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Saudi Report 2026: A marketer’s unpopular opinion – ‘the best ad in the room’

Almarai’s Nabil Sleiman explains why trophies tell us where the industry’s attention is, but they don’t always tell us where the best thinking is.

Nabil Sleiman, Head of Marketing Communications, Almarai on ad effectivenessNabil Sleiman, Head of Marketing Communications, Almarai

Ask someone to name the most creative ad they’ve ever seen. They’ll say Apple. They’ll say Nike. Maybe Spotify. Maybe a car brand. Possibly a bank. Almost no one says Ariel.
And yet, if you follow the awards, the ones handed out by the people who actually judge creative work for a living, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands have been leading the pack for years. We just don’t talk about it.
The numbers tell a story the industry keeps ignoring
Cannes Lions is the closest thing advertising has to a universal benchmark for creative excellence. And over the past decade and a half, two FMCG companies have dominated it in a way that should be impossible to overlook.
Procter & Gamble was n


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