The year ahead for original, earned-first thinking

Off the bat, this isn’t a predictions piece. I’ve loathed prediction commentary for the longest time. Financial analysts, armed with models and data, almost always incorrectly predict market performance. And I recently predicted Ruben Amorim would be successful at Manchester United. That alone should disqualify me from making any formal forecasts.

No, instead, I’m going to talk about what I want to happen in 2026.

As the great Roman Marcus Aurelius once explained, we should focus our energy on what sits within our power. Consider this my addition.

So, first thing’s first, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s public relations (PR) industry is too composed. It needs to let go of certainty. It has made a fine name for itself in its pursuit of high-level government and semi-government consultancy. Long may that continue. But homegrown brands are on the rise and they deserve a more experimental creative PR industry to push them into uncomfortable and rewarding spaces.

The superbly poetic – if not a little pretentious – Jim Morrison once said that he was drawn to revolt, disorder and chaos. As a lover of most tragically deceased musical icons, I find incredible comfort in that thought. I hope we can apply it more in our work.

That doesn’t necessarily need to rattle any nerves. It can simply be less polish, less consensus, less low stakes work that’s designed to pass the first layer of approvals rather than penetrate the first layer of culture. No piece of creative genius has ever come from safety or routine. Method? Sure. But routine? Nah.

For the sake of my search engine optimisation (SEO), I’d like to see Stranger Things. A bit of risk. A dash of bravery. Why, even a peppering of friction.

‘‘Agencies must come together for the sake of their talent, work and sanity. In our market, where salaries, fees and deliverables vary significantly, if you’re not looking out for one another, you will struggle.’’

Of course, nothing is a vacuum. To be creatively original and inspired, you need free time. That’s something in short supply in the MENA PR industry. Which leads me to my second wish: that agencies stop eating themselves for contracts.

As The Joker said in The Dark Knight, “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.”

In the past 24 months, discount culture, undercutting and surrender at the negotiation table has left agencies helpless. Left us holding a soggy cucumber in a knife fight. Undercutting isn’t competitiveness, it’s a race to the bottom.

Agencies must come together for the sake of their talent, work and sanity. In our market, where salaries, fees and deliverables vary significantly, if you’re not looking out for one another, you will struggle. Simple as that.

We need to become a collective. An industry with standards and an appreciation of the work – not to mention the process and method of creating that work. Good clients appreciate that and they pay for it. But it requires conviction. When the economics are broken, when you slash your fees by 60 percent to catch a retainer, you admit the work isn’t respected.

Which lands me delightfully on my third and final hope for 2026: that we properly recognise earned creativity. PR has always been good at amplifying the work of others, but times have changed. Our sector is perfectly poised to lead the next creative revolution. So why aren’t we?

Because the industry recognises the wrong work. The ad dressed up as a PR idea. The ‘day job done well’ dressed us as a creative breakthrough. We’ve seen it all. None of it is wrong, none of it is less important, but celebrating it as original and compelling work muddies the waters for the talent, agencies and clients.

So, we need to continue doing our day job well, but we need to stop pinning gold medals on it. We need to dig deep into the rigour of the fundamentals, but pull out the exceptional. We need to stop celebrating borrowed creative and hold up original, earned first thinking.

And that’s that.

As Marcus Aurelius reminded us, we can’t control the world around us, but we can control how we show up in it. I’d say that’s pretty solid wisdom, but I’m not supposed to plug The Romans.

By Joe Lipscombe, Partner, The Romans.