Sanjay Bhatia, Business Director, Cheil MEA.There was a time when brands were appreciated simply for making the effort to show up. A Ramadan film, a National Day message, a few local references, a family gathering, a familiar soundtrack, a desert landscape, a skyline or a line in Arabic were often enough to signal that a brand was paying attention to the region. In many ways, that mattered. For a long time, consumers in the Middle East were used to seeing global campaigns adapted for them, rather than created with them in mind. So, when brands began to acknowledge local moments, cultural pride and regional identity, it felt like progress.
But that phase is no longer enough. The audience has changed. People are more aware, more expressive and far more sensitive to the difference between genuine understanding and surface-level localisation. They can tell when a campaign has been created from within the culture and when culture has been added at the end like a final design layer. They can sense when an idea understands the emotion behind a moment and when it is simply borrowing symbols because the calendar says it is time to be relevant.
This is where the conversation around culture in the Middle East needs to move forward. For years, brands have spoken about audience engagement. Then came community building. More recently, the conversation has moved towards tribes, groups of people connected by shared values, interests, identity and belief. That shift is important, especially in a region where belonging has always been deeply woven into everyday life. But if brands now want to build tribes or become part of them, they need to answer a more difficult question: have they earned the right to belong there?
That is where cultural proof becomes important. Cultural proof is not a campaign line, a festive greeting, a creator collaboration or a beautiful film. It is the evidence that a brand understands the people, the place, the mood and the meaning behind the cultural space it wants to enter. It is the difference between being present and being accepted. A brand can buy visibility, but it cannot buy credibility. It can sponsor an event, dominate media placements and work with popular creators, but none of that automatically gives it cultural permission.
This is particularly important in the Middle East because the region is often treated as one market when, in reality, it is many worlds living side by side. The UAE has its own rhythm, Saudi Arabia has its own pace of transformation, Kuwait has its own confidence and humour, Qatar has its own cultural codes, and Oman and Bahrain carry their own distinct identities. Even within each country, the cultural layers shift by generation, nationality, language, city and lifestyle. A young Saudi gamer, an Emirati entrepreneur, a Lebanese creative, an Indian business person, a Kuwaiti fashion enthusiast and an Egyptian content creator may all be part of the wider regional conversation, but they do not respond to the same signals in the same way.
That complexity is what makes the region so exciting for brands, but also what makes it difficult. It is not enough to know the occasion. Brands need to understand the emotion behind it. It is not enough to use a symbol. They need to understand its weight. It is not enough to follow a trend. They need to understand the community that created it. It is not enough to translate a message. They need to understand how humour, pride, hesitation, warmth and respect sit inside the language.
This is where many brands still fall short. They mistake translation for localisation, representation for understanding and visibility for connection. They assume that if the work looks regionally familiar, it will feel culturally relevant. But consumers are far more discerning than that. They notice when the work feels generic. They notice when the same message is being stretched across markets with only minor cosmetic changes. They notice when creators are used for reach but not really given a voice. They notice when a brand celebrates local culture during high-visibility moments but behaves generically for the rest of the year.
Cultural proof is built through consistency, not convenience. It comes from showing up before the moment becomes commercially attractive. It comes from supporting local talent before they become famous. It comes from creating platforms for communities, not only posts about them. It comes from listening before speaking and understanding before producing. Most importantly, it comes from treating culture as a relationship, not a resource.
This is also where agencies and marketers need to be more honest with themselves. Too often, cultural thinking enters the process too late. A campaign is already shaped, the idea is approved, the assets are nearly finished and only then does someone ask how to make it feel more local. But culture cannot be added as a final layer. If it enters the process at the end, it will usually look correct but rarely feel true. Cultural intelligence needs to shape the brief, the insight, the creative platform, the partnerships, the tone of voice and even the way success is measured.
The real question should not be, “How do we make this look local?” It should be, “Why should this audience allow us into this conversation?” That one question changes everything. It forces brands to think beyond presence and ask what they are contributing. Are they adding meaning or just borrowing attention? Are they supporting a community or using its energy? Are they building something that will last beyond the campaign period? Would people still welcome the brand in that space if there was no promotion, no prize, no media push and no paid amplification?
These questions matter because the region’s consumers are not passive observers. They participate, respond, remix, challenge, defend and reject. They reward brands that feel sincere and ignore brands that feel opportunistic. They do not expect perfection, but they do expect effort. They do not expect every brand to know everything, but they expect brands to do the work. In a world where everyone is trying to sound culturally relevant, sincerity becomes a serious competitive advantage.
The opportunity for brands in the Middle East is not to own culture. That would be arrogant and unrealistic. Culture is already being shaped every day by people, communities, creators, entrepreneurs, families, artists, gamers, athletes, chefs, musicians and young voices across the region. The opportunity for brands is to contribute to it with humility and consistency. Sometimes that contribution may be a platform. Sometimes it may be funding, visibility, access, collaboration or simply respectful storytelling. Sometimes the most culturally intelligent thing a brand can do is not dominate the conversation, but help others be heard.
This is the next test for brand building in the region. Cultural relevance may get a brand noticed, but cultural proof is what earns trust. Relevance can be created quickly. Proof takes time. Relevance can be written into a campaign. Proof is built through behaviour. Relevance may make people look. Proof makes people believe.
As the Middle East continues to grow in confidence, creativity and influence, brands will need to raise their standards. The region is no longer waiting for global brands to acknowledge it. It is shaping its own narratives, building its own platforms and defining its own cultural codes. Brands that want to participate in this future will need to move with more care, more curiosity and more respect.
Because people here are no longer only asking whether a brand is visible. They are asking whether it understands. They are asking whether it contributes. They are asking whether it has earned its place.
And that is the truth about belonging. It cannot be claimed in a campaign. It has to be proven over time, through actions people can feel.
By Sanjay Bhatia, Business Director, Cheil MEA.
