Title: CCO, Publicis Communications KSA, Egypt and Visa One
Years in the role: 2 years
Years in the industry: 25 years
Years in the Middle East region: 25 years
Power Essay: A case against ‘Consistency’
I hate the word consistency, and you should too. Our industry loves recycling words, stripping them of their real meaning and dressing them up with new ones. The result? Language that misleads, bores, sometimes even damages, and no word has been more abused than ‘consistency’.
The intention was always good. Historically, brands had no personality, no traits, no clear tone of voice. They’d reinvent themselves like changing outfits and then cry about losing trust and relevance.
Marketers eventually realised what, in hindsight, now seems obvious: brands are like people. You can be funny, serious, or dramatic, but you’re still you. No one who knows you would mistake you for someone else, and that’s how consistency saved the day. It gave birth to timeless brands like Coca-Cola in the 1880s and Apple in the 1980s, brands you could trust and expect things from.
But expectation is not the same as prediction. No brand should ever become predictable.
And that’s the first trap, predictable brands. We get obsessed with playbooks and best practices, treating creativity like science and forgetting it’s also art. That’s how sameness sneaks in. One logo up front. One product shot by second three. One big super across the frame. One copy-paste AI prompt that spits out more of the same. Over and over again.
The road to cookie cutters is paved with good intentions. Good, consistent intentions.
Take it from me; I spent six years in the tech industry advocating for these practices. They made sense at the time, but the world has moved on, and so must we.
Here’s the second trap: boring brands. Predictability doesn’t just make brands safe; it makes them forgettable. Big ideas need surprise, a bit of misdirection, that moment where you think you know what’s coming and then it flips. That’s what makes people feel something, remember something, talk about something. Do you think a brand like Liquid Death, with its outrageous collaborations, is following a playbook? The most interesting brands are the ones that refuse to be boring.
I know some of you will push back, and rightfully so. I’m not against the meaning of consistency; I’m against what the word has turned into. Because brands can’t afford to be all over the place. They need character, a cause, even Dama, a reason to exist.
But consistency isn’t the right word anymore. It suggests repetition, templates, sameness. I prefer coherence. For me, coherence solves the challenge. It allows variety without chaos. It lets a brand shift tone, format, even style, while still feeling unmistakably itself. And maybe for you, the word is something else. That’s fine. The point is not to trade one buzzword for another. The point is to stop mistaking uniformity for strength. Whatever word you choose, it should remind you that brands can be flexible and surprising, while still being whole.
To wrap up, I’ve always believed rules are made to be broken. I know it sounds like a bumper sticker, but it’s true. It’s important to understand the case for consistency, but maybe it’s time to make the case against it. So, let’s go break some rules.
Highlight of the last year
Our biggest achievement this year was building bridges across KSA, Egypt and Dubai. By bringing our creative teams closer together, we strengthened collaboration, unlocked new business wins, deepened client trust, and delivered work that raised our creative profile in the region. We achieved this together.
Rapid fire
What the industry needs to talk more about:
The future of creativity.
What the industry needs to talk less about:
AI doomsday talk.
If you could change one thing in the blink of an eye, you would …
End human suffering.
What’s one thing about you that would surprise your team?
I learn from them daily.
What mobile application can you not live without?
Spotify.
What word / phrase do people remember you for using the most?
“Done is better than perfect.”
What’s one local / regional tradition that you love the most?
Egyptian Easter (Sham El Nessim).
If you could choose any two people, currently alive, in the world to share a meal with you, who would it be?
Jessica Walsh and Roger Waters… but honestly, my wife and boys.
What’s your top word of advice for Gen Z and Gen Alpha?
Please don’t listen to us.
What’s your go-to comfort food?
If I had wings … I would eat them.
What’s your favourite ad from the past 12 months?
Not exactly an ad, but ‘Three Words’ by Publicis Conseil.
