Waleed Hussein, CEO, Rotana SignsOver the past two years, Rotana Signs’ executive management team has focused on shaping and investing in a clear long-term vision aligned with the Kingdom’s urban and economic transformation. As a result, several milestone projects valued at over SAR 7bn, spanning concession periods of up to ten years have been secured. These investments extend beyond capital commitment alone, reflecting Rotana Signs’ intent and responsibility to deliver lasting value and innovative solutions for cities, brands, and the local advertising industry.
In less than 18 months, Rotana Signs has launched a series of new novel assets that have helped redefine the urban landscape. Watching brands experience their campaigns at this scale, often for the first time, reinforces our belief that out-of-home media remains one of the most powerful communication channels when executed with ambition and purpose.
This progress is most visible in Riyadh. Within a short timeframe, we introduced large exterior format installations on Kingdom Tower, Burj Rafal, Solitaire Mall, Cenomi Nakheel Mall, Esplanade Mall, the Zain Building along Khurais Road, and the Stadium Dominance format in Kingdom Arena. Rightfully considered landmarks, together, these assets illuminate more than 50,000 square metres of premium LED across some of the city’s most prominent commercial and lifestyle areas and destinations.
Undoubtedly, each format plays a distinct role and is positively received within the context of its environment. Kingdom Tower has become part of the city’s skyline, evolving beyond the physical space and becoming a big part of online social conversations. Burj Rafal, with more than 16,000 square metres of LED coverage, delivers powerful exposure across Riyadh’s newest and upcoming areas such as the northern districts, capturing movement between King Abdullah Financial District and the city centre.
At direct eye level, digital facades such as Solitaire Mall enables high impact 3D anamorphic executions, Cenomi Nakheel Mall helps associate brands with retail, Esplanade Mall captures northward moving traffic towards Digital City, and the Zain Building communicates with thousands of daily motorists
heading into the city centre.
Additionally, Kingdom Arena, home to Al-Hilal FC adds another dimension by delivering in game advertising dominance through 1,500 square metres of high-definition LED positioned in an arch format along the goal lines of the football pitch.
Collectively, these formats allow advertisers to reach residents, expatriates, and international visitors, while supporting evolving communication needs in terms of size, exposure, placement, and frequency packages that benefit various sectors such as retail, FMCG, banking, telco, automotive, entertainment and others.
Our experience with Haramain High Speed Railway, the transit media along the western coast, helped lay the foundation for the seamless management of Riyadh Metro Digital Carriage Screens. In 2025 alone, Riyadh Metro accommodated close to 100 million passengers across six lines.
With average journey times of 23 minutes, multiple stops per trip, and a low distraction environment, research showed that nearly three in four commuters actively engage with the screens. This delivers ad recall of up to 60 per cent and more than 20 per cent uplift in brand consideration. Today, this network represents the highest number of digital screens within a single, integrated environment, delivering an innovative and scalable platform for retail brands and others seeking mass reach.
Jeddah, the Kingdom’s second largest city is where Rotana Signs enjoys more than 50 per cent advertising impact through its various format portfolio and has recently completed numerous new installations.
A new addition to our portfolio is the inner-city Digital Bridges, consisting of 20 faces placed along key routes that connect residential districts and enjoy direct line of sight to oncoming traffic.
The second product is the Maxi and Prestige Billboard award designed to deliver high reach and frequency across major road corridors installed in both established and emerging districts that historically lacked any out-of-home media presence. In total, 77 new installations will be combined with our existing inventory, providing advertisers an opportunity to capitalise one of the Kingdom’s most compelling out-of-home (OOH) format portfolios.
Beyond Riyadh and Jeddah, Rotana Signs has been awarded exclusive ten-year contracts in both the holy city of Makkah and Greater Dammam which includes Dammam, Al Khobar and Dhahran. More than 1,600 media points of varied format types are planned to be installed within and around the city centres and borders. The first phase of installations is already completed, enabling advertisers to reach residents, pilgrims, and international visitors across some of the Kingdom’s fastest growing markets.
As part of our commitment to elevating the landscape and industry, Rotana Signs is partnering with international companies that add value to the local offering.
In 2025, we entered a strategic partnership with LaTour Media Group. This collaboration is focused on designing and deploying a new generation of large-scale innovative artistic installations across major cities in MENA. These projects sit at the intersection of architecture, art, and technology, creating immersive sensory and visual experiences that are thoughtfully integrated into the urban and cultural fabric of each city.
Additionally, as we expand our physical footprint, we are partnering with a leading global OOH audience measurement company to roll out an internationally recognised data measurement tool. This platform will allow advertisers to assess campaign effectiveness, measure ROI and gain quantitative insight. The dashboard will be launched soon and deployed to both MBU’s and direct clients.
With much in the pipeline, a growing investment and long-term vision, both my focus and that of the executive team remains on building a future ready media ecosystem that balances scale with quality and creativity. What we have achieved so far is only the beginning of a journey that will continue to shape how brands connect with audiences across Saudi Arabia’s cities.
By Waleed Hussein, CEO, Rotana Signs
