of creators optimizing video podcasts for clips, reactions or set design rather than conversation or storytelling is always there, but the fact that it has expanded to a wider audience cannot be discounted. The magic of audio will never fade. The best podcasts still work when you listen to them with your eyes closed.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1 Khaled Ben Ahmed
Creative Content Producer, Netizency

YES

Before I explain why, ask yourself this: would you rather listen to this answer, or watch it as a video? For most people today, the answer is probably video. If these same thoughts were delivered with a strong hook and visuals, you would likely stay engaged for longer. And when I say “podcast,” chances are you’re already picturing a YouTube video, a TikTok clip, or someone speaking directly to camera on Instagram. That alone shows how much the format has evolved. Social media has reshaped what we consider a podcast, and today, video is often the preferred way audiences discover and consume content.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1 Martino O’Brien
Creative Director and Managing Partner, YouExperience

NO

If video podcasting is diluting audio, then TV must have ruined books. People don’t tune into podcasts because they’re audio. They tune in because they’re interesting. The format is just the delivery mechanism. The truth is, most video podcasts are proving something uncomfortable: if your podcast only works because no one can see it, you may not have had much of a podcast to begin with. Yes, video changes the experience. Suddenly, there are facial expressions, awkward silences and hosts dressed as if they’ve just wandered in from Pilates. But none of that matters if the conversation is forgettable. Audio’s superpower was never the absence of pictures. It was the presence of substance. Video hasn’t changed the rules. It’s just removed the camouflage.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1 Lemya Soltani
Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer, Next Audio

NO

Video podcasting and audio podcasting share a name, not a behaviour. A viewer watching a podcast on YouTube has a fundamentally different experience than someone listening through earbuds on a commute and the advertising signals that follow are completely different. What made audio powerful is still present: opt-in attention, eyes-free consumption, and host trust built over hundreds of hours of listening. Those mechanics aren’t weakened because a camera is now there. If anything, video’s rise has expanded the podcast ecosystem and brought new audiences in. The question for brands isn’t audio vs. video, it’s whether you understand what you’re actually buying. Audio delivers a measurable attention signal that no other format replicates. Video podcasting hasn’t changed that.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1 Husam Haris
Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, The Hanging House

NO

Video podcasting isn’t diluting the power of audio; it’s expanding the ways people connect with ideas. The strength of audio has never been the absence of visuals. It’s the intimacy. A voice creates a different kind of relationship with an audience because it leaves space for imagination, interpretation, and reflection.

What we’re seeing now is not the replacement of audio, but the evolution of storytelling. Different audiences consume content differently. Some want the depth and companionship of audio on a commute, while others engage more deeply when facial expressions, body language, and visual context are added.

The core challenge remains the same: creating conversations worth listening to. Whether it’s audio-only or video-first, the format is not what makes content powerful. The quality of the thinking, authenticity of the voice, and value of the conversation are what ultimately matter.

Provided by Campaignme.com 1 Santesh Row
Executive Creative Director, Liwa Content Driven

NO

What we’re calling video podcasting isn’t a dilution of audio. It’s a reframing of how attention gets allocated … not a reinvention of what the medium is. Audio was never just a file format. It was always a condition. Low-friction, high-trust, high-attention in motion. A space where presence is imagined, not shown. That core hasn’t shifted.

Video doesn’t replace that condition. It competes for discovery, not devotion. It operates upstream in the attention economy, where visibility is earned through faces, framing, and feed-native storytelling. But once attention is captured, the consumption habit often reverts to audio’s original strength. Which is, companionship in the background of real life.

So the shift is infrastructural, never philosophical. Audio didn’t lose primacy. It lost monopoly on entry. The mistake is treating this as a format war. Audio versus video is not moot. It’s different layers of the same attention curve. Video creates the hook. Audio sustains the relationship. So, the future belongs to podcasts that stop thinking in formats and start thinking in states of attention. What gets you discovered. What gets you to stay. And what keeps you returning without effort.

Ali Zein, Executive Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi Middle East has been recognised on Campaign Middle East’s 40 Over 40, which honours leaders who have shaped the regional brand and marketing industry over the past 15 years and more.

This is not a ranking. It is the first edition of an annual platform created to spotlight senior industry figures aged 40 and older. They represent different disciplines and different leadership styles but are all builders of brands and businesses.

These have been recommended as caretakers of client trust and custodians of culture. The 40 over 40 list celebrates the people who have moved the needle – not for a season or for a single campaign cycle, but for several years.

Zein started his career with Impact BBDO in 1995 as an Arabic copywriter and later moved into television production, working as a TV Producer across various programmes. Throughout his career, he has worked on major telecom accounts, automotive brands, real estate projects, retail businesses and government campaigns across the Middle East.

Most recently, he has played a key leadership role in e&’s brand evolution from ‘Together Matters’ to ‘Go for More’, overseeing major campaigns including Roam Like Home and Your Rules, Your Choice, as well as a series of purpose-driven initiatives focused on social impact and community engagement. He has served as a jury member for university graduation projects and regional award shows and has received multiple international accolades, including recognition from Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, One Show, Epica Awards, Effie Awards and Dubai Lynx.

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS

Zein tackled significant strategic and creative challenges following e&’s positioning shift from ‘Together Matters’ to ‘Go for More’. The postpaid category faced growth challenges, requiring impactful communication solutions. Zein led two major corporate campaigns: ‘Roam Like Home’, promoting a strategic roaming package, and ‘Your Rules, Your Choice’, supporting the Freedom package. Both campaigns delivered strong results and helped improve business performance.

CLIENT RECOMMENDATION

Mahmoud Farwiz, VP of Brand Management, e& UAE

I have had the privilege of working closely with Ali Zein for the past nine years as the dedicated Head of Creative on our account. With extensive telecommunications experience across multiple regional markets, Ali has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership, strategic thinking and creative excellence.

He successfully led the launch of Etisalat’s 2018 brand positioning campaign, ‘Together Matters’, and later spearheaded e&’s 2022 repositioning under ‘Go For More’.