Campaign Middle East-April 2026

AGENCY FACES TO WATCH 2026

Revealed: The Who’s Who of the Future

12 ESPORTS: AN ARENA WHERE EVERY DOLLAR IS SPENT EFFECTIVELY

Mohammad Al Nimer, Chief Commercial Officer of the Esports Foundation, reveals why marketers are increasingly allocating a share of their spend on gaming.

Motivate Media Group

Head Office: 34th Floor, Media One Tower, Dubai Media City, Dubai, UAE. Tel: +971 4 427 3000, Fax: +971 4 428 2266. Email: motivate@motivate.ae Dubai Media City: SD 2-94, 2nd Floor, Building 2, Dubai, UAE. Tel: +971 4 390 3550, Fax: +971 4 390 4845 Abu Dhabi: Motivate Advertising, Marketing & Publishing, PO Box 43072, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Tel: +971 2 677 2005, Fax: +97126573401, Email: motivate-adh@motivate.ae

Saudi Arabia: Regus Offices No. 455 - 456, 4th Floor, Hamad Tower, King Fahad Road, Al Olaya, Riyadh, KSA. Tel: +966 11 834 3595 / +966 11 834 3596. Email: motivate@motivate.ae

London: Motivate Publishing Ltd, Acre House, 11/15 William Road, London NW1 3ER. Email: motivateuk@motivate.ae www.motivatemedia.com

EDITORIAL: Motivate Media Group Editor-in-Chief Obaid Humaid Al Tayer | Managing Partner and Group Editor Ian Fairservice Group Content Director Thomas Woodgate | Campaign Middle East Editor Anup Oommen | Senior Reporter Ishwari Khatu Reporter Shantelle Nagarajan | Junior Reporter Hiba Faisal

DESIGN: Senior Designer Thokchom Remy

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES: Chief Commercial Officer Anthony Milne | Publishing Director Nadeem Quraishi (nadeem@motivate.ae) | Sales Manager Tarun Gangwani (tarun.gangwani@motivate.ae)

PRODUCTION: General Manager S. Sunil Kumar | Production Manager Binu Purandaran | Assistant Production Manager Venita Pinto

HAYMARKET MEDIA GROUP: Chairman Kevin Costello | Managing Director Jane Macken

Edition (and other editions) of Campaign which is the copyright of Haymarket. Campaignis a trademark of Haymarket and is used under licence. The views and opinions expressed within this magazine are not necessarily those of Haymarket Magazines Limited or those of its contributors.

Over the last few weeks, several industry leaders have pointed us back to the highlighted quotes within our previous editor’s letters, which read “Lead with empathy as a strategy, not a slogan,” and “You matter”.

“NOT FEAR, BUT FAITH.’’

When those letters were written, we did not expect to move into such a surreal time. Yet, those statements have struck a chord with many across the Middle East region’s brand and marketing landscape. Yes, the sentiment in the industry has been mixed. After all, each of us copes with challenges and perceives reality from different vantage points and within different contexts. Cautious, calm, composed and collected leadership has often met a workforce of heavy hearts and anxious minds.

Within a single day, people have found themselves on the mental rollercoaster of convincing family and friends across the globe that they are safe; posting their on-ground truths about busy beaches and bustling restaurants on social media; advising clients on communications and campaigns in times of crisis; responding to requests for proposals (RFPs) and challenging briefs within a ‘business-as-usual’ ecosystem; and venting emotions within WhatsApp groups about how they, their families, children and pets are coping with window-rattling booms.

The incredible gratitude that people across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman have voiced for their respective governments – and the overwhelming sense of safety that has moved from a ‘nice narrative’ to lived experiences – have been juxtaposed against concerns about business continuity and uncertainty about what the future holds.

Across agencies and brands, what stands out is not the grandstanding or opportunistic messaging, but grace. Leaders making space. Colleagues checking in. Teams recognising that the same moment can land very differently from one person to the next. While one may carry on with remarkable ease, another may feel the constant thrumming of a drumbeat in their chest. Neither reaction needs correcting. Both call for understanding. And, through it all, businesses and brands must come out stronger – together.

That is what gives this creative collective its emotional centre. Not the mechanics of remote working, revised schedules or operational pivots. It is the underlying humanity that rises to the surface. The call to pause before pushing. To ask after the person, not just the project.

What comes through is not fear, but faith. It trades noise for clarity, ego for presence, and pressure for perspective. After all, we are at our best when we look out for one another.

As we’ve said in most of our emails this month: each of you remains in our prayers. May strength, resilience, steady resolve and peace of mind be yours in the days to come. And may our tomorrows always be better than our yesterdays. Stay blessed!

Gulf Business hits refresh with website overhaul

Motivate Media Group has unveiled a major refresh of the Gulf Business website, marking a key digital milestone for the regional business title as it celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

The new platform delivers a faster, cleaner and more modern experience, reflecting how audiences increasingly consume business content across devices and formats.

Luma

launches

Luma Agents

Artificial intelligence (AI) company Luma has launched Luma Agents, a new class of AI collaborators.

Designed for agencies, marketing teams, studios and enterprise organisations who aspire to scale creative output without sacrificing quality, Luma Agents maintains full context from initial brief to final delivery – coordinating tools, models, and iterations within one unified system. Publicis Groupe Middle East and Serviceplan Group are already deploying Luma Agents across strategy, creative development and production workflows. Key enterprise safeguards include full IP ownership retained by customers, automated content review to reduce copyright risk, legal trace documentation demonstrating human involvement and required human review workflows prior to public release.

Enhancements include stronger mobile performance, improved search engine optimisation (SEO), AI-enabled search, and deeper integration of video, podcasts, newsletters and digital magazine content. A new newsfeed feature has also been introduced, offering a continuous, scrollable stream designed for a more multi-channel way of consuming content.

The refresh represents the most significant update to the Gulf Business website in over a decade, with a clear focus on user experience and accessibility for senior decisionmakers across the GCC.

Ian Fairservice, Managing Partner and Group Editor-in-Chief at Motivate Media Group, described the move as a major step forward. He said, “This upgrade marks a clear step

towards building for the next 30 years. The media landscape is changing rapidly, and this new digital infrastructure allows us to keep pace while also future-proofing the brand.”

Early performance indicators suggest strong momentum following the refresh, according to the Gulf Business team.

Traffic increased by more than 2,000 per cent during its launch week in March, while month-to-date figures show users up over 170 per cent and page views rising more than 228 per cent.

Gareth van Zyl, Group Editor of Gulf Business, said the relaunch is a key step in the brand’s evolution.

“We have seen strong growth across our digital and social platforms, and this relaunch gives our editorial team the tools to deliver deeper, faster and more engaging content across formats – from breaking news and analysis to video, audio and events,” van Zyl said.

Today, Gulf Business reaches more than 650,000 monthly unique users, publishes hundreds of articles each month, and delivers its newsletter to more than 70,000 subscribers every morning. In print, the magazine distributes 28,000 copies monthly across the GCC, including placement in Emirates First and Business Class lounges, reaching up to 800,000 premium passengers each month.

The refreshed Gulf Business website is now live and can be viewed at www.gulfbusiness.com.

Use the

Expo 2030 Riyadh appoints OMD MENA as lead media agency after competitive pitch

Expo 2030 Riyadh, the official World Expo to be hosted in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has appointed Omnicom Media agency OMD MENA as its lead media agency.

A landmark global event designed to be one of the world’s most ambitious platforms for international cooperation, innovation and sustainable development, Expo 2030 Riyadh

sits at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s tourism, nation-branding and economic transformation agenda, aligned with Vision 2030.

The six-month, highly anticipated event is expected to bring together 197 countries and attract 42 million visits. Under the new mandate, OMD MENA will lead full-scale media planning and buying strategy and performance activation for Expo 2030 Riyadh across the Kingdom of

Answering the challenge of expressing culture, nature and life before the physical opening of the King Salman Park in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this campaign unites generations and calls for people to come together in a way that feels unmistakably Saudi without relying on clichés. Rooted in the same land that has brought people together for centuries, the park is positioned as a natural continuation of the Kingdom’s story. Guided by a simple yet powerful message – ‘It was this land that brought us together, and so it will always be’ – the park partnered with renowned Saudi artist Mohammed Alajlan through art, a medium that lives beyond a single moment.

RAKTDA picks StickyGinger as GCC PR partner

StickyGinger has been appointed as the official PR agency for the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Effective immediately, StickyGinger will serve as the official communications representative for RAKTDA, overseeing all media relations, press enquiries and strategic communications within the region. RAKTDA aims to to attract 3.5 million visitors annually by 2030 and is actively developing the emirate’s tourism infrastructure and establishing Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) as a global destination for leisure and business travellers. Last year, the emirate recorded its strongest tourism year to date, welcoming 1.35 million overnight visitors, a 6 per cent year-onyear increase.

Saudi Arabia, with additional responsibility for GCC and other selected international markets. OMD MENA’s remit includes developing a multi-market media strategy, driving local, regional and international awareness, supporting visitor acquisition, managing full-funnel planning and performance optimisation, and ensuring sustained engagement. The first wave of activity launched in March 2026.

Tourism revenues grew even faster, rising at 12 per cent, as the emirate gears up to launch Wynn Al Marjan resort – the UAE’s first integrated gaming resort – in 2027 StickyGinger, now overseeing strategic communications for RAKTDA, will use its creative thinking, PR, social media, digital and integrated expertise to amplify its story. RAKTDA joins an already strong client roster at the independent PR agency.

BRITANNIA LIVE RAMADAN

This spot shifts the focus from the typical portrayals of the Holy Month to how Ramadan is actually lived across the UAE. Through a phased roll-out, the campaign targets individuals who fast as well as those who don’t, building on the insight that Ramadan is experienced by everyone in the country in many ways. It even highlights instances when people might be exempt from fasting due to health conditions or if they’re travelling. Boosted by influencer collaborations, vox-pops and on-ground activations such as the 4 AM Club and The Carrom Break, the brand leveraged lived experiences to strengthen the positioning of its products in the market.

G42, Publicis Sapient to accelerate digital transformations through AI-first services JV for the UAE and Global South

G42, the UAE-based global technology group, and Publicis Sapient, a global technology company providing enterprise AI platforms and services, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the creation of a joint venture (JV).

The proposed venture would combine G42’s sovereign AI and cloud infrastructure with

Publicis Sapient’s enterprise AI platforms and industry expertise.

As enterprises and governments move from AI experimentation to deployment, the proposed joint venture would address a critical market need: translating AI capability into measurable business outcomes.

Building its campaign around the region’s most competitive retail season, Ramadan, Home Centre launched a social-first campaign that transformed passive participation into an active uplift of 595 per cent in comments, while achieving 70 per cent regional reach. Through a trio of gamified hero films, the brand built the campaign with the objective of positioning Home Centre as the ‘definitive destination’ for Ramadan home preparation across the GCC. Each film was focused around a relatable Ramadan scenario such as Iftar food getting burnt or kids breaking objects while playing, framing these instances as a riddle that is quickly solved by a Home Centre solution.

“This partnership marks the next evolution of our AI services platform,” said His Excellency Mansoor Al Mansoori, CEO, G42 International.

“By combining our sovereign infrastructure and models with Publicis Sapient’s global transformation capabilities, we’re creating an organisation purpose-built to deploy agents at scale and deliver measurable outcomes for clients across the UAE and Global South.”

G42 brings its full AI technology stack from sovereign cloud infrastructure to foundation models, alongside deep sector expertise and AI-native engineering talent with proven deployment capabilities across the UAE and emerging markets.

The partnership aims to deliver services across cloud modernisation, AI use case development, intelligent agent creation, enterprise software engineering and full-scale AI deployment and optimisation. This will enable organisations to solve real operational challenges, personalise experiences and automate processes through data-driven systems.

“AI only delivers value when it is grounded in deep industry context and executed at enterprise scale,” said Nigel Vaz, CEO, Publicis Sapient.

Vaz added, “This partnership unites G42’s AI infrastructure with our proven platforms and industry expertise and, through Sapient Slingshot and Sapient Bodhi, we will help organisations turn ambition into operational reality. This is about solving real business problems and embedding AI into the fabric of day-to-day decision-making.”

Subject to final agreements, the partners will formalise commercial and operating structures, with the joint venture targeted for establishment by mid-2026.

This 360-degree, full-channel campaign reclaims the true spirit of Ramadan by bringing families and friends closer together, and connecting closely with loved ones. Building on the insight that while Ramadan in Egypt is historically about gatherings, today’s fast-paced lifestyles often pull people away from the very ones they want to be with. Therefore, the spot targets digitally active users experiencing ‘always-on’ lifestyles with a hero film featuring beloved Egyptian celebrities such as Abla Kamel, Mohammed Mounir and more. Vodafone also introduced a ‘Mobile Nearby’ feature that rewards loved ones for simply coming closer together with their phones.

starting with something global and retrofitting it for local audiences, adding an Arabic voiceover or a desert visual and calling it localisation. That approach has run its course. Audiences today expect authenticity from the brands they engage with and part of that means understanding the context in which they’re operating.

IFPI’s 2025 Global Music Report shows MENA as the fastest-growing recorded music market, with revenues up close to 23 per cent in 2024. Streaming makes up almost all of that. People across the region are actively shaping their own cultural mainstream, with demographics being a big part of it. Nearly half the region’s population is under 25 and this generation is quite clear about what matters to them. The ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey has consistently shown that cultural and religious identity ranks above the pull of globalisation. When your audience feels that strongly about who they are, a surface-level nod to their market is easy to see through.

STORYTELLING ROOTED IN CULTURE

Dubai Culture and Arts Authority’s Saleh Al Breiki reveals why cultural localisation is becoming

essential to brand storytelling in the Middle East.

One of the UAE’s most recognisable cultural exports began in a university classroom in Boston. A professor asked Mohammed Saeed Harib to create characters drawn from his own culture. His grandfather’s generation had been pearl divers, and those adventures were already widely discussed. The grandmothers, however, had received far less attention. They were the ones who had held families together while the men were away at sea for months, so he decided to tell their story. The result was Freej, a series built around four Emirati women in burqas navigating everyday neighbourhood dramas, speaking in a dialect so specific that children in Saudi Arabia would ask their parents to translate. It went on to become one of the region’s most successful animated productions.

When Freej premiered in 2006, it demonstrated that the closer a narrative stays to its origins, the wider it can reach. For years, organisations across the region have taken the opposite approach,

This is why the brands that get this right don’t overcomplicate things. Coca-Cola did it when it printed Arabic names on bottles across the Gulf, turning a familiar product into something intimate, something that said we learned your alphabet before we asked for your attention. Maggi followed a similar instinct during Ramadan in 2024, building personalised content around how people cook and gather during the Holy Month.

What is interesting is the fact that audiences here already live between languages and cultures. A family in Dubai might watch a Korean drama after Iftar, order from a Japanese restaurant on an app designed in San Francisco and still expect the Ramadan greeting from their grocery brand to sound like it was written by someone who knows what Suhoor feels like at 3am. That is the reality every campaign is speaking into. Brands need a degree of emotional fluency in recognising that the same person holds multiple identities simultaneously and

‘‘AUDIENCES EXPECT AUTHENTICITY FROM BRANDS ... AND THAT MEANS UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEXT IN WHICH THEY’RE OPERATING.”

that speaking to one of those identities with precision builds more trust than trying to address all of them at once.

But this is also where the conversation moves beyond commercial value. Cultural institutions operate in a different space, sitting on something brands rarely have access to, which is a living archive shaped by memory, heritage and shared experience. What matters is how that archive is opened and shared with the next generation. Dubai Culture’s Ramadan series Badr Al Musahar was launched with these considerations in mind. The animated series reimagined the traditional musahar (the figure who once walked through neighbourhoods before dawn, waking residents for Suhoor) and brought together Emirati animators, voice actors and storytellers.

The narrative follows a boy returning from a settlement on the moon to his grandmother’s home in Dubai, determined to revive a role his grandfather once carried out with a drum, a lantern and a bamboo cane.

Heritage and nostalgia, when handled with care, create continuity. In a place where several generations share the same spaces, inherited memories around rituals and daily life give younger audiences something to build from. A grandmother’s story translated through 3D animation. A Ramadan tradition reimagined for children who have never heard a musahar’s drum in their neighbourhood. The format shifts, but the emotional frequency holds.

This is where the opportunity sits for the region to become a source of stories that originate here and travel outward. Harib’s journey offers a clear example. He created something deeply Emirati, and it reached audiences in Japan. The specificity was the appeal, and it travelled precisely because it refused to dilute.

The institutions, brands and platforms that will matter most over the next decade are the ones building for exactly that: storytelling rooted in culture as a starting point.

By Saleh Al Breiki, Director of Corporate Communication and Marketing Department, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority

INDUSTRY FORUM:

Should brands and agencies continue investing in partnerships with virtual influencers and AI-generated creators?

Zeena Kurd Regional Director of Social Comms, Boopin

NO

Especially when we’re referring to brands and agencies. We’ve been calling for authenticity for years, and AI-generated creators are the complete opposite of that. Brands and agencies need to show up in ways that feel accurate, relevant and rooted in the communities they speak to. As of now, there are no real ‘AI communities’ to belong to. Perhaps that changes by 2036, once we’ve moved beyond the experimentation phase of folding AI into creative and storytelling work, and its role feels sharper and more defined. But for now, virtual influencers feel more like a gimmick or a tool than a credible investment.

Ravi Kiran Cheni CMO & Regional Marketing Head, VinFast Middle East

YES

With the rapid evolution of AI, few areas of marketing have undergone as profound a transformation as content creation and communication. Traditional influencer marketing remains powerful, but it is often constrained by time, cost and limited creative flexibility. Against this backdrop, virtual influencers and AI-generated creators are emerging as a compelling alternative. These digital personas offer brands scalable, highly controllable and globally adaptable solutions for audience engagement – positioning them at the forefront of modern marketing strategies. While concerns around authenticity, trust and emotional connection persist, advances in AI are rapidly narrowing these gaps. In contrast, the advantages are immediate and measurable: complete creative control, anytime availability, long-term cost efficiency and seamless scalability across markets. The future of marketing is not about replacement, but integration. Human creators remain essential for building trust and driving meaningful conversions, while virtual influencers provide scale, efficiency and consistency. Together, they enable brands to deliver innovative, impactful and future-ready campaigns.

Alok Gadkar

Co-Founder, CEO & CCO, Tuesday Communications

YES

It’s not a simple yes. It comes with a creative caveat.  AI is now the new toy everyone wants. Fair enough, it does merit an investment. But let’s not stop at token use of AI, like it was a mandate. What happens when you push it hard? We may find something that moves the needle creatively in a genuine way. Here’s the challenge. A lot of what we’re seeing today with AI feels the same. Slick, yes. Fast, yes. But very indistinguishable.

The brand that wanted everything created in AI is now looking exactly like its competitors. Differentiation has left the chat. Try this. Look at performance campaigns in a category like healthcare in the UAE. Scroll for a bit. You’ll notice a pattern – same faces, same aesthetics and same outputs. It has gone from creation to cloning. I am all for AI creators that are pushing the boundaries.  One day, someone will find a way to make brands feel distinct again. That’s exciting and worth supporting. I’m not convinced about virtual influencers. If a brand is built on connection, what does it mean when that connection is manufactured? So, the real question isn’t whether we should invest in AI. We should. The question is are we using AI to create, or just to replicate?

Aurelien Fonteneau General Manager, We Are Social

YES

If they meet the same fundamentals as any other influencer partnership: authentic content, real engagement and a clear brand/audience fit. The real question isn’t ‘is it AI?’ but ‘why does this creator resonate?’ It’s about understanding what their community values and having a clear vision for how the brand can plug into that narrative naturally. In the end, it’s not about the tech: it’s about the strength and cultural relevance of the idea.

Rawan Ahmed Campaign Manager – GCC, Starfish Agency

NO

Brands should not continue investing heavily in virtual influencers and AI-generated creators because influencer marketing fundamentally relies on authenticity, trust, and real human connection. Audiences follow creators because they value their genuine experiences, personalities, and perspectives –not because they want to hear recommendations from digital characters. When a virtual influencer promotes a product, the message often feels closer to traditional advertising than a trusted recommendation. The strongest influencer campaigns consistently come from real creators who bring their own voice, culture, and personality into the content. When brands give creators creative freedom to express ideas in a way that fits their style, engagement and credibility naturally increase. AI may support brand-owned content, but true influence comes from real people audiences believe and relate to.

Michaela Pereira Social Media Lead, Amber Communications

NONikita Phulwani Founder & CEO, Mumkin Marketing Management

NOPersonally, I’m not in favour of brands leaning too heavily on AI creators. While the efficiency is undeniable, authenticity is still the real currency of influence. Creator economies have grown precisely because audiences connect with real people, real emotions, and genuine experiences. Industry reports estimate the global creator economy to be worth more than $250bn today and projected to reach nearly $480bn by 2027, largely driven by community trust and human storytelling. Brands could certainly use the power of AI to create content faster for their owned channels, for example, by developing a digital avatar or AI-generated character that can quickly disseminate communication, product updates or brand storytelling without the need for a full production shoot each time. Be honest and transparent about it being AI-generated, though.

The risk with AI creators is that over time the content can start to feel less personal and more manufactured. Technology today is so advanced that audiences often cannot distinguish between what is real and what is AI-generated. But the moment audiences realise that a personality they believed in is actually AI, it can pull them away from the brand twice as fast and damage that sense of trust. Also, the world we live in today is increasingly about offline communities that are first created online. People follow creators, but they also attend their events, meet them, buy from them and become part of a real community around them. AI can't replicate that human connection, at least not yet.

AI should remain a tool that supports creativity, not one that replaces the human voice. Brands that will win long-term are the ones that continue to build real communities around authentic storytellers.

Not as a primary strategy. Virtual influencers and AI content can scale reach and cut costs, but they can’t replicate trust. And today, trust is the currency. Audiences aren’t just getting better at spotting what’s manufactured; they’re actively looking for it. And when they find it, the backlash is real. People want stories they can see themselves in. AI should be a tool, not the face of your brand. The brands winning long-term are those doubling down on human stories, using AI behind the scenes – not instead of people. My vote? Invest in humans. Let AI support them.

Let this sink in: More than 74 per cent of consumers across the Middle East and Africa say they feel positive about advertising created using generative AI, according to Kantar’s latest research. That’s the highest acceptance rate anywhere on the planet. To most regional marketing leaders, this is a victory lap. To me, it’s a flashing warning. We have the world’s highest appetite for artificial intelligence (AI) content – and we’re about to starve it with generic output.

Let’s be honest, most brands have fallen into the trap of using Gen AI to ramp up their content volume on the cheap. More social posts. More variations. More formats, more frequently, at lower cost. The tools absolutely enable this – and yes, it’s a genuine advantage. But it’s also the floor, not the ceiling.

Gen AI tools are now very close to producing Hollywood-style brand films at a fraction of the cost – global brands such as Coca-Cola, Toys ‘R’ Us, Popeyes and HMD Global are already delivering cinematic campaigns at budgets that would have been unthinkable two years ago. When I look at what’s possible today versus 12 months ago, the quality gap is staggering. The economics have shifted. The thinking, for most brands, hasn’t.

Here’s what nobody wants to admit: the same prompts produce the same creativity. Feed a generic brief into a generic platform and you get generic, mediocre output – at scale. The Middle East advertising landscape is at real risk of becoming one giant mood board that every brand shares and nobody owns.

What AI should be used for is vulnerability – not as a brand value, but the kind of creative customisation that has always been too expensive to implement at scale. In a market as culturally diverse as ours, where consumer behaviour in Riyadh, Cairo and Dubai can vary dramatically even within the same campaign, the real power of GenAI is its ability to simulate thousands of local micro-nuances that no human team could afford to produce manually.

A Ramadan campaign that genuinely speaks to a Saudi Gen Z in Jeddah, not a pan-Arab generalisation of one. That’s not an efficiency play. It’s the end of the one-size-fits-all era for the Middle East. And that kind of precision requires better human thinking at the wheel, not less.

This brings me to something I want to say directly to my peers: the cost savings from AI should be reinvested in better human talent. We have all felt the pressure to cut creative production budgets significantly because the tools

BRAND FOCUS

STOP USING AI TO SCALE MEDIOCRITY

HMD Global’s Haris Munif reveals how brands that are winning aren’t producing more; they’re thinking harder.

now make it possible. But the brands that will win the next decade are those that use AI to lower the cost of experimentation. Then take those savings to double down on the human judgement that makes the output worth seeing.

And that honest conversation must extend to our agency partners too. The traditional production house model – the big-campaign film, that exotic location shoot, costly hourly billing – is under real structural pressure. That’s not a criticism; it’s a reality the industry needs to confront together. But the new value agencies should be bringing isn’t access to the software. Any brand can buy a Google Veo subscription.

The value is in brand stewardship: knowing which outputs align with a brand’s specific tone of voice, which visuals respect cultural sensitivities, and which creative directions will build long-term brand equity rather than just fill a content calendar. If an agency isn’t building custom-trained models around your brand’s specific creative identity, it

“THE VALUE IS IN BRAND STEWARDSHIP: KNOWING WHICH OUTPUTS ALIGN WITH A BRAND’S SPECIFIC TONE OF VOICE AND WHICH VISUALS RESPECT CULTURAL SENSITIVITIES.”

is operating at a level of generality that AI itself can replicate.

And let’s retire one more myth while we’re here – that human-created automatically means authentic. It doesn’t. I’ve sat through enough Ramadan campaign reviews to know that the most inauthentic content in this region isn’t AI-generated. It’s humandeveloped creative that hasn’t updated its cultural reference points since 2005. That Saudi Gen Z consumer isn’t moved by lantern imagery and orchestral swells. They’re moved by work that speaks to them. Whether a human or a machine helped get there is irrelevant.

So, the question for marketing leaders in this region isn’t whether to use Gen AI. That decision has been made. The real question is what we do with it – because this region has the cultural complexity, the audience sophistication and, frankly, the appetite to produce some of the most distinctive brand work in the world right now. No other market has that combination. Multiply your thinking or multiply your output. One of those compounds. The other just makes noise.

By Haris Munif, Head of Marketing – Asia, Middle East and Africa, HMD Global

We are entering what many have started calling the era of AI slop. A world where artificial intelligence allows brands to produce marketing faster, cheaper and in far greater volumes than ever before. Campaign visuals appear in seconds. Copy can be generated endlessly. Entire content calendars can be built with a prompt.

At first glance, this looks like progress. And in many ways, it is. These tools are powerful and will fundamentally reshape how marketing is produced.

But they also introduce a new and growing risk: scale without identity.

When everyone has access to the same tools, the same prompts and the same generative systems, the output begins to converge. Visual styles start to look alike. Language patterns repeat themselves. Creative ideas feel familiar before they even go live. What we end up with is an enormous amount of marketing that is polished, efficient and technically correct, yet largely indistinguishable.

We are producing more marketing than ever before but remembering less of it.

At the same time, the industry continues to debate the balance between brand and performance marketing. WARC’s The Multiplier Effect report reminded many marketers of something the industry has long known: brand-building drives long-term growth. Yet the day-to-day reality for many organisations is still shaped by short-term performance metrics and constant optimisation.The result is a system that rewards activity. More campaigns. More assets. More variations.

how it sounds, how it behaves and how consistently it shows up over time. It is the pattern people come to recognise. Not just in how a brand appears, but in how it communicates, what it stands for and how reliably it delivers.

These signals are not simply creative assets. They are memory structures.

Marketing science has shown repeatedly that brands grow by building mental availability. The easier it is for people to notice, recognise and recall a brand in buying situations, the more likely that brand is to be chosen. Distinctive signals strengthen those memory structures over time, making brands easier to retrieve from memory when decisions are made.

This becomes even more important as the media landscape continues to fragment. Audiences are now spread across more platforms, formats and channels than ever before. Attention is divided. The number of touchpoints required to reach people keeps increasing. For most brands, competing on sheer share of media expenditure or dominating every channel simply is not realistic.

And this challenge is only becoming more pronounced with the rise of younger generations. While data on Gen Z and Gen Alpha continues to evolve, one thing is already clear: attention spans are declining and cognitive overload is increasing. In such environments, people rely more heavily on mental shortcuts and heuristics to make decisions. Distinctive brands provide those shortcuts. They make recognition effortless and help memory structures form faster in a world where attention is increasingly scarce.

exposure into meaningful memory and emotional connection.

This is where distinctiveness becomes an economic multiplier. Distinctive brands reduce the cost of attention because people recognise them faster. They reinforce memory because every exposure strengthens the same signals. And, over time, that familiarity builds something even more valuable than reach: share of heart. When distinctiveness is paired with relevance and consistency in delivery, it also creates emotional connection, something that technology can replicate in output but not truly manufacture in meaning.

But building distinctiveness requires discipline. Campaign cycles are shorter than ever. Platforms reward novelty. Marketing teams are expected to constantly refresh creative, adapt to new formats and chase cultural moments. In that environment, consistency can easily be mistaken for repetition and repetition can be mistaken for stagnation.

Yet repetition is exactly how memory is built. The brands that people recognise instantly did not get there by constantly reinventing themselves. They got there by reinforcing the same signals repeatedly until those signals became unmistakable.

The rise of AI will only make this more important. As generative tools dramatically increase the volume of marketing being produced, attention will become even more scarce. In a world flooded with competent communication, the brands that stand out will be the ones people recognise without thinking.

But activity alone does not build brands. Distinctiveness does.

Distinctiveness is often mistaken for design. A logo, a colour palette or a typeface. But its real power goes far beyond visual identity. Distinctiveness is how a brand looks,

In other words, most brands cannot win on presence. So, they must win on recognition. If a brand cannot dominate the amount of attention it buys, it must dominate how quickly it is recognised. The ability to be identified in a split second becomes a strategic advantage. It allows brands to punch above its weight, turning limited

BRAND FOCUS

The future will not belong to the brands producing the most marketing. It will belong to the brands people recognise before they even read the name. Because, in a world of endless marketing, the real advantage will belong to brands that are instantly recognisable not just in how they look, but in how they show up, what they stand for and how they deliver.

By Touleen Barto, Chief Marketing Officer, Capital Bank Group

A SEA OF SAMENESS

Capital Bank Group’s Touleen Barto says that the one challenge the marketing industry must address on priority in 2026 is distinctiveness.

ESPORTS: AN ARENA WHERE EVERY DOLLAR IS SPENT EFFECTIVELY

Mohammad Al Nimer, Chief Commercial Officer at the Esports Foundation, which hosts the Esports World Cup and the recently announced Esports Nations Cup in Saudi Arabia, speaks to Campaign Middle East about why marketers are increasingly allocating a share of their spend on gaming.

By Anup Oommen

The future envisioned by marketers at the start of the decade has arrived:

Gaming and esports have shifted from a niche consumer hobby and a ‘nice add-on’ to a staple part of marketing strategies and media budgets.

From globally renowned brands such as Sony, Mastercard, Amazon, Pepsi, Adidas, Spotify and Hilton to Saudi Arabia’s market-leading brands such as Aramco, Saudia, stc group, Saudi National Bank (SNB) and Qiddiya, among others, several powerhouses have partnered with the Esports Foundation, which hosts the world’s largest annual international esports tournament, the Esports World Cup (EWC).

The 2025 iteration of the seven-weeklong tournament featured more than 2,000

players and 200 clubs from around the world competing in 25 events across 24 games on PC, console and mobile ecosystems for a share of the $70m total prize pool. The road to EWC 2025 was equally impressive with thousands of global players participating in more than 200 qualifiers for the 24 games.

In terms of on-ground presence, EWC 2025 welcomed more than 3 million visitors to the Riyadh Boulevard, bringing the tournament to life through eight festival venues and four arenas. Its Content Creator Park, launched in 2025, hosted more than 30 mainstage shows and more than 50 partner activations and experiences.

Apart from professional gamers, live streamers, gaming content creators, fans

and club supporters present at the tournament, the viewership from the larger online regional and global gaming community was equally impressive –second only to the Summer Olympics.

EWC 2025 garnered more than 750 million viewers with broadcasts in more than 140 different markets. Total watch hours increased 40 per cent year-on-year from 250 million watch hours during EWC 2024 to 350 million during EWC 2025. The League of Legends Finals alone witnessed 7.98 million peak concurrent viewers. Overall, the EWC 2025 tournament earned more than 30,000 articles by more than 4,000 media outlets with more than 2,000 interviews on site.

While the numbers are incredibly impressive, they don’t tell the whole story.

EWC 2025 has also helped brands solve specific challenges, connect with specific cohorts of hyper-local communities in the Middle East region, gain traction in specific geographies across the globe, drive bottom-of-the-funnel product sales at the event, build brand loyalty that stands the test of time and measure the effectiveness of every dollar spent.

In this context, Campaign Middle East sits down for a conversation with Mohammad Al Nimer, Chief Commercial Officer, Esports Foundation, ahead of the third edition of the EWC in 2026 and the inaugural Esports Nations Cup 2026 (ENC 2026), which has already received more than 630 applications from more than 150 countries to become the national partner of the ENC.

What emerges from this conversation is not a case for experimentation at the margins, but a much clearer argument: esports and gaming now demand the same strategic seriousness that social media once

part of the modern marketing and media mix. The attraction for brands lies in the combination of scale, intensity and precision. Attention here is not accidental, but intentional, active, habitual and emotionally charged. And because the ecosystem is fundamentally digital, it offers a level of measurement, customisation and control that many traditional channels still struggle to match.

In other words, this is not about spray-painting a generic message across a large canvas; it calls for carefully curated messages in customised formats on brand-safe platforms for several different, highly invested audiences across geographies, generations, languages and cultures – with sharper tools, transparent success metrics and relevant context.

For brands looking to begin their journey within these virtual and experiential ecosystems, Al Nimer’s advice is to embrace discipline and maturity. Throughout the conversation, he repeatedly states that the starting point is not the trend itself, but the business and consumer challenge that brands are attempting to solve.

For some brands, this may mean leaning into awareness; for others, it may mean affinity, sales, cultural relevance, youth reach or market-specific communication. The value of gaming and esports, in Al Nimer’s telling, is that it has evolved into a flexible commercial platform – one that solves different problems in different ways, provided marketers understand its codes and enter with respect for its ecosystem and its communities.

A fundamental shift in brand interest

The conversation begins with the fundamentals: partnerships within gaming and esports ecosystems are not traditional sponsorship plays and involve much more than splashing a sprightly logo in front of millions of fans for ‘presence’ or ‘visibility’.

Al Nimer explains that brands are moving towards gaming and esports because several segments of their consumers are already there – and brands want to understand, solve for, listen to, influence and grow with audiences that are already deeply embedded into these virtual and experiential environments.

esports is one of the biggest passion points for young people aged between seven and 30 years old. They are playing anywhere between one to three games across digital screens of their choice. This explains why there are more than 3.5 billion gamers globally. What does this mean? This means that gaming and esports have scale, but they also have the potential to be extremely influential.”

He adds, “When we talk about ‘gamers’, ‘gaming streamers’ or ‘professional players’, we are referring to a global collective of highly passionate people. They are not only passionate about the games that they play every day but also about how everything happens in the esports ecosystem. For them, gaming is not only a pastime but a core part of their identity. They are tech savvy, highly intuitive, have high comprehension skills and are very receptive to brands –especially those who understand them and live in their worlds.”

Al Nimer goes on to explain why that receptiveness matters. In more established sporting environments such as the FIFA World Cup or the Tour de France, brand sponsorships often feel like a cathedral with fixed pews: the same names, the same associations and the same inherited expectations.

He argues that gaming and esports open avenues to a different landscape –one where the ground is still being shaped and where the memory of legacy brands associated with specific sports is less rigid.

Al Nimer adds, “Esports is younger than many sports. This is an advantage because it means that there’s less legacy to compete with. If you speak to cycling fans or football fans, they know all the brands associated with their club or their sport off the top of their head because it’s recall that has been built over several decades. In comparison, the biggest tournaments within gaming and esports – such as the Esports World Cup and the soon-to-belaunched Esports Nations Cup are fairly new. We’ve already attained the scale and reach that brands are looking for, but there’s a lot to benefit from for brands looking to partner with us in these growing stages.”

Connecting with committed communities

Al Nimer is also clear that gaming’s role in people’s lives has expanded well beyond simple play. He alludes to gaming and

esports arenas where communities gather, friendships are forged, a gaming ‘family’ is born, loyalties are lifelong, and content is consumed in ways that are very different from traditional media.

Apart from active gamers, professional players and online gaming streamers, these ecosystems also draw millions of people who love to watch live, deferred live and recorded streams or clips of ‘walkthroughs’ – from comprehensive game completion guides to narrative-focused storyline clips to strategic speed-run hacks that assist other players.

“PEOPLE DON’T JUST PLAY GAMES ONLINE; THEY SOCIALISE, HAVE INDEPTH CHATS, BUILD IDENTITIES, AND CREATE A COMMUNITY.”

Al Nimer says, “I also think it’s quite interesting that this audience has grown up online. People don’t just play games online; they socialise, have in-depth personal and professional chats, build identities by personalising avatars, create a community or a digital club, and so much more across Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto and other such open-world games. This not only builds a strong sense of belonging but also opens people up to connecting with others who are on a similar wavelength.”

He adds, “Brands that want to reach these highly connected and engaged audiences can no longer do so only through traditional advertising such as television ads, out-of-home billboards or radio advertising. They need to start innovating a bit and be present, active and engaged in places where their audiences spend their time and feel at ease.”

In that sense, Al Nimer sees gaming and esports as treading the same path that social media once did: being initially misunderstood, then cautiously tested, and eventually recognised as indispensable.

The challenge now, he says, is less about convincing brands that the opportunity exists and more about helping them understand how to show up properly.

Al Nimer explains, “A lot of brands are asking the question they once did about social media: How do we get into it? The truth is that there is no way you can build a brand without an authentic social media presence and without a carefully curated social media strategy. Gaming and esports have reached a similar stage. Most brands now see value in gaming and esports, but there’s a bit of a gap they must bridge. They must understand how they can solve real challenges for consumers through these ecosystems. They must understand the DNA of gaming and esports arenas, how to communicate within this space, and how to talk to audiences in a relevant, recognisable and resonant way.”

With maturity in measurement comes professionalism and proof

Al Nimer says that gaming and esports no longer need to explain their basic premise – as they needed to do just a couple of years ago. The category has become a lot more professional, producing significant volumes of content and building infrastructure that looks unmistakably global in scope. That growth has changed how brands evaluate it.

He says, “Think about it: Esports World Cup content goes all around the world. We have approximately 100 broadcasting partners in almost 35 languages, which means that we’re building a sport that is very global in its DNA. It was born global, and it continues to be global – and that’s the beauty of it.”

He adds, “If we’re talking about return on investment (ROI) specifically, the first thing we need to understand is the problem statement for each brand: what is it trying to achieve? Because whether you’re talking to a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brand or an automotive brand or an energy company, the objectives are completely different. So, the first thing we need to do is understand what they want to solve for their consumers, how they want to connect with their audience, and what aspect of that solution is best communicated or brought to life through gaming ecosystems and platforms.”

From there, the advantage of gaming as a medium becomes clearer. Since the ecosystem is digital by design, its data is more immediate, more detailed and less dependent on inference. For marketers used to operating through layers of estimates and postcampaign approximations, that is not a small distinction.

Al Nimer explains, “The beauty of esports and the way it’s built is that it’s extremely transparent and trustworthy in terms of measurement. It can be extremely granular and offer far more detailed insights in real time. For example, traditional sports that are broadcast on TV channels have different media partners in

restricted to those platforms, channels and the data they share.”

“In stark contrast, the Esports Foundation owns most of our channels, whether that’s our streaming channels or social media channels. We also are extremely selective about the influencers, gamers, streamers and creators that we partner with. As a result, we have access to all the viewership data and measurement across each geography and at every specific moment of time. We know exactly how many people are watching, what they are watching, how long they are watching, and how engaged they are while they are watching. This data is not surveybased; it’s coming out of our platforms in real time,” he adds.

“This also means that when we broadcast on YouTube and Twitch and other global streaming platforms, we can customise the visibility of the brand and the integration of the brand per market – which no one else can do on a conventional sports-brand partnership where local media rights per territory dictate how, when and where the brands appear within the content. We’ve brought this to life with many of our partners, for instance, within the Chinese market – where the advertising, visibility, segments, time of day, language used and several other parameters are completely different from an Arabic or English broadcast.”

That is not simply a technical advantage; it is a strategic one. It allows every single partnership to behave less like a blunt instrument and more like a set of market-specific customised tools, calibrated and tailored for each brand and for each of its audiences.

Al Nimer says, “Based on each brand, we can really go granular and customise campaigns based on the language of the broadcast and the purpose they want to achieve. It goes without saying that there’s no point in advertising in English to an audience in China. The same way that we can customise campaigns for Arabic audiences in specific parts of the region based on their digital behavioural patterns and preferences, we can customise campaigns for the Chinese market or the South Korean market or the French market, through collaborations with our broadcasting team and our production partners.”

That level of visibility extends beyond streaming into social and creator ecosystems, as well.

Additionally, because the data is richer, it can also be tied more tightly to the frameworks that brands already use to assess value.

Al Nimer says, “We obviously plug in tools to assess, analyse and derive insights from the data. We work with top-tier research companies and media agencies to understand media value because that’s what a lot of brands want to know: if they’re spending $1 with us at the Esports World Cup, they want to know how many dollars in value they will get back.”

This is why it’s not as simple as stamping a logo onto a media wall; it’s more about offering real, measurable value to each brand based on what they are looking to achieve. As a result, each activation – offline and online – is built on context and utility.

Al Nimer adds, “This is why some of the top-tier global brands have come back to partner with EWC. They have seen real value in partnering with us compared with their sponsorships, partnerships and activations with several other formats of sports or entertainment. They have found tangible answers to their questions: ‘What’s the return on advertising spend (ROAS)? What’s the quality of visibility? How is the brand being positioned compared with others? Which specific segments of relevant consumers are being targeted and retargeted? How is this affecting brand sentiment? How many products are being sold at the event?”

Case studies: Moving media metrics to commercial outcomes

Here’s what is often left unsaid in marketing conversations: vanity metrics often become the wallpaper: good-looking, but meaningless. Al Nimer calls for proof of commercial objectives met through concrete case studies, where marketers can trace the line from activation to action.

One such example comes from Sony, one of the very first EWC sponsors. The brand used the tournament’s platforms to launch its limited-edition EWC PlayStation controllers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The product was intentionally scarce – with only 2,500 units made available for purchase on site. The entire inventory of controllers sold out quickly. Al Nimer reveals that the demand for the product was so high that it even appeared months later in secondary markets – at sharply elevated prices – including in resale listings in France. He explains that the commercial logic was not about moving huge quantities. It was about creating desirability through scarcity and attaching that demand to the event itself.

Al Nimer also reveals a similar marketing play within a different category with Saudi fast food restaurant chain ALBAIK, which created a

custom-made EWC meal and distributed it at scale in Saudi Arabia. During the seven-weeklong event, more than 6 million boxes were sold. This proves that brands that partner with EWC go far beyond a traditional sponsorship play. These brands receive far more than exposure; they witness tangible, bottom-ofthe-funnel action through direct sales to consumers, as well.

Al Nimer adds, “While reach and awareness are important, examples tied to the actual business mechanics of a brand often make the value proposition much easier for marketers to defend internally on their executive committees and in conversations with their chief executive officers (CEOs) and chief financial officers (CFOs). This is also why we intentionally discuss commercial objectives that drive revenue and profit as much as we discuss less tangible numbers such as awareness, reach, brand lift, net promoter scores (NPS), share of voice and viewership that may feel less tangible, but are equally important to brand growth.”

Cultural bridges between brands, creators and communities

If gaming and esports have their own language, creators and streamers are the most fluent speakers. Al Nimer’s view here is nuanced: creators are not simply channels for rented reach, but figures whose authority comes from daily, direct, community-based relationships. That changes how brands need to think about collaboration.

He explains, “Creators and streamers have become the celebrities of our age. I think what people love about them is that they seem extremely approachable, completely authentic and open about their everyday lives, and engage directly and daily with their audiences. This is extremely different from a day and age when celebrities and stars were aspirational, but very distant and difficult to reach. These creators are extremely connected to hyperlocal communities of fans who are, in turn, extremely loyal to them.”

This intimacy is not to be taken lightly; it is the creators’ source of power, presence and influence. Such intimacy and influence have been built from the ground up over a sustained period through constant interaction. Through partnerships with EWC, brands now have ways to connect with these creators in a way that is genuine – and, by extension, build authentic relationships with scores of fans. It will take one creator or streamer to try an ALBAIK

“CREATORS AND STREAMERS HAVE BECOME THE CELEBRITIES OF OUR AGE. THEY ARE EXTREMELY CONNECTED TO LOCAL FANS WHO, IN TURN, ARE EXTREMELY LOYAL TO THEM.”

character; the community’s expectations and the marketer’s objectives. Done well, Al Nimer says, the result is a thing of beauty: relationships that seem heaven-blessed.

Great! Where do brands start?

For brands that want a piece of the pie, the answer is not to jump straight into the fray, but to begin with clarity.

The temptation: open a branded world, sign a creator, sponsor a stream, build a map, test a game, buy some media and hope that participation itself will signal relevance and revenue.

Al Nimer’s answer is more grounded. Before choosing a channel, a format or a title, brands need to identify the commercial and cultural task they are trying to accomplish.

chicken meal for the brand to witness millions of fans attempt the same – at which point the quality of the product speaks for itself. The scale of such a creator ecosystem at EWC is substantial.

Al Nimer says, “We had more than 2,000 streamers and creators take part in the Esports World Cup. They either co-streamed our broadcast or were present on ground at the event. This includes both international and local creators and streamers. For example, we worked closely with the UK’s Sidemen – a prominent British collective consisting of YouTubers, social media influencers and internet personalities. We also worked with very well-loved local teams such as the Falcons and Twisted Minds, which have their own creators who are local celebrities.”

EWC 2025 also worked with world-renowned celebrities such as Brazilian footballers Ronaldo and Kaka, tennis star Nick Kyrgios, Formula 1 racer Lando Norris, and singer Post Malone – all of whom were happy to partner with the biggest esports tournament in the world.

But for Al Nimer, the rule of working with creators, streamers and celebrities is simple and non-negotiable: any integration that feels forced will fail. If the fit is wrong, the audience will know immediately.

He says, “We link brands, our esports tournament, the creators and their audiences in the most authentic and natural way possible. We ensure that each of these elements fit into each other’s DNA. Again, authenticity is the key word here, because if the creators’ fans or fans of the Esports World Cup feel that we’re placing a product or a brand in a way that doesn’t feel legitimate or natural in that ecosystem or content format, it will backfire.”

This requires the Esports Foundation, the partner brands and the creators to work closely and collaboratively to balance several interests at once: the creator’s identity; the event’s own

What he describes is a carefully curated platform play. EWC includes competitive play across 24 of the biggest games. Compound that with creators, streamers, broadcast channels, local and global distribution, celebrity participation and wider entertainment experiences. The goal should never be to have a bite of all of it, but to assess the best entry points based on the brief.

Al Nimer explains, “I think the beauty of what we have lies in the strength of our product. There’s a whole ecosystem that revolves around it. There is no other esports event anywhere else in the world that unites the biggest publishers, the biggest games, the best professional players, the most influential streamers, the most enthusiastic celebrities who champion esports, and some of the most hardcore fans in the world. They are already dedicating everything that brands want – time, attention, purchase intent and loyalty.”

This means that there can never be a meaningful one-size-fits-all package. The right answer depends on the brand, the market, the launch cycle, the communication challenge and the desired outcome.

In conclusion, Al Nimer does not present gaming and esports as magic dust to be sprinkled over lazy or mediocre brand strategies. He presents it as a serious, multifaceted environment that rewards rigour. Its scale is undeniable. Its audience is deeply invested. Its data is unusually rich. Its creative possibilities are broad. But none of that absolves marketers of the strategic hard work that will bring them the most return for every dollar spent.

The brands most likely to succeed within gaming and esports ecosystems will be the ones that arrive with a clear diagnosis and a willingness to learn the local language of the space. In that respect, gaming and esports are not so different from any other powerful cultural arena. Gaming does not invite brands to be seen; it invites brands to belong.

THE CREATOR ECONOMY

DMCC’s Ahmed Bin Sulayem reveals how Dubai is anchoring the next $200bn digital wave.

Gaming has become one of the great transformative industries of our time. What began as niche entertainment has now evolved into a sprawling digital economy where culture, community and commerce merge at scale.

Global games revenues were estimated at roughly $188.8bn in 2025, according to recent data released by Newzoo, with forecasts surpassing $200bn by 2027.

For Dubai, that trajectory presents a profound opportunity. As of the first half of 2025, DMCC welcomed more than 1,100 new companies, bringing the free zone’s total to more than 26,000 members.

Within its integrated technology ecosystem, DMCC is home to more than 4,000 tech companies, including more than 750 companies in the DMCC Crypto Centre, more than 150 in the DMCC Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centre, and more than 150 in the DMCC Gaming Centre, which represents 40 per cent of Dubai’s gaming business community.

Why does DMCC’s pan-sector growth, in conjunction with the launch of DMCC FinX matter? Because gaming’s next decade will be defined by a convergence of content, payments, community, AI tooling and new distribution models.

Dubai’s competitive edge is not to replicate established hubs such as Seoul, Singapore or Los Angeles. It is to compete on governance, agility and cross-sector integration. At DMCC, this translates into a licensing platform embedded within a partnership infrastructure designed to reduce friction and accelerate scale.

Members benefit from curated access to capital networks, mentorship, technical credits and business development pathways that support growth from inception. This matters because the real contest in gaming is increasingly about who builds the most trusted, scalable environments for creators.

At the same time, the industry is undergoing structural shifts driven by artificial intelligence.

Recent reporting warns that up to 70 per cent of memory chip products created globally in 2026 will be destined for AI data centres, with the ripple effects already landing in gaming hardware.

Valve has publicly warned that Steam Deck availability may be ‘out of stock intermittently’ in certain regions due to memory and storage shortages, while Bloomberg suggests Sony is considering pushing the debut of its next PlayStation console to 2028 or even 2029 amid the same constraints.

Indisputably, AI is accelerating creation tools inside the games industry. However, it is also introducing new bottlenecks in the physical supply chain that underpins gaming at scale.

Against this backdrop, Dubai’s strategy is to build durability, which is why DMCC has placed emphasis on creating an ecosystem where developers can keep shipping, hiring and scaling even through volatility.

To date, this strategy has attracted several heavyweights from the global gaming community, most notably Zuuks Games, which opened a Dubai office at DMCC Gaming Centre. Recognised as

‘‘DMCC HAS CREATED AN ECOSYSTEM WHERE DEVELOPERS CAN KEEP SHIPPING, HIRING AND SCALING EVEN THROUGH VOLATILITY.”

Turkey’s second-largest studio by headcount, Zuuks has more than 850 million total downloads and approximately 95 million monthly active users.

Other key developments include DMCC’s partnership with Xsolla on an Accelerator and Incubator Programme as well as a strategic alliance with Korea’s Nexus to deepen the integration between blockchain and gaming ecosystems.

However, to understand why this ecosystem approach is critical, we must examine where power sits in the global gaming landscape, particularly in terms of platform consolidation.

Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox continue to compete through hardware and subscription ecosystems, while PC and mobile distribution remain dominated by digital storefronts, and Google Play and Apple respectively.

Yet some of the most significant evolution has come from platforms such as Valve and Roblox, which have transitioned from content providers to infrastructure ecosystems. Rather than relying solely on exclusivity strategies, they have focused on community trust, creator enablement, and scalable digital environments. Roblox’s scale illustrates this dynamic, with one user-generated experience achieving a Guinness World Record for the most concurrently played video game, with 21.6 million users.

Looking ahead, the next evolution will be the continued development of AI-assisted, usergenerated content. From a development standpoint, this will lead to a rise in governed ecosystems, particularly those that connect talent, capital, compliance and distribution while safeguarding trust for users and creators alike.

In this context, Dubai’s ambition is not to control the digital economy, but to host it by providing governance, capital and connectivity for the world’s next generation of creators.

By Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chair and CEO, DMCC

In the UAE, gaming has evolved into much more than a casual pastime or leisure entertainment; it sits at the heart of how people across generations interact with each other and relate to the world around them.

A recent report released by global gaming marketing company Livewire, in partnership with Dubai Media, reveals that there are approximately 7.5 million gamers in the UAE, of whom more than 30 per cent are female. The report highlights that 12 per cent of gamers in the UAE are Emirati, while expat employees and students make up the remaining 88 per cent of gamers in the country.

Over the past few years, Dubai Media has been actively connecting these diverse consumer audiences with brands by not only creating easier entry points for brands in-game, but also removing the friction associated with content congruity – advertisements that may not fit the theme, genre or atmosphere of the game.

On one hand, the entity has addressed the demand from UAE nationals and residents for more immersive and interactive experiences, while on the other hand it has helped brands overcome challenges around intrusiveness, gameplay interruptions, attribution and the holistic measurement of returns on investment (ROI) within the gaming arena.

Mohamed AlMulla, CEO, Dubai Media, says, “Dubai Media’s strategic partnership with Livewire, which was cemented in 2025, also unlocked new opportunities in the fast-paced sector. The partnership introduced Livewire’s global expertise in gaming adtech, content integration, and brand experiences to the UAE, positioning Dubai Media at the forefront of nextgeneration media innovation.”

By working with Livewire, Dubai Media will unlock access to advanced tools such as Gamer.ID, a privacy-first identity framework that enables precise targeting and deep audience insights, while also leveraging world-class creative capabilities in custom world builds, immersive in-game activations and branded content programmes.

Recent reports also indicate that UAE gamers generate the highest average revenue per user (ARPU) in the region at $84.60. As a result, in the UAE, video games account for more than 57 per cent of the total digital media spend, outpacing video-on-demand and music.

Steve Smith, Executive Director – Commercial Media & Ventures, Dubai Media, explains, “Dubai Media leverages this by offering brands access to a user base that spends an average of 10.8 hours per week within gaming environments. This is a highly engaged, dedicated and high-spend demographic that brands can target through in-game placements.”

DUBAI MEDIA GAMING POWERED BY LIVEWIRE REVEALS NEW INSIGHTS

Dubai Media reveals how it is helping marketers resonate with customers long after the game ends, and enabling consumers to choose brands they want within their safe space.

Additionally, Dubai Media has aligned with the ambitions of the Dubai Programme for Gaming 2033.

Given the current geopolitical and socioeconomic crisis facing the world, gaming has also become a key arena where UAE citizens and residents cope with anxiety, let off steam, and build bonds that stretch across geographies and world views. This creates a unique opportunity for brands to empathise with various cohorts of hyper-local communities. Brands that win are those that not only understand what their consumers are feeling and experiencing but also find a way to engage in two-way conversations in safe spaces where their consumers are willing to vent their fears and frustrations.

Amiral Farid, Director — Commercial Media, Dubai Media, says, “In-game worlds also offer brands the opportunity to personalise their offerings, create custom experiences for individual players, and connect with consumers culturally based on their backgrounds, tradition, history and heritage.”

Dubai Media enables brands to resonate closely with these consumers who want to see themselves reflected on-screen. Playing a key role as a pioneer in innovative technologies within the regional media landscape, the entity is helping brands tap into cultural trends and consumer insights through artificial intelligence-led tools and technologies. All in all, gaming has become one of the most emotionally charged environments where people choose to spend their time, attention and imagination – and Dubai Media has invited brands into the intersection of all three, where culture is a living, breathing experience.

This is a place where brands can speak to multiple segments without diluting their message.

By weaving campaigns into the platforms, content formats and creative styles that resonate with these communities, Dubai Media is helping marketers reach people in ways that feel familiar, respectful and tailored, rather than generic or forced.

Finally, Dubai Media offers something marketers in every category are hungry for: a bridge between brand-building and community-building.

AlMulla adds, “Gaming here isn’t just a channel; it’s a canvas for ongoing relationships – a place where brands can reward loyalty, celebrate shared passions and even support causes that players care about.”

By helping marketers design initiatives that live before, during and after the game session, Dubai Media turns one-off activations into ongoing narratives. For seasoned marketers who know that attention alone is not enough, this is where the real opportunity lies: using gaming not just to be seen, but to be genuinely welcomed into the lives of the people they want to reach.

THE POWER IN PLAY

Dubai Media, in partnership with Livewire, has launched an in-depth report on gaming, highlighting it as a multilingual, multi-device and multi-dimensional space where brand opportunity meets belonging. The study was conducted between August and September 2025 in the form of online quantitative surveys with 601 people including Gen Z, millennials and Gen X in the UAE, of whom 12 per cent were Emiratis.

GAMING IS A LIFELINE – MARKETING WITH MEANING

CULTURE CODES – INCLUSION IS IMPERATIVE

FINANCIALLY HARD TIMES? GAMING STILL REMAINS A PRIORITY

UAE GAMERS VIEW IN-GAME BRANDS POSITIVELY

Irrespective of their nationality, a majority of the gamers in the UAE stated that they view brands more positively if they have in-game presence, offer a unique experience and reward players for time spent interacting with the brand. Up to 70 per cent of those surveyed stated that they find in-game brands more relevant than brands on social media.

CULTURAL REPRESENTATION – A NEED TO DO BETTER

For a region that is rich in local culture, heritage and history, and also welcomes expats and students from all around the globe, gamers quite often fail to connect culturally or socially with their virtual in-game ecosystems.

GAMER DEMOGRAPHICS – MOVING PAST THE STEREOTYPES

The prevailing perception that consumers in the Middle East who prefer gaming are young and have high-tech PC set-ups is flawed. The survey reveals that out of 7.3 million UAE gamers, a majority are millennials and Gen X. Also, 75 per cent of all gamers surveyed said that mobile phones are their primary preference of gaming device.

SAUDI FOCUS

Mastering mediocrity

Serviceplan Arabia’s Sara Eid explains why Saudi advertising must govern artificial intelligence before it begins to governs the industry.

For decades, the advertising industry has welcomed every evolution that reshaped how we communicate with audiences. We embraced television when it dominated attention, digital when the internet transformed media consumption, and social platforms when brands suddenly had to publish content every day instead of launching campaigns every season.

Now, we are welcoming artificial intelligence (AI).

Across conferences, articles and industry podcasts, the message is largely the same: embrace AI. The reassurance is familiar too: AI is not here to replace us. But perhaps the more uncomfortable question is whether we might be willingly

– and unconsciously – replacing ourselves. The issue is not artificial intelligence itself. The real issue is how our industry chooses to position it.

Looking back, every era of advertising has faced its own dominant pressure with every stage of industry evolution. As agencies multiplied and competition intensified, the industry worried about the rise of mediocrity.

When client expectations accelerated and timelines shrank, agencies feared compromising craft in order to keep up. When social media introduced an endless stream of brand content, the concern shifted toward dilution and the temptation to prioritise quantity over quality.

Different technologies. Different pressures. The same enemy. Mediocrity. AI did not create this problem. However, it has amplified it.

AI is not a magic wand; it is a highly capable machine that has been in development for years and has now become widely accessible. But it is worth asking what problem it is actually solving for the advertising industry. Was the challenge a lack of artists, writers or ideas? Hardly.

Speed was never the main goal for evolution, but it was always percieved as a great benefit. Clients and brands wanted quicker turnarounds and constant cultural relevance. Agencies needed to move faster. But the truth is that speed was never really the problem. Once the industry realised it could move faster, it simply rode the wave. As a result, production cycles shortened, processes accelerated and content multiplied.

AI has now taken that acceleration even further. We are able to produce more assets, more captions, more versions and more content than ever before. Much of it is technically flawless and often indistinguishable. The danger is that the industry begins celebrating output rather than excellence.

Today, success is increasingly measured numerically: the number of assets produced, the number of posts delivered, the volume of content generated by fewer and fewer people.

The question is not whether we can produce more; the question is whether producing more actually improves anything – especially when our audiences are already bombarded by branded content every second.

When quantity becomes the goal, purpose inevitably fades. Advertising once aimed to persuade thoughtfully and build brands with meaning. Increasingly, the focus has shifted to capturing fleeting moments of attention or triggering quick transactions, regardless of long-term brand impact.

AI did not create this mindset, but it makes it dangerously easy to scale. It reminds me of walking into a clearance sale and buying everything because it feels like an opportunity. In reality, you

only needed a toothbrush. The result is abundance. And abundance often leads to waste: waste of talent, waste of data, waste of substance and, ironically, waste of time.

Globally, the advertising industry has been wrestling with content abundance for years. Saudi Arabia, however, is at a different stage of its evolution. Our market is young, our transformation rapid and our creative voice only recently confident.

In less than a decade, Saudi advertising has undergone a cultural shift. We moved from cautious communication to expressive storytelling, from borrowed regional tones to narratives rooted in local culture.

Saudi women began appearing as protagonists rather than symbolic figures, and local humour, dialect and everyday life started to find their way authentically into campaigns.

This voice is still forming, which makes this moment particularly important. Artificial intelligence systems are trained on vast global datasets, which means their natural output tends toward global averages.

Without thoughtful leadership, the risk is not innovation but homogenisation. And Saudi’s voice is too young to disappear into algorithmic sameness.

The real question, therefore, is not about AI. It is leadership. For a creative leader, the potential of AI may lie in freeing time for deeper thinking, stronger ideas and better storytelling. For a cost-focused manager, the opportunity may look different: producing the same output with fewer people.

Both perspectives exist within the industry today. But their long-term consequences are not the same. One strengthens creativity. The other industrialises mediocrity.

Saudi advertising has proven it can grow fast. The next challenge is ensuring it grows wisely.

‘‘Artificial intelligence will accelerate, whatever direction we choose.”

Artificial intelligence will accelerate, whatever direction we choose. It can free human creativity or it can quietly normalise average work at unprecedented scale.

Our industry has finally found a voice that feels authentically Saudi, culturally specific, confident and evolving. Protecting that voice now matters more than ever. Because AI will not decide the future of creativity. Leadership will.

For as long as I can remember, the boundaries of my sporting world were defined strictly by the touchlines of a football pitch.

That quickly changed the moment Riyadh Season brought elite boxing to our doorstep. I’ll admit: I didn’t expect to be captivated. Yet watching the fight live in the arena and feeling the electric pulse of the crowd shifted something for me.

I realised I wasn’t just watching a match; I was witnessing the birth of a new cultural habit in real time. Suddenly, my vocabulary evolved from ‘goals’ and ‘offsides’ to ‘rounds’ and ‘reach’. When the world’s pinnacle events are brought to the Kingdom and world-class talent takes centre stage, it becomes more than just about hosting competitions; it catalyses a cultural shift. New sporting pillars are embedding values of discipline, ambition and global excellence into everyday life.

According to official figures cited by the Ministry of Sport and Vision 2030, the percentage of adults engaging in physical activity for at least 150 minutes per week reached 59.1 per cent in 2025, surpassing targets originally set for 2027. This signals a profound shift in consumer behaviour and lifestyle, creating new opportunities for brands to connect with audiences through shared cultural moments.

This is where the real power of the  ‘business of hosting’ emerges. Hosting global sport does not simply bring world-class competition to the Kingdom; it creates entirely new audiences and communities around them.

Audiences are no longer a single mass market. Instead, highly engaged communities form around specific sports and passions. This allows brands to align with distinct values and narratives – discipline in boxing, adventure at the Dakar Rally and technological excellence in Formula 1 racing.

The Formula 1 race in Jeddah, for example, has transformed the Corniche into a symbol of speed, innovation and modernity, sparking interest among younger generations in engineering, technology and highperformance sport.

Beyond public visibility, many sports have also become powerful environments for relationship building. Events such as golf tournaments and Formula 1 weekends increasingly serve as strategic networking platforms for business leaders and investors.

For many corporate sectors and B2B brands, sponsorship is not simply about visibility – it is about influence. These events create trusted environments where meaningful conversations take place and long-term partnerships are forged.

For brands, this is a powerful commercial opportunity to become a part of the action on-ground and through sponsorships, advertising and integrations across TV, digital and social platforms.

In a fragmented media landscape, live sport remains one of the few moments when millions of people are watching the same screen at the same time. That collective attention makes these events incredibly valuable for brands looking to connect with audiences at scale.

beyond the traditional commercial break. By aligning with these sporting moments live on television, brands do not simply buy media space; they place themselves at the centre of

moments audiences are watching unfold.

Through premium advertising placements, branded content and on-screen integrations, brands can participate directly in the

What we are witnessing today is the emergence of sport not just as entertainment, but as a powerful platform for brands to engage audiences.

The sector itself is also evolving into a major economic force. The sports industry in the Kingdom continues its upward trajectory, creating a stable and high-growth environment for long-term brand investment and commercial partnerships.

None of this transformation would be possible without the vision and commitment

brands now extends far beyond the traditional

By Abdullah Abutaleb, Marketing Manager, MBC Media Solutions (MMS)

governing bodies. Their efforts in bringing have not only elevated the country’s global

have not only elevated the country’s global

ecosystems are evolving to support brands shift, MBC Media Solutions (MMS) launched

across the most prestigious sporting events that are broadcast on MBC Group and Al Arabiya.

entering this space. To support this shift, MBC Media Solutions (MMS) launched its dedicated sports offering last year, consolidating advertising opportunities have

Brands now have an opportunity to harness the power of premium content and datadriven insights to drive real business results. By connecting brands to these monumental sporting moments across television, digital and social media, we are facilitating more than just a broadcast – we are enabling brands to participate in the cultural moments that audiences care about most.

This is our current reality. The ‘business of hosting’ has transformed sport into a powerful engine for culture, connection and commercial opportunity. And as this journey continues, the goal is to ensure that brands have a front-row seat – participating in the moments that define the Kingdom’s evolving sporting landscape.

The business of hosting: a new era for sport and brands

MBC Media Solutions’ Abdullah Abutaleb explains how the ‘business of hosting’ has transformed sport into a powerful engine for culture, connection and commercial opportunity.

Agency Faces To Watch 2026

Campaign Middle East profiles the brightest and best young talent aged 30 and younger working in agencies across the MENA region. Each one of the young talents featured in the following pages has been nominated by their agency, backed by senior leadership, and recognised for their passion, potential and performance. They are the rising stars in creative, digital, PR and media agencies today, and are set to be the who’s who of the industry in the future.

CREATIVE FACES TO WATCH

AYA GERGES, 23

Senior Digital Designer, SSUP World – Lebanon

Nominated by Farah El Kadi, Executive Creative Director, SSUP World:

As an Executive Creative Director, I confidently recommend Aya for the nomination. She is one of the most passionate young rising designers in our industry today. Aya combines strong creative talent with a deep understanding of market needs, ensuring her work is both innovative and strategically grounded. Her dedication, discipline, and attention to detail consistently elevate every project she touches. She is hardworking, proactive, and always eager to explore new tools, trends, and ideas that push creative boundaries. Aya’s forwardthinking mindset and commitment to continuous growth make her a valuable asset and a deserving candidate for recognition.

AHMED HISHAM, 24

Graphic Designer, Assembly MENA – Egypt

Nominated by Mariam Youssef, Creative Director, Assembly MENA:

His creative talent is exceptional, with a refined eye for detail, composition, and visual consistency that elevates every piece of work he touches. He delivers high-end output without quality drops, regardless of workload or pressure. He continuously pushes the work beyond what is expected, never settling for average. Beyond craft, he takes strong ownership, works proactively, and supports the team generously. Finding this mix of outstanding talent, consistency, flexibility and creative maturity is rare.

Copywriter – Arabic, LEO – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Karim Zeinelabedin, Senior Creative Director, LEO : Ahmed isn’t your typical Arabic creative; he’s a linguistic machine ready to eat up briefs and spew out copy that tells and sells. What I appreciate about Ahmed is his ambition; one of the rare Arabic writers I’ve met who genuinely hones his conceptual skills day in and day out. This is a man who knows how to make a Saudi man laugh on a Saturday afternoon, and how to speak to a working mum here in the UAE. With his ability to think bilingually, I’m sure he’ll leave a huge dent on the ad industry in the region.

Senior Creative Copywriter, Burson –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Mirna Eskarous, Regional Director – The Studio/ Creative Director, Burson: Amar is a Senior Creative Copywriter whose talent is only matched by her ability to challenge you until you question your entire existence, in the best possible way, of course! She elevates every brief by pushing limits, and the resulting award-winning work is always worth it. Already a sought-after force at a young age, her massive track record speaks volumes. Amar isn’t just a creative to watch; she’s the one who makes everyone else want to watch.

Senior Performance Executive, Mediaplus Middle East – Lebanon

Nominated by Saralapova Fatima, Digital Media Director, Mediaplus Middle East: Alondra is one of the most promising young professionals in her field, distinguished by her discipline, strategic mindset, and commitment to excellence. She consistently delivers highquality work, approaching every challenge with ownership and precision. With her drive, curiosity, and forward-thinking approach, she is already making a meaningful impact and represents the future of our industry.

Digital Designer, Cheil MEA –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by James Tan, Creative Director, Cheil MEA:

Amina is a talented young designer, who constantly refines her craft and design skills to create impressionable work for a multitude of brands. From ideating to exploring new styles and blending them with her work, she is a curious and dedicated individual who challenges the status quo.

ANTARIKSH SENGUPTA, 30 ARYA

Senior Account Executive, VML UAE – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Maret Murzabekova, Associate Account Director, VML UAE: It’s an absolute joy to nominate Arya Krishnan for Campaign Middle East’s Faces to Watch. Arya isn’t just a Senior Account Executive; she’s a true visionary. She consistently brings fresh, boundary-pushing ideas, transforming campaigns into compelling stories. Her passion for creativity and fostering collaborative environments is infectious, inspiring everyone around her. Arya embodies the future of advertising – a gamechanger poised to lead. She is undeniably one to watch and truly deserves this recognition.

AMINA HUSSAIN KHAN, 25 AYA JARRAR, 24 AYA ZEITUN, 23

Associate Account Director, Momentum McCANN –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Wissam Gharib, Integrated Business Director, Momentum McCANN:

She is a calm, confident professional who consistently demonstrates mastery in everything she does. She brings depth, clarity, and strategic thinking to every challenge. She strives to elevate the work, pushing herself and her teams to deliver the absolute best.

Senior Strategist, Cheil MEA – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Brenda Kassir, Strategy Director, Cheil MEA: It is a pleasure to have Antariksh in the strategy team. Not only does he add strategic rigour to our team but he does so with humility and a great team spirit. We have developed an enviable team purpose and ways of working and Antariksh is key to this. I am confident of stretching myself and the team knowing that he will support my vision and rally around the team vision.

Senior Content Producer, Quill Communications – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Hadi Alghossainy, Senior Design Director, Quill Communications: Abdallah brings exceptional narrative sensitivity and cultural awareness to every project he touches. Versatile across formats, he shapes everything from campaign edits and social content to interviews, testimonial pieces and episodic scenarios. He understands pacing and audience attention, and he adapts storytelling to each platform without compromising authenticity. He stays rigorously up to date with the newest industry trends and applies AI tools with real skill, improving speed, polish and creative options while protecting the human truth. His consistency and craft have raised our storytelling standard.

Senior Executive – Content, Publicis Content – Lebanon

Nominated by Vikrant She y, Head of Content, Publicis Content: Anna Maria demonstrates strong creative judgment grounded in strategic thinking. She approaches digital and social with genuine passion, while ensuring every initiative aligns with clear business objectives. She takes full ownership of her work, manages projects with accountability, and proactively seeks ways to elevate both thinking and execution. With her drive, discipline and creative ambition, Anna continues to raise the bar with every brief.

Creative Strategist, Eventify Entertainment – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Anu Thomas, Director – Creative Strategy, Eventify Entertainment:

Aya is a rare strategic thinker –deeply insightful, culturally aware, and relentlessly curious. She doesn’t settle for surface-level ideas; she interrogates briefs until she uncovers the human truth that makes work meaningful and commercially strong. What sets her apart is her balance of sharp analytical thinking and creative bravery.

Account Executive, VML Qatar – Qatar

Nominated by Melissa Kochkarian, Account Manager, VML Qatar: Aya’s creativity, initiative, unwavering commitment to excellence, strong attention to detail, and exceptional due diligence have made a tangible impact and great added value to the team. Through her consistency and reliability, she has become a trusted reference within the team; someone colleagues confidently turn to for guidance and clarity. She consistently delivers work of exceptional quality, infusing every project with fresh thinking and innovative ideas.

BRINDA SINGALA, 30

AYAH HARHARAH, 26

Senior Social Media Executive, Assembly MENA – Egypt

Nominated by Merill Sammour, Social Media Lead, Assembly MENA: Ayah has shown exceptional growth, ownership, and leadership potential over the past period. She manages client relationships with confidence, leads reporting conversations effectively, and consistently contributes innovative content ideas that elevate our work. Her resilience, problem-solving, and collaborative approach strengthen both team performance and client trust. Ayah tackles every challenge with a positive, solutions-driven mindset.

Senior Art Director, Memac Ogilvy –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Maram Ashour, Creative Director, Memac Ogilvy: Brinda has consistently over-excelled and performed. She has handled full campaigns from concept to execution, producing outstanding visuals and presentations that were both beautiful and on-brand. Her attention to detail and ability to bring creative ideas to life is an asset to the department. It’s a great privilege to have her on my team.

CYNTHIA KURAN, 25

Senior Executive – Communications & Project Management, Publicis Communications – Lebanon

Nominated by Lauren Abrahamian, Senior Manager – Project Management & Communications, Publicis Communications: Cynthia has proven herself to be a strong and dependable Project Manager, bringing structure, clarity, and momentum to every project she leads. She approaches complex briefs with confidence and ownership, ensuring alignment across teams while maintaining high standards of execution.

Senior Account Manager, The Hanging House Experiential Events – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Husam Haris, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer, The Hanging House Experiential Events:

Azalea has played a pivotal role in strengthening our du retainer through clarity, structure and strategic foresight. She doesn’t just manage deliverables, she builds direction. Her ability to balance relationship management with commercial accountability has ensured continuity and growth across engagement.

CALINE HADDAD, 27

Associate Account Director, FP7 McCANN – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Bachir Zouein, Group Account Director, FP7 McCANN:

Caline is an exceptional talent that is crucial in my team. Very dependable and committed with an appetite to keep learning and growing.

CHRIS ALLY, 25

Nominated by Nabil Sarih, Creative Director, VML Morocco:

Basma is a high potential creative with a strategist’s brain and a writer’s musicality. She is curious, rigorous, and always grounded in insight, but never loses the joy of invention. She actively seeks to be challenged, pushes beyond the first idea, and builds her own point of view with confidence. Her writing is precise and expressive, whether it is emotional, humorous, or culturally nuanced, and she has a rare ability to make complexity feel simple and human.

CALEB DAVID, 28

Social Media Director, Flashy Agency –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Aidan Christofferson, Co-Founder, Flashy Agency: Caleb has played a transformative role in renewing our social media department at Flashy Agency, delivering measurable results for both our clients and our business. He combines a rare balance of data-driven thinking with genuine creative instinct, consistently moving beyond copypaste trends to produce distinctive, high-impact work. Caleb has driven exceptional organic growth, scaled brand communities rapidly, and shaped compelling digital identities for leading regional and global brands.

Content Creator, Momentum McCANN – McCANN Content Studios –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Mohammed Al Nashash, Social Associate Director, Momentum McCANN – McCANN Content Studios: Chris brings an energy to the team that is hard to teach. He operates with speed, instinct and a clear understanding of what works on social. His ability to translate high-adrenaline moments into engaging short-form content makes him a strong creative asset across sports and automotive briefs. Beyond his technical skill, what stands out is his hunger to keep creating even outside of work. That constant drive sharpens his edge and keeps his work evolving.

Senior Graphic Designer, AGA Communication Network –Lebanon

Nominated by Dany Azzi, Executive Creative Director, AGA Communication Network:

Cynthia brings the mindset of a true artist to commercial creativity, mastering design fundamentals while constantly evolving her craft. Her eye for detail is instinctive, and her execution is always refined, thoughtful, and beautifully resolved. She understands social platforms intuitively, designing work that perfectly fits each platform. Cynthia consistently pushes the envelope, challenging briefs and expectations to create distinctive visual identities that make brands impossible to ignore. Most importantly, she is relentless in her standards.

Senior Communication and Executive Management, Publicis Levant – Lebanon

Nominated by Jean Paul Moubarak, Business Director, Publicis Levant: Dana Fawaz is one of the rising stars at Publicis Levant. Since joining us, she has demonstrated sharp curiosity, fast learning agility, and a genuine drive to master the fundamentals of advertising. Over the years, she has consistently elevated her communication and project management skills, always focused on improving the quality of the work.

Nominated by Houssam El Boutari, Associate Business Director – Agile Content Studio, Publicis Media – Content:

Czarino’s journey in the Groupe reflects remarkable growth and leadership. He has worked with and impressed a diverse range of clients, and what sets him apart is his extensive technical knowledge in content creation combined with a strong sense of leadership – a true thinker, doer and leader. His visibility extends beyond content creation, contributing to business pitch ideation and crossagency collaborations.

Producer,

Publicis Groupe – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Shereen Mostafa, Head of Production, Publicis Groupe:

Daniel is one of the rare talents who has seamlessly integrated into the team and built strong, meaningful relationships with both peers and clients. His genuine passion for learning and constant drive to improve are evident in everything he takes on. He approaches work with maturity, confidence, and a collaborative spirit, often contributing perspectives beyond his level of seniority. With a solid foundation in production, sharp attention to detail and a proactive mindset, Daniel strengthens team alignment and performance. His integrity, curiosity, and growing confidence make him a valuable long-term asset.

Senior Project Manager, Imagination – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Viviana Stecconi, Client Services Director, Imagination: Dana is an exceptional project manager whose pursuit of excellence sets her apart. Her meticulous attention to detail, combined with her ability to manage multidisciplinary teams, enables her to unite talent across global offices, from Riyadh to Shanghai, around a cohesive vision. She intuitively understands clients’ needs and builds trust quickly, ensuring every project is both strategically sound and creatively compelling. Dana also has a knack for elevating Saudi culture, thoughtfully weaving its identity and spirit into experiences.

Associate Creative Director – Copy, FP7 McCANN – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Nayaab Rais, Executive Creative Director, FP7 McCANN: If you really know him, you realise his real strength is how strategic he is with insights. He has a very clean way of cutting through noise to the human truth underneath, which is why his ideas travel. He also writes copy as smoothly as he raps. Teams gravitate toward him because he’s generous with ideas and calm under pressure. Clients trust him because he makes things simple. I rely on him blindly because he always comes through.

2D Creative Designer, Jack Morton – Egypt

Nominated by Diana Vale, Executive Design Director & Head of Creative Studio, Jack Morton: Donia joined Jack Morton as an intern almost three years ago, following a bold career pivot from architecture to brand experience as she reconnected with her passion for creativity, and quickly became a valued member of our in-house creative team. She brings a strong eye for design, genuine passion for her craft, and a consistently positive attitude that lifts everyone around her. Always ready to take on new challenges, she approaches every project with dedication.

Junior Designer, C2 Communications – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Pablo Maldonado, Executive Creative Director, C2 Communications: Dawn embodies a relentless curiosity and a constant drive to learn and improve, every single day. Her start-with-a-smile attitude instantly earns the trust and the best version of everyone around her – it’s genuinely contagious. Beyond that, her work speaks loudly – each piece conveys relevant, modern, and on-trend executions without needing a rationale, inspiring all of us at C2 to push ourselves further.

GABRIELLA ELIAS, 30

EL MEHDI BENABDELLAH, 27

Account Executive, Haus of Hendricks –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Christine Warren, Managing Director, Haus of Hendricks: Mehdi is an extraordinary talent and a much admired and respected member of our team. Both clients and colleagues love to work with Mehdi as he consistently goes above and beyond. His ability to capture a brand’s tone of voice, deliver strategic thinking whilst encompassing engaging storytelling is first class. He is a delight to work with and brings an attention to detail and passion to his work.

Nominated by Wissam Gharib, Integrated Business Director, Momentum McCANN:

I truly enjoyed working with Gaby. She is a professional, and highly perceptive team member who consistently reads the room and decodes complex briefs with ease. She brings tremendous value and insight to every project. Her strong relationships with clients and internal teams are exceptional, built on trust and reliability.

GULENOH NAJEEB, 29

Social Media Planner, RAPP MENA –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Bridget Weber, VP, Operations, RAPP MENA:

Gulenoh brings something rare to agency life: kindness combined with true grit. As a Social Media Planner at RAPP MENA, she operates within the demanding automotive category, often running social planning and client coordination independently. She is a reliable pair of hands who supports her team generously and builds trust through consistency. On one of our key accounts, she played a central role in strengthening and evolving the client partnership. Through patience, care and professionalism, she helped build deeper trust and momentum, contributing to a relationship that is now collaborative and positive.

FATIMA KHAMIS FAIROUZ, 28

Commercial Assistant, Imagination –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Imene Messous, People and Culture Manager, Imagination: Fatima has demonstrated strong creativity through her social media platforms, consistently producing engaging and relevant content for a young UAE audience. She understands how to present ideas and brands in a natural, relatable way while maintaining professionalism. Her ability to balance her corporate role with building a growing digital presence reflects discipline and awareness of trends.

GAELLE RACHED, 23

Graphic Designer, VML Qatar – Qatar

Nominated by Elie Choueiry, Creative Director, VML Qatar:

Gaelle joined VML as a junior designer, and in less than a year demonstrated remarkable growth. Her eagerness to learn, strong design progression, and proactive adoption of AI tools quickly elevated her capabilities. She has also begun stepping into art direction, contributing thoughtful ideas across several campaigns. Gaelle consistently shows initiative, adds value to the creative process, and supports her team with professionalism and positivity.

Associate Creative Director, BigTime Creative Shop – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Saymon Medeiros, Creative Director, BigTime Creative Shop: Eoin truly exceeds expectations. He brings originality, sharp craft, and high standards to everything he touches. His ideas are big and bold, and as a writer, he’s exceptional. He knows how to shape a story, find the emotional core, and land lines that really stick. And as a proper Arsenal fan, he’s used to believing in big dreams and trusting the long game, which honestly makes him even more resilient when pushing great work through.

Social Media Manager, xNDigitize – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Naomi DSouza, CEO, xNDigitize: I’m recommending Eman because she challenges the room in the best way. She speaks with clarity and conviction, often shifting perspectives people did not even realise needed shifting. Despite her age, she carries herself with remarkable maturity and strategic thinking. Eman truly believes age is just a number, and she proves it through her work daily. She creates with intention, questions assumptions, and brings a generational lens that pushes brands forward rather than keeping them comfortable.

GAURANG KACHHADIYA, 30

Graphic Designer & UI/UX Designer, nuja inc. –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Noopur Pal, Brand Strategy Lead, nuja inc.: Gaurang is not just a versatile designer but is one of the most dependable team members we have at nuja. He is always willing to learn, upskill and help his colleagues out. G, as he is lovingly called, has also turned our nontechnical team into Figma lovers! He completely deserves all the recognition he can get.

GUNJAN MATHUR, 25

Brand Designer, Yellow Branding & Digital Consultancy – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Mamta Varerkar, General Manager & Partner, Yellow Branding & Digital Consultancy: Her meticulous research and deep understanding of each project creates thoughtful, distinctive brands that shape everyday experiences. Gunjan’s creative thinking, precision, and strategic approach embody what makes a truly exceptional brand designer.

HARVEY JOHNSTON, 24

Senior Social Marketing Executive, M+C Saatchi – Sport & Entertainment –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ahmed Moghazy, Social & Content Director, M+C Saatchi –Sport & Entertainment: Harvey has been a standout talent since joining the Social team at M+C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment. From day one, he has shown exceptional growth, creativity, and a special eye for content, becoming a key contributor across major projects including DP World Tour, Dubai 7s, and New Balance. What makes Harvey a true ‘Face to Watch’ is the pace of his development and the quality he brings to every project.

INDRAJITH KUTTIYIL, 28

Senior Graphic Designer, The Hanging House Experiential Events LLC – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Luna Arja, Creative Lead, The Hanging House Experiential Events LLC: Some designers create graphics. Others build worlds. Indrajith does both. With an exceptional eye for detail and a sharp sense of visual hierarchy, he brings creativity, clarity, structure and refinement to every piece of visual communication. A multidimensional creative, he moves fluidly between visual design and artistic expression, dabbles in motion, and understands spatial design and UX/UI workflows, allowing him to see projects holistically, not just visually.

HIND EL HASSAN, 29

Account Manager, Dentsu Creative – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Khaled Jebara, Account Director, Dentsu Creative: Hind is a standout talent, her presence immediately elevates the energy of any team she joins. What truly sets her apart is her emotional intelligence and her ability to foster a collaborative environment, even under pressure. She approaches every challenge with a solutionoriented mindset and a maturity far beyond her years.

HANIYA SHOAIB, 23

Creative Content Designer, Enigma – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Goumi K, Creative Director, Enigma: Haniya is one of the most instinctive and strategic brand thinkers I’ve worked with. She has a sharp awareness of aesthetic, tone, and cultural relevance, translating that into storytelling that feels intelligent and emotionally grounded. Her work is rooted in strong market research, sharpening her final concepts and making them not just beautiful but persuasive. She brings narratives to life through visuals, especially video and motion content, where she truly excels.

HANZ LIONEL VALBUENA, 28

Associate Business Director, Strategy and Insights, Saatchi & Saatchi –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Tahaab Rais, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis Groupe MENAT: I liked Hanz since we hired him. What stood out (and what continues to stand out) is his ability to take on a category many others run from (health and pharma) and find a way to make the output sharp, human, and scientifically sound. He’s also disciplined. He doesn’t look for shortcuts. He shows rigour. He’s consistent, calm under pressure, and willing to do the unglamorous work, that unlocks growth. He always contributes creatively to Groupe-wide proactive opportunities.

HONEY THADANI, 30

Account Director, Trivium – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Duncan O’Rourke, Chief Operating Officer, Accor: Honey has led Accor’s creative communications across the region with a rare combination of strategic discipline and calm leadership. What sets her apart is her ability to navigate complexity with composure and creative problem-solving. She brings clarity when priorities compete, steadiness under pressure and a collaborative energy that builds trust across markets and teams. Her commercial awareness, empathy and decisive leadership make her a valued and trusted partner to Accor’s regional business.

JAD IBRY, 26

Senior Art Director, TBWA\RAAD –Lebanon

Nominated by Rita Nasr, Group Creative Director, TBWA\RAAD: Jad shows real passion and strong potential to grow into a great creative. He approaches briefs with confidence, often cracking them quickly, and always pushing for bold, disruptive ideas that push boundaries. His creative output is always at the right level, both in thinking and execution. Jad is a strong team player, always willing to support others.

JAD MATTA, 26

Senior Executive, Performics – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Chaitali Sawant, Manager, Performics: Jad brings great energy wherever he goes. Naturally witty yet highly professional, he combines confidence with a strong strategic mindset. He consistently translates insight into action, leveraging data, AI-driven solutions and emerging technologies to optimise journeys and drive performance. His design and storytelling skills elevate every pitch and strategy. A true team player, both at work and on the basketball court, Jad raises standards and inspires those around him to excel.

JANA ABI HASSAN, 26

Nominated by Malek Ghorayeb, CCO, Publicis Communication

Levant:

Jana is someone you can genuinely rely on. No matter the circumstances, she shows up fully and delivers work she can stand behind. Her commitment isn’t performative, it’s steady, consistent, and felt in the quality of what she produces. Everyone sees her as dependable, driven, and deeply invested in her craft. She brings sharp creative thinking, positive energy, and a strong sense of discipline to every brief. She doesn’t just reference trends; she understands the mindset behind them. And she balances that cultural fluency with maturity and a strong work ethic.

JUANNE

JESSICA TANURI, 30

Multimedia Designer, 9SSCreative –Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Anmar Madani, Founder & Design Director, 9SSCreative: Working with Jude has been a great experience. She approaches every project with curiosity and care for the craft. Whether contributing to branding, digital work, animation, or merchandise, she brings thoughtful execution. What stands out most is her willingness to learn and stretch beyond her comfort zone. Her growth mindset and dedication make her someone you can trust to handle work with both heart and precision.

Nominated by Selina Khiroya, Client Services Director, Havas Middle East: Jessica leads the Bel FMCG account with confidence, proactivity and a deep understanding of the category, building strong trust with her clients and successfully growing the partnership into multiple out-of-scope projects. Her dedication across every stage – from planning through to delivery, is truly commendable. She consistently pushes for the highest standard of work, constructively challenging both the client and our internal teams to achieve the very best output.

Art Director, Yellow Branding & Digital Consultancy – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Uli Stanke, Managing Director, MCH Global: Juanne is one of those rare project managers who elevates the entire team through pure drive and positivity. Her can-do attitude is unmatched. No task is too big, no detail too small. She approaches every brief with focus, precision, and genuine enthusiasm – giving confidence to everyone around her. She has grown significantly within the team, taking on greater responsibility while maintaining the energy that defines her.

Account Executive, Haus of Hendricks –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Christine Warren, Managing Director, Haus of Hendricks: Jordan brings energy, creative flair, strategic thinking and seamless execution. She’s an integral part of our team and her client work is nothing short of exceptional. We are incredibly proud of how Jordan approaches every task set for her as her can-do attitude and ability to problem solve ensures smooth and calm delivery. She is incredibly personable and a real team player. We are incredibly lucky to have her as part of our team.

Nominated by Mamta Varerkar, General Manager & Partner, Yellow Branding & Digital Consultancy: Joyce approaches every brief conceptfirst. Her ideas come from research, user insight, and a strong ability to empathise, allowing her to uncover perspectives others often miss. She avoids obvious routes and regularly challenges the team to think beyond execution. Joyce brings a global perspective shaped by cultural exposure, has influenced those around her to think more conceptually, and has been behind numerous successful campaigns and projects.

Senior Bilingual Creative Copywriter, AGA Communication Network, Lebanon

Nominated by Dany Azzi, Executive Creative Director, AGA Communication Network:

I’ve had the privilege of watching Jana Fahda grow into one of the most exciting young creatives at our agency. She brings a rare mix of sharp strategic thinking and genuine hands-on dedication to every brief. She understands how to build campaign platforms that translate seamlessly into social, creating work that feels culturally relevant, native to platform and purpose-driven.

JULIÁN GONZI, 28

Senior Art Director, C2 Communications –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Pablo Maldonado, Executive Creative Director, C2 Communications:

We live in times for our industry where the line dividing what we used to be from what we’re becoming is completely blurred. In this context, a few creatives like Julián seem to have the compass to take ideas into undiscovered, AIpowered territories.

Creative Lead, Enigma – United Arab Emirates

KARIM SAAD, 27

Manager – Strategy & Insights, Saatchi & Saatchi – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Tahaab Rais, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis Groupe MENAT: Karim is a talent you bet on and face to watch. He had the ambition to move from account management into strategy, not as a title change, but as a craft shift. He’s hungry in the best way. Always learning, always sharpening, always asking what would make the work braver, clearer, and more effective. On e&, he has delivered on critical briefs and projects and become a real pillar for the team.

KEZIA SHAMIL, 28

Copywriter, LEO – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Divyan Kriplani, Creative Director, LEO :

Kezia might be small in stature, but she has giant creative potential. A relentlessly hardworking copywriter with a brilliantly bubbly spirit, Kezia brings sharp thinking and infectious energy to everything she touches. Collaborative, dependable and ambitious, Kez is the kind of person every creative team hopes for.

KEVIN CHRIS JOHAN, 27

Nominated by Goumi K, Creative Director, Enigma: Kholoud’s range as a creative is rare. What sets her apart is how she thinks, always considering audience emotion and experience before aesthetics. She sees beyond the brief, questioning deeper intent and pushing ideas further than expected. Her concepts are research-backed, persuasive, and often braver than anticipated, yet she brings people on board with clarity and conviction. She is deeply inquisitive, constantly seeking new perspectives across disciplines. That curiosity pushes boundaries and strengthens her work. In my eyes, that is the mark of a true creative.

Emirates

Nominated by Rawan Eladl, Senior Brand and Creative Manager, Bukhash Brothers: Kevin is the calm in the chaos of any production set. He brings a quiet confidence that keeps teams grounded and productions running smoothly from start to finish. His personal style is as considered as his frames, and that sharp creative eye shows in everything he produces. He is the kind of creative every high-performing team wants in the room.

Copywriter, LEO – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Karim Zeinelabedin, Senior Creative Director, LEO:

Liana reminds me of the good old advertising days when we questioned everything and scrutinised every detail. Her approach to briefs is refreshingly rebellious – offering just the right amount of resistance to ‘what is’ in favour of ‘what could be.’ With the right guidance, consistent exposure to great work, and her cheeky sense of humour, I’m certain she’ll bring a muchneeded gravitas to the industry.

LISA OLMOS, 29

Account Manager, Havas Middle East – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Juan David Salazar, Creative Director & Head of Content, Havas Middle East:

Nominated by Yasmina Toak, Managing Director,

Karrine is an outstanding account manager whose proactive nature truly sets her apart; she is always one step ahead of her clients’ instincts. A relentless problemsolver, she refuses to let challenges sit, consistently bringing structure and clarity to even the most complex, fast-moving accounts. She has an incredible ability to walk into chaos and leave behind a well-oiled machine. Beyond her sharp operational instincts, Karrine is an eager collaborator with a calm, infectious energy that makes her a joy to have on any team.

Lisa consistently demonstrates exceptional professionalism and leadership in her role as Account Manager. She navigates complex client needs with clarity, composure, and a refined luxury mindset that elevates both the process and the final output. Her ability to manage multiple stakeholders, anticipate challenges, and maintain strong relationships has been instrumental in delivering high-quality work under pressure.

LUCAS LIMA, 27

Senior Art Director, Publicis One Unlimited –

United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Rita Harbie, Senior Creative Director, Publicis One Unlimited :

Lucas Lima is the kind of creative you notice before you even see the work, because his quiet energy is impossible to miss. He’s relentlessly proactive, always chasing the next idea, the next angle, the next way to make something better.

But what truly sets him apart is his drive. It’s contagious. Lucas has a way of lifting the room, inspiring those around him to think bigger, push harder, and care more about ideas. He’s one of those people who subtly raises the bar for each person he works with.

Copywriter, Creativity At Scale (CATS) – Jordan

Nominated by Nadim Dimechkie, Senior Creative Director, Creativity At Scale (CATS): Since joining last February, Mai has brought brilliant, fresh creative ideas to every brief lucky enough to have her. She has a sharp, playful mind, a strong intellect and excellent copywriting skills.

Senior Account Executive, Brodmann10 – Iraq

Nominated by Fatema Mohammed, Client Relationship Manager, Brodmann10: Mariam does her strongest work where complexity and time pressure collide. She led the delivery of the first Doritos TVC filmed in Iraq, taking the project from brief to national broadcast in just 20 days. What began as a single film evolved into a three-layer campaign ecosystem that generated more than 3,600 organic UGC posts on TikTok. Her strength is in turning ambitious plans into work that actually lands.

Senior Account Executive, TBWA\RAAD – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Hadi Abou Khzam, Managing Director – Nissan United:

Maha is a true asset to the Nissan United business, consistently demonstrating professionalism and impact in everything she takes on. She brings dynamic energy that drives progress and proactively pushes initiatives forward. Her ability to collaborate across cross-functional teams and manage diverse briefs is impressive, and she handles it all with confidence and excellence.

Social Media Manager, FP7 McCANN – Qatar

Nominated by Mazen Tannous, Business Director, FP7 McCANN:

An exceptional Social Media Manager who blends strategic thinking with genuine human connection, consistently transforming complex brand narratives into impactful digital ecosystems across the GCC. With proven experience spanning government entities, financial institutions, luxury brands, and entrepreneurial platforms, they deliver measurable growth while maintaining creative integrity. Beyond results, what truly distinguishes him is his leadership style: empathetic, hands-on and grounded in trust.

Senior Social Media Analyst, VML Lebanon – Lebanon

Nominated by Gaia Dahrieh, Social Media Analytics Lead, VML Lebanon: It is with immense pride that I nominate Marwa. She’s just different. Her impact goes so much deeper than any numbers on a page. She’s the heartbeat behind so many of our successes, and that calm, steady force when deadlines feel impossible. Everyone in the agency turns to her because she’s always three steps ahead. I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing her growth, in confidence, leadership and impact.

Senior Graphic Designer, Serviceplan Experience – Egypt

Nominated by Sara Eid, Regional Creative Director, Serviceplan Experience:

An icon of commitment, Mariama is relentless in her pursuit to learn, evolve, and take ownership. Mariama has led high-impact branding and digital campaigns across automotive and lifestyle sectors for regional and international brands. Her strength lies in blending creativity with strategic clarity, delivering work that is both visually compelling and commercially effective.

Art Director, Publicis Levant – Lebanon

Nominated by Raneem Sakr, Creative Director, Publicis Levant: Matthew is undeniably an Agency Face to Watch for 2026. His creativity, sharp wit and amazing spirit know no bounds. he blends the perfect mindset with an elite skillset to craft work that genuinely matters. He doesn’t just design; he aims to create profound intellectual, visual and social impact. Matthew is not just a talent to watch this year, but a creative face to watch for several years to come.

MOHAMMED AL-ASHRAM, 24

Account Manager, TBWA\RAAD – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Dany Aouad, Managing Director, TBWA\RAAD:

Mohammed is definitely a face to watch for the future. His commitment, dedication and passion for the work are beyond his young years. He leads the relationship with Saudi German Health and shows immense maturity and know-how when it comes to dealing with the day-to-day responsibilities. He is a solution-driven individual who looks at the glass half full versus half empty. Even at his young age and albeit surrounded by more senior people, Mohammed takes ownership of building agency morale and culture.

MENNATULLAH SOLIMAN, 29

Art Director, Boopin – Egypt

Nominated by Ramzy Haddad, Regional Executive Creative Director, Boopin: Menna is one of the newest members in our creative department. In a very short time she managed to prove herself as a champion in AI. She has become our go-to art director for demanding tasks and challenging ideas. She also challenges the gender bias when it comes to heavy-lifting and fiercely defending her concepts. Courageous, insightful, and bullseye on the target.

Nominated by Mirna Eskarous, Regional Director- The Studio/ Creative Director, Burson: Mohamed Elamine, our resident creative wizard, can conjure a hero superstar poster faster than you can say “deadline!” His talent is matched only by his infectious energy, making him an absolute blast to work with. He’s more than just a creative; he’s a special force of nature, a one-man visual effects department for your wildest dreams.

Senior Account Executive, Think Human –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Lucas Rodrigues, Client Partnership Director, Think Human : Jaber is a dedicated and driven talent who consistently demonstrates strong commitment, ownership and reliability. Jaber represents a new generation of client leaders who combine strategic thinking with genuine partnership, making him highly deserving of recognition in the 30 Under 30 Middle East campaign.

Associate Director – Social Media & Strategy, SSUP World – Lebanon

Nominated by Michel Salhab, Regional Accounts Director, SSUP World: Michel Bassil represents the next generation of strategic talent in our industry. He combines sharp, digital-first thinking fueled by market specific insights. Highly self-motivated, he consistently goes beyond the brief, adding value at every stage of the process. He quickly grasps client needs, understands commercial realities, and transforms challenges into fuel to excel.

MOHAMMED A. JAMEEL, 28

Founder & Managing Director, Bered – Iraq

Senior Account Executive, BPG Group – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ariane Haro, Business Director, BPG Group: Mayank Mathur is a rising talent who consistently elevates both the work and the client relationship. As a Senior Account Executive at BPG Dubai, he operates as a true brand custodian – combining strategic thinking, creative judgement, and commercial awareness across accounts such as Porsche, Wasl and Asmak. Trusted by clients to lead high-visibility briefs, Mayank brings a solutions-first mindset and a rare level of ownership that drives stronger outcomes and deeper partnerships.

Nominated byMostafa

Nominated by Wisam Mahmood, CEO, PRO-Traveling: Mohammed represents a new generation of Iraqi founders who refuse to accept average standards. What sets him apart is not just creativity, but his ability to build structure around it. He’s intentional about systems, team development, and longterm impact – not quick wins. In a market still evolving, Mohammed is actively shaping how agencies operate, not just how campaigns look.

is a multitalented, driven creative who delivers impactful work. As a Senior Creative Copywriter, he turns insights into culturally relevant ideas that resonate. Focused, passionate, and collaborative, he elevates both teams and brands. His creativity, professionalism, and results-driven approach make him a valuable asset.

Senior Account Executive, Team X (Omnicom) – United

Arab Emirates

Nominated by Christine Dias, Campaign & Content Lead, Team X (Omnicom): Mohammed brings a fresh, dynamic energy to the team and has quickly established himself as a driving force between account management and creativity. What sets him apart is his ability to blend both – balancing client expectations while continuously pushing for impactful, disruptive creative ideas. He confidently challenges briefs, offers well-informed perspectives and excels at multitasking, rolling out campaigns across multiple streams with focus and ease. His positive attitude makes collaboration with the client and internal teams effortless. I’m confident he’s well on his way to becoming one of the standout talents shaping the future of our industry.

NADINE

Branding Designer, entourage marketing and events – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Christopher Hunt, Creative Director, entourage marketing and events:

Nadine is driven by insight, intention and bold thinking in her creative pursuits. She blends strategic clarity with expressive design, crafting identities that feel both purposeful and contemporary. Curious by nature and confident in execution, she navigates complex brand challenges with ease.

MUHAMMED BADUSHA S, 29

Design Technician, entourage marketing and events – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Jumana Sharkas, Studio Director, entourage marketing and events:

Badusha is a brilliant young mind, quietly curious yet boldly creative. His calm demeanour contrasts strikingly with the strength of his work. Equally capable of working independently or within a team, his focus is remarkable for someone at this stage of his career. His innate drive to learn and grow makes him a true rising star within the studio.

Senior Account Manager, Brodmann10 – Iraq

Nominated by Fatema Mohammed, Client Relationship Manager, Brodmann10: Mustafa brings uncommon clarity to communications in highly regulated and trust-sensitive sectors. His strength lies in translating complex financial and institutional objectives into positioning that feels credible to real audiences. Across banking, payments and government initiatives, he consistently grounds strategy in operational reality rather than surface messaging. His work on national-scale digital adoption efforts demonstrates both discipline and commercial awareness.

Production Manager, Quill Communications – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Hadi Alghossainy, Associate Creative Director, Quill Communications: Kilani approaches imagery with the sensitivity of an artist and the precision of a craftsman. His lens captures nuance, atmosphere, and emotion in ways that elevate visuals beyond documentation into cinematic expression. Every frame he composes is intentional, textured, and emotionally resonant, revealing details others might overlook. His work consistently enriches Quill’s films with depth, beauty, and sensory impact, strengthening both storytelling and brand perception.

Senior Content Producer, Quill Communications – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Hadi Alghossainy, Associate Creative Director, Quill Communications: Shafeeq possesses an extraordinary visual instinct that transforms live environments into dynamic cinematic moments. His eye for composition, movement, and contemporary visual language brings freshness and energy to every production he leads. He continually experiments with angles, motion, and framing to create imagery that feels current, immersive and memorable.

Senior Account Executive, VML KSA –Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Gregory Muyesseroglu, Associate Business Director, VML KSA: For quite some time now, Mohammed has shown an unparalleled resilience to push great work to our clients. Over the years, he’s not only become a trusted advisor to both his team and counterparts, elevating everything, not just through flawless execution, but by pushing for smarter ideas and stronger storytelling. Consistently proactive and culturally tuned in, he provides a sense of relief that the future of advertising in the region is indeed in good hands.

General Distributor Operations Lead, Team X (Omnicom) – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Bridget Weber, VP of Operations, Team X (Omnicom): In just one year as GD Operations Lead at Team X, Musfirah has driven remarkable growth and performance. Under her leadership, the team doubled in size – a testament to the trust she builds and the clarity she brings to complex operations. She also improved Mercedes-Benz KPIs by 25 per cent across five evaluation criteria, delivering measurable commercial impact on one of the region’s most demanding automotive accounts.

Senior Copywriter, YouExperience Dubai – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Vijay Simon, Chief Creative Officer, YouExperience Dubai: Nesma is the kind of creative every modern agency needs; she’s sharp on strategy, grounded in human truth, and relentless about making the work unboring. She looks for the real tension underneath the brief; the behaviour, the belief, the friction, and builds from there with clarity and intent. She leads projects end to end, creatively and strategically, understanding that an idea isn’t finished when it looks good, but when it works in culture. What sets her apart is her extreme ownership. She stays focused under pressure and challenges safe thinking.

Account Executive, BigTime Creative Shop – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Rabie Hassoun, Senior Director –Business & Growth, BigTime Creative Shop: I highly recommend Nawara as a 2026 Face to Watch. Nawara is a quick learner who rapidly adapts to new challenges and responsibilities. She performs effectively under pressure, consistently delivering strong results even in demanding situations. Her contributions have played a key role in several award-winning campaigns, demonstrating reliability and impact. Nawara shows great promise for growth in the industry for years to come.

Senior Graphic Designer, Serviceplan Arabia – Egypt

Nominated by Sara Eid, Regional Creative Director, Serviceplan Arabia: With every project she joins, Nermeen surprises you. Quiet at first, perhaps – but unforgettable by the end. A Senior Graphic Designer with more than six years in advertising and brand communications, Nermeen operates at the intersection of strong visuals and smart thinking. Every design decision is intentional; every bold idea is a weapon. She has crafted integrated campaigns for brands including Abdul Latif Jameel, Honda UAE, and KFC Egypt, delivering clarity, craft, and cultural impact.

Nominated by Harith Bukhash, Co-Founder, Bukhash Brothers: Over the past seven years at Bukhash Brothers, her loyalty and dedication have never wavered. Since stepping into her new role, the impact has been remarkable, not only have we seen clear financial growth, but also a stronger sense of harmony and collaboration across the teams, leading to improved efficiency and workflows. She has a rare ability to balance performance with people, leading with empathy, clarity and confidence.

– Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Christopher Hunt, Creative Director, entourage marketing and events:

A dynamic creative with an instinct for turning ideas into experiences. Energetic in thought yet precise in execution, he brings fresh perspective to every concept he touches. His strength lies in connecting narrative, audience and impact seamlessly.

Account Manager, FP7 McCANN Cairo – Egypt

Nominated by Reem El Gabaly, Group Account Director, FP7 McCANN Cairo : Neamat is a very dependable and positive Account Manager who is genuinely dedicated to the agency and the teams she works with. She has built excellent working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders across the agency, creating a collaborative and solution-oriented environment for every project she handles. In 2025, she notably excelled in managing a complex regional campaign, navigating multiple markets and handling tight timelines with confidence and composure.

Senior Account Manager, Tuesday –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Alok Gadkar, CEO & CCO, Tuesday: Noaf is a rare talent who combines sharp strategic thinking with an innate ability to lead. Since joining Tuesday, she has taken full ownership of key accounts like Union Coop, delivering excellence that usually requires years more experience. She doesn’t just manage clients; she partners with them to find growth opportunities they hadn’t seen. Her drive to elevate her professional presence and her proactive approach to leadership make her a standout figure in the next generation of agency leaders.

Senior Account Executive, LEO – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Ahmed Abdulaziz, Business Director – Communications Consultancy, LEO : As a Senior Account Executive, Nouf consistently earns high praise from clients for her unwavering dedication and commitment to excellence. She is remarkably resourceful, demonstrating a unique ability to navigate challenging situations where others might see an impasse. A reliable colleague who delivers every time, she is truly a standout talent in our field.

Account Manager, VML UAE

Nominated by Maret Murzabekova, Associate Account Director, VML UAE:

Nouhaila is a force of nature. She’s not just a solution-finder; she’s the solutionfinder, consistently delivering razorsharp ideas that leap off the page with her uniquely quirky personality.

Nouhaila has an extraordinary ability to move mountains for clients and projects, making the most challenging obstacles seem effortless. Her infectious energy and brilliant strategic mind make her an indispensable asset and an absolute joy to work with. She is truly a rising star destined to shape our industry.

NOURAN

Nominated by Aunindo Sen, Executive Creative Director Publicis Middle East: Nouran is a refreshing throwback to the fabled ‘good old days’. With all the talk of a hustle generation and a lack of grounding in our industry, Nouran is a quiet, calm force of nature who gets the job done silently and more often than not, brilliantly. Along with an excellent sense of design and concepts across subjects and categories, Nouran has a maturity and poise like very few of her age. Her ceiling is extremely high. And her journey is just getting started.

NOUR AMR, 24

Account Manager, VML Egypt

Nominated by Gehad Rashwan, Client Officer, VML Egypt: Nour exemplifies excellence through action, not words. She is an exceptional listener and problem solver who approaches every challenge with sharp business focus. What distinguishes her is how she acts as a true consultant to clients rather than just an account manager – always thinking strategically about their business needs. Nour works in silence but delivers extraordinary achievements, serving as a genuine brand guardian who protects and elevates every project she manages. Her maturity and consultative mindset far exceed her years.

Senior Experiential Manager, TishTash Communications – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Rachel Ann Braganza, Social & Digital Experiential Director, TishTash Communications:

Olivia is a social first strategist who consistently blends data led insight with culturally relevant creativity to drive measurable brand growth. She has led end to end social strategies, influencer partnerships and platform native content that truly connects and performs. She takes strong ownership with minimal guidance, builds trusted client relationships and delivers work that supports long term renewals.

NOUR GHANNAM, 25

Senior Graphic Designer, VML Lebanon

Nominated by Ramzi Sarieddine, Design Director, VML Lebanon:

Are Social – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Thando Mafongosi, Strategy Partner, We Are Social:

Owais is a brilliant and endlessly curious mind. At just 22, he’s already shaping ideas, building tools, and creating experiences most can only imagine. What makes him remarkable isn’t only his skill across design, 3D, motion, and coding, it’s how he inspires those around him, sharing knowledge, experimenting boldly, and pushing boundaries without hesitation. Talented, generous, and fearless, Owais isn’t just building his career, he’s setting a new standard for what young creative can achieve.

Nour’s creative spark translates into consistent real-world impact. At VML, she has become a cornerstone of the team, managing high-stakes, large-scale projects with exceptional responsibility. As a rare designer who can be truly relied upon, she remains fiercely loyal to the creative vision while delivering polished work under pressure. Her ability to infuse complex brand identities into striking visuals is remarkable. Nour has a brilliant future ahead at VML, where her dedication to pushing boundaries and professional growth continues to be a major asset to the company.

OMAR

Nominated by Raul Arantes, Creative Director, Havas Middle East: Omar is one of the most dedicated creatives I’ve worked with. After relocating from Cairo to Dubai, he stepped up immediately – not just adapting, but elevating the work. He combines strong conceptual thinking with refined visual craft, and consistently delivers ideas that translate into real commercial impact.

Video Producer, nuja inc. – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Noopur Pal, Brand Strategy Lead, nuja inc.: Pankaj is truly beyond his age as a visual storyteller. It might be his theatre background or his old soul, but he’s been a great addition to our team of creative overthinkers, nevertheless. He somehow balances the right emotions for our video content along with mastering Gen AI tools and output – and all of it with his signature smile.

RASSIL TAMIM, 30

PAULINA RUIZ DE LA TORRE, 27

Art Director, Serviceplan Experience – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Sameer Suri, Creative Director, Serviceplan Experience:

There are two types of creatives. The ones who chase awards. And the ones who chase approval. Paulina is neither of those. Paulina is Paulina. She puts love into every campaign she’s on. The stuff you point out in one project always shows up fully solved by the next one. She has an internal filter that you can’t really teach.

Senior Art Director, Publicis Communications – Lebanon

Nominated by Sary Najjar, Senior Creative Director, Publicis Communications:

Rassil is part of a new wave of creative leaders

redefining senior talent under 30. She leads highpressure work with calm authority, earning deep trust from clients and teams. She combines sharp conceptual thinking with disciplined delivery ideas that move smoothly from pitch to production. She also lifts those around her, mentoring juniors and raising standards through collaboration. With a clear trajectory toward Associate Creative Director, Rassil is one of the standout creative talents to watch in MEA.

PEACH ESSAM, 29

Creative Producer, Serviceplan Middle East –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Geetika Sood, Head of Production, Serviceplan Middle East:

Peach is deeply tuned into the ground – culturally aware, well connected, and instinctively aligned with what matters across this region. His engagement with music, art and emerging subcultures keeps him sharp and gives him a genuine ear to the ground. As a Creative Producer, he brings calm, credibility and clarity into every room, building strong relationships across talent, partners and clients. He understands how ideas live beyond the brief and consistently translates that into work with resonance.

REEM FEGHALI, 26

Senior Executive- Communications & Project Management, LEO – Lebanon

Nominated by Christopher Nehme, Business Director- Communications Consultancy, LEO: Reem is a talent every manager hopes to spot early. Curious, reliable, and relentlessly committed, she pushes projects forward with a maturity well beyond her years. With a background in psychology, she brings a sharp understanding of people into the work, turning insight into ideas and structure into creativity. Once Reem is on a project, things simply move. She brings order to chaos, keeps teams aligned, and never loses sight of the thinking behind the work. What stands out most is her drive to grow. Reem is building the instincts of a future leader.

PERLA LAHOUD, 27

Account Manager, FP7 McCANN – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Samer Alhussein, Business Director, FP7 McCANN:

In an industry that often rewards noise over substance, Perla consistently brings sharp thinking, structured problem-solving and a calm, solutions-driven mindset to the table. What I value most is her ownership mentality. she don’t wait to be told what to do, she anticipates, elevates and push the work forward.

RAWAN JOUDAH, 28

Senior Graphic Designer, DUCKLIFE –United

Arab Emirates (UAE)

Nominated by Bilel Labjaoui, Creative Director, DUCKLIFE:

Rawan is truly a face to watch. As a creative leader who recently joined the agency, I’ve found Rawan to be someone I can genuinely trust and rely on. As the longest-standing designer here, she leads with unwavering dedication, proving that longevity and drive can absolutely go hand in hand. Just six months into my own journey, I’ve seen firsthand how her grit and ambition continue to push the agency toward its next chapter. She consistently raises her hand for internal projects, bringing passion and a deep commitment to growth. Rawan’s infectious energy lifts the entire team.

RENAD JAMALUDDIN, 28

Senior Graphic Designer, Serviceplan Arabia – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Sara Eid, Regional Creative Director, Serviceplan Arabia: Always challenging herself – and everyone around her – Renad stands firmly for more: more depth, more intention, more impact. As Senior Graphic Designer at Serviceplan Group, Renad shapes culturally intelligent creative across automotive, product, governmental, and lifestyle brands. She transforms strategy into bold visual narratives that balance emotional depth with commercial precision. Known for her sharp conceptual thinking and refined art direction, she elevates briefs into brand moments that resonate beyond the expected.

SABA KHOKHAR, 29

Visual Designer, entourage marketing and events – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Christopher Hunt, Creative Director, entourage marketing and events:

A thoughtful designer with a sharp eye and a quiet confident presence. Her work reflects clarity, balance, and an instinctive understanding of how design communicates emotion. Methodical yet imaginative, Saba approaches every brief with discipline and curiosity.

Strategy and Insights Executive, Saatchi & Saatchi – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Tahaab Rais, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis Groupe MENAT:

Sara was an intern who quietly got our team excited and raised expectations. She came through Pub Cubs, our internship programme, proved herself in real work at real speed, and earned a full-time role because the value was undeniable. What we saw is a strategist who took research and culture and made it useful, not academic. She’s sharp in how she frames a problem, rigorous in validating an insight, and fast turning it into something we can build up from.

Art Director, Trivium – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Sharath Premkumar, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Trivium: Sandy is one of our strongest visualisers for creative advertising campaigns. He has a natural ability to translate strategic ideas into powerful, cohesive visual executions across multiple platforms. Whether leading seasonal rollouts or supporting large-scale brand campaigns, he brings clarity, consistency and sharp creative instinct to every brief. He remains calm under pressure and has become a dependable figure within the studio.

Account Manager, FP7 McCANN – Qatar

Creative Lead, xNDigitize – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Naomi DSouza, CEO, xNDigitize: I’m nominating Sharon for Agency Faces to Watch 2026 because she is relentlessly multitalented and refuses to stay in one lane. She pushes herself into every room, every brainstorm, every challenge, determined to get her hands dirty and learn it all. From global brands to major regional events, she blends strategy with instinct and empathy with execution. Sharon does not wait for permission to grow. She creates the opportunity, owns it, and elevates everyone around her.

Nominated by Mazen Tannous, Business Director, FP7 McCANN: She works at the intersection of strategy, execution, and client leadership on some of Qatar’s most demanding accounts. Leading Ooredoo and complex banking brands has shaped her ability to deliver at scale, stay calm under pressure, and build trusted, long-term client partnerships. What sets her apart is her consultancy-led approach. She doesn’t execute for the sake of output – she focuses on solving business problems, protecting quality, and ensuring every campaign delivers strategic and creative value. She leads cross-functional teams, mentors junior talent, and remains accountable from briefing to final delivery.

Nominated by Ali Asif, Creative

There is a difference between finishing work and owning it.

Sara has a razor sharp eye for detail, thinks strategically, and has a rare hunger to keep learning and pushing further. In a short amount of time, she is already looking for bigger opportunities to show what she does best. No fluff. No noise. Just clear, straight to the point thinking.

Nominated by Nabil Sarih, Creative Director, VML Morocco:

Theo is one of those rare juniors who brings both craft and momentum. He masters design and motion with the same ease, moves fast without cutting corners, and consistently turns feedback into a stronger, sharper result. He listens, asks the right questions, and understands the problem before jumping to visuals.

Bilingual Copywriter, We Are Social – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Jack Rogers, Associate Creative Director, We Are Social: It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about the latest TV drama, niche Middle Eastern trends, or obscure new slang: there are few pop culture connoisseurs as tapped into social culture as Shohret is. It’s such a joy to work with someone who’s able to bring their wealth of culture-first insights to their creative, and it shows in her pitch wins and work for clients such as Dubai World Trade Centre, Sony, Babyshop and more.

Founder, Chapters Marketing – United Arab Emirates

Matt Sexton, Managing Director & Partner , SAY Studio: We’ve been working with Selini for over two years now and she’s really improved our social media presence. Selini is a passionate and dynamic individual whose dedication to her area of expertise is both infectious and an asset for any business. She really understands our collective personality and has been able to represent this through innovative and personable content that we’re proud of. She’s always very positive about our business, and it’s awesome to see what she’s building and the passion and commitment she puts into everything she does.

TANISHA MASCARENHAS, 24

Creative Designer, JWI – United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Nominated by Benjamin Thomas, Creative Director, JWI:

Tanisha is a rare creative talent. Not only is her design delivery consistently strong, but her mindset is already ahead of her level. She’s grown fast because she takes feedback seriously and applies it with purpose. She doesn’t just “do the task”, she asks the right questions, considers the audience, and finds ways to improve the whole process. She’s proactive, reliable, and quietly ambitious in the right way.

SHOUG ALNASSAR, 24

Strategy & Insight Executive, LEO – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Tahaab Rais, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis Groupe MENAT: Shoug stood out from day one in Pub Cubs, our internship program. Not because she was loud, but because she was insightful. She has that rare advantage of being a young Saudi woman who can read young Saudi consumers from the inside, then translate that instinct into clear strategy that teams can use. She listens, asks the right questions, and turns inputs into human insights with real cultural truth. We hired her because she was a face to watch!

TUQA IBRAHIM, 27

Account Manager, Bered – Iraq

Nominated by Mohammed A.

Jameel, Founder & Managing Director, Bered:

Tuqa represents a new kind of account leader – one who blends empathy with execution discipline. She doesn’t seek the spotlight, yet she holds the structure that keeps everything moving. Her transition from creative intern to Account Manager in such a short time reflects her adaptability and strategic growth. She builds trust through precision communication and relentless ownership.

SOHA WAEL, 26

Senior Graphic Designer, Havas Middle East – Egypt

Nominated by Raul Arantes, Creative Director, Havas Middle East: Soha is one of the most driven and fastevolving creatives in our team. Over the past year, she has consistently delivered high-quality work across major campaigns and pitches, including DWTC and Kiri Ramadan, while expanding her capabilities in AI-driven design and advanced visual manipulation. What sets her apart is her curiosity and hunger to grow – she actively seeks new challenges, contributes beyond her core role, and pushes everyday briefs toward stronger conceptual output.

TALA HASSAN, 25

Nominated by Karim Sherif, Executive Creative Director, Magnitude Creative: Tala is a unique, young, ambitious, talented and quite the formidable force. Her empathy, compassion and well rounded understanding of the industries’s curves and turns, delights leaders and colleagues. She is a gem to work with and has a bright future to become an industry leader in the near future.

TANYA VALENTINA SHIHAB FITORIA, 29

Senior Account Manager, Memac Ogilvy – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Sana Omran, Managing Partner, Memac Ogilvy: Tanya is an exceptional talent whose energy and ownership set her apart. She consistently goes above and beyond, bringing structure, organisation, and clarity to even the most complex projects. During one of our most demanding periods, she stepped up to lead a major account with minimal support, demonstrating resilience, composure, and leadership well beyond her title. Tanya combines positivity and meticulous execution with the confidence to push for better work, stronger thinking, and higher standards. Her proactive mindset and relentless drive make her not only a reliable leader today, but a future industry force to watch in the region ahead.

STEPHANIE KHADDAGE, 25

Senior Account Executive, Dentsu Creative – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Nicole Jbeily, Senior Account Manager, Dentsu Creative:

Stephanie is a passionate and driven professional who brings genuine energy and dedication to everything she does. Proactive and solutionsoriented, she is always looking for smarter, more efficient ways of working and often builds her own processes to elevate both her output and the wider team. Her creativity, strong sense of ownership, and reliability make her a standout on every project she touches.

TIFFANY DIAS, 29

Nominated by Saheba Sodhi, Global Head of Strategy & Experiential, MCH Global:

Tiffany is a talented graphic designer with a refined visual instinct and a strong sense of composition. She has a natural ability to make work feel elevated, cohesive, and thoughtfully crafted. Beyond her technical skills, she brings creativity, care, and quiet confidence to every project. Tiffany is collaborative, reliable, and a joy to work with.

WALEED MANSOOR, 25

Senior Graphic Designer, Middle East Communication Network –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Lizzie Dewhurst, Chief Communication Officer, Middle East Communication Network (MCN):

Waleed represents the next generation of creative leaders –multidisciplinary, tech aware and deeply human. He has played a pivotal role in elevating our visual identity and raising the standard of everything we produce. He brings innovation into every room, constantly exploring new tools, formats and ways of thinking.

VANESSA KTEILY, 26

Content Manager, intouch Middle East –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Mark Sawma, CEO, intouch Middle East:

Vanessa is a rising creative force at intouch.

Starting as a content creator, her hunger to learn and master her craft quickly elevated her into more strategic responsibilities. She excels at connecting strategic thinking with refined, high‑quality execution, consistently delivering impactful work. Fast‑learning, tasteful, and naturally magnetic, She builds strong relationships. Clients genuinely enjoy working with her and trust her instinct. Vanessa is not just a talent to watch; she is a talent shaping the future. Her growth, discipline, and creative intelligence make her an exceptional candidate.

YOUSSEF MOSTAFA, 26

Senior Art Director, TBWA\RAAD –Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Rita Nasr, Group Creative Director, TBWA\RAAD: Youssef shows real commitment and the kind of creative maturity you don’t often see this early. He approaches every brief as a problem to solve, not just something to execute, and he does it with confidence and sharp instinct. His ideas are culturally tuned in, grounded in social moments, and always crafted with precision.

YARA OMAR, 27

Senior Account Manager, TBWA\RAAD – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Rama Zarafili, Account Director, TBWA\RAAD:

Yara is the kind of talent every agency aspires to have on their team; rare and impossible to overlook. She consistently elevates both the work and the people around her, bringing sharp strategic thinking, strong creative instinct, proactivity and a solution driven ownership mindset that sets her apart, raising the bar on everything she touches. Her contributions are deliberate, impactful, and always in service of stronger outcomes. Her energy fuels collaboration across disciplines and creates a tangible impact on team culture.

ZARA DSOUZA, 23

Senior Social Media Executive, BPG Group –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ben Schwartz, VP Client Services, BPG Group: Zara has reported directly to me for over a year, and her growth has been remarkable. She evolved from a talented content creator into someone capable of shaping social strategies and confidently leading client relationships. She is proactive, positive and consistently solution driven – never waiting to be told what to do. She is one of our rising stars, and I’m excited to see how far she will go.

ZEINA ELDAYASTY, 24

Senior Art Director, VML Egypt

Nominated by Mohamed Fouad, Executive Creative Director, VML Egypt:

Zeina’s journey from intern to Senior Art Director leading projects independently is nothing short of extraordinary. Her passion for design and art direction has propelled her to excel at remarkable speed. A determined fighter who never gives up, Zeina has developed far beyond expectations, now confidently leading major accounts solo. Her hunger to learn and push creative boundaries is matched only by her commitment to excellence.

YASMINE HASSAN, 28

Nominated by Gilbert Abdallah, Creative Director, VML KSA: Yasmine Hassan is an exceptional Senior Designer who consistently elevates every project she touches. Her meticulous attention to detail, strong conceptual thinking, and proactive mindset make her a highly reliable creative partner. She approaches every challenge with clarity, craft, and ownership, always pushing the work beyond expectations. Her dedication and solution oriented work ethic are an inspiration to the entire team. Beyond her design skills, Yasmine brings positive energy and initiative, and is genuinely committed to creating meaningful, impactful work. Any creative department would be fortunate to have her.

WAEL TAYAR, 30

Social Media Executive, RAPP MENA – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ahmad Yaseen, Social Media Lead, RAPP MENA: Wael is highly trustworthy and dependable, consistently demonstrating a strong sense of responsibility in his role. He has remarkable communication skills, allowing him to coordinate smoothly with internal teams, agencies, and stakeholders while maintaining clarity and alignment at all times. His strong understanding of client needs and proactive approach make him a key asset to the team. Wael is eager to learn and grow and always open to feedback, and continuously strives to develop his skills.

DIGITAL FACES TO WATCH

ABDUL HANAN MINHAS, 30 ABUBAKR AHMED MOHAMED, 30

Manager – Business Intelligence, Publicis Media – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ghadeer ElZein, Senior Manager –Business Intelligence, Publicis Media: Abdul is a trusted and technically strong member of our team, known for his reliability, professionalism, and consistent delivery. With a calm, solution-focused approach, he brings clarity to complex challenges and maintains high standards across demanding projects. His solid technical foundation and collaborative mindset enable him to support both internal teams and client stakeholders with confidence and precision. Beyond his skills, Abdul stands out for his integrity, ownership, and attention to detail, qualities that make him a dependable contributor within the team.

AHLAM ZIA, 24

Senior Account Executive, Team X (Omnicom) – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Musfirah Jafrani, Account Manager, Team X (Omnicom): Ahlam is a diligent, conscientious and a deeply driven professional. She has a certain quiet strength about her that allows people that she works with a certain sense of ease and confidence in her ability to deliver. Her journey at Team X has been nothing short of challenging as she manages one of the most key aspects of our partner’s marketing campaigns and strives for their success across all touch points. I look forward to seeing her grow and achieve great things.

Full Stack Developer, Creo Global – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Wasim Akram, Head of Technology, Creo Global:

I have seen firsthand his exceptional growth, ownership, and commitment to technical excellence. Abubakr consistently demonstrates a rare balance of strong engineering fundamentals and a deep understanding of user experience. He takes initiative, solves complex challenges with clarity, and contributes beyond his role by improving team standards and delivery quality. His positive attitude, reliability, and passion for modern technologies make him a valuable asset.

Nominated by Keyur Dhavle, Data and Analytics Director, Merkle: Aakriti has been a core pillar of our cloud engineering vertical. Her significant contributions to our AI initiatives have been instrumental in driving innovation and shaping our technical direction. Over the years, she has consistently led the engineering vertical with clarity, expertise, and ownership, while inspiring the team through her leadership. She has also been pivotal in building a cloud-native solutioning approach. Her trajectory sets the stage for even greater impact.

Nominated by Ahmad AlAmri, Associate Creative Director, Impact BBDO KSA:

Aline is a Senior Art Director with a strong track record of commitment, reliability, and consistent performance. She takes full ownership of her work and can always be depended on to deliver on time and to a high standard. Aline has a strong artistic eye and is highly skilled at creating clear visual directions that elevate the overall design output. She is also very effective in managing the team, organising workflows, and keeping projects running smoothly.

Nominated by George Achkouty, Business Unit Director, OMD MENA: Alejandra is part of a new wave of media talent redefining what planning means in 2026. She has quickly positioned herself as a strategic thinker who bridges data, audience insight, and real business outcomes. Alejandra stands out for her ability to simplify complexity, challenge briefs constructively, and elevate the thinking around her. As the industry shifts toward more accountable, outcome-led models, she represents the kind of ambitious, globally fluent leadership shaping the future of media.

ALINA JAFRI, 26

UX/UI Designer & Researcher, Create. Group – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Romain Colomer, Experience & Innovation Director, Create. Group: Alina operates across the full spectrum of digital experience – equally comfortable running in-depth research as she is designing systems for large-scale platforms. What sets her apart is her work at the intersection of UX and AI: she has led the red-teaming and response validation for multiple AI products, stress-testing against cultural nuance and edge cases. Her forward-leaning craft and critical thinking, grounded in deep cultural fluency, is exactly where this industry needs to head.

CHRISTOPHER BOU-AKEL, 24

Senior Executive – Business Intelligence, Publicis Groupe – Lebanon

AYA GALAL, 23

ANAND NAIR, 23

Account Executive, MRM MENAT – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Disha Mahbubani, Group Account Director, MRM MENAT: Anand is driven and dependable who consistently delivers with focus and intent. Fresh to the industry, he already demonstrates maturity beyond his experience. He is a hard worker with a genuine hunger to learn, constantly pushing himself to understand the business, the category, and the craft more deeply. In a landscape where urgency often compromises quality, he remains committed to strong output and thoughtful execution. His curiosity, work ethic, and growing strategic instinct make him a strong member of our team.

Campaign Manager, Imfluence Digital Marketing –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Aya Barghuthi, Head of Campaigns, Imfluence

Digital Marketing:

Aya takes full ownership of every campaign she manages, anticipates challenges before they become problems, and always shows up prepared and committed. Her ability to connect with people is rare, and it has directly strengthened the results she delivers for clients. At 23, she already carries herself with confidence and warmth that most people spend years trying to develop.

Nominated by Ghadeer ElZein, Senior Manager –Business Intelligence, Publicis Groupe: Chris has quickly established himself as a reliable, high-performing member of the team. In a short period, he not only earned everyone’s trust through his consistency, positive attitude, and high standards, but also demonstrated a remarkable ability to upskill rapidly, mastering new technologies and tools essential for our work. Chris doesn’t just meet expectations, he consistently goes above and beyond.

DALA ALKABBANI, 29

Senior Social Media Executive, FP7 McCANN – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ahmed Nour, Head of Social, FP7 McCANN: She has a natural ability to build trust with clients, turning day-today management into long-term partnerships. Dala anticipates needs, identifies growth opportunities, and ensures social strategies ladder up to real business impact. Her calm, solutionoriented mindset, and commercial awareness make her a dependable force on complex accounts. Dala doesn’t just manage communities and calendars, she strengthens brands from the inside out.

EVITA CHAHINE, 26

Digital Executive, Global Think Group – Lebanon

Nominated by Shane Horgan, Digital Director, Global Think Group: Evita is a standout young digital talent who has quickly established herself as a driving force across the accounts she supports. With exceptional organisational skills, strong platform expertise, and a natural instinct for content, she consistently delivers work of the highest standard. She takes full ownership of campaigns from planning through to reporting, often operating beyond her level with maturity and confidence.

DUAA IHLAYYEL, 28

Media Relations Manager, QComms – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Sarah Downes, Head of Consumer PR, QComms: Duaa is a standout talent, leading Arabic media relations across some of the agency’s largest accounts. With a deep understanding of the GCC landscape and its cultural nuances, she consistently secures meaningful, high-impact coverage for her clients. Her media relationships are unparalleled, built through trust, dedication and continuous nurturing. Passionate and driven, She always strives for excellence, bringing energy and focus to every brief. An integral cog in the QComms PR engine, Duaa is undoubtedly one to watch.

BEN DARAMOLA, 29

Senior Performance Marketing Manager, Home of Performance –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by John von Hofsten, CEO, Home of Performance:

Technical architect behind complex enterprise accounts. Provides high-level human strategy in an AI era. Mentors the junior team and guards the agency’s ‘performance promise’.

FAHAD ABDULHAFEZ, 27

Multimedia Designer, Impact BBDO – Jordan

Nominated by Ahmad AlAmri, Associate Creative Director, Impact BBDO:

Fahad is a Multimedia Designer who consistently delivers high-quality work with speed and creativity. He is highly reliable and can be trusted to handle tasks efficiently while maintaining strong attention to accuracy and detail. His key strength is his commitment to proper execution and on-time delivery, ensuring that every task is completed correctly and to the expected standard. He approaches his work with a professional mindset and adapts well to different project requirements. His combination of fast turnaround and creative thinking makes him a valuable contributor to any creative team.

HADEEL SAAD, 26

Senior

Account Executive, Serviceplan Experience – Egypt

Nominated by Hisham El Gamal, Deputy General Manager, Serviceplan Experience: Hadeel possesses a professional maturity that far exceeds her current tenure. She has become a truly dependable pillar within the team, proving her ability to spearhead complex projects with a balanced strategic and operational outlook. Whether managing highprofile pharmaceutical accounts or navigating the intricacies of the ALJ Toyota business, Hadeel consistently demonstrates a high level of ownership and precision. Her transition from impactful communitydriven initiatives to large-scale commercial workstreams highlights her versatility.

GUILLERMO MUÑOZ, 28

Technical Producer, Merkle –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Sameer Poonja, Managing Director, Merkle: Guillermo is a standout talent who blends sharp strategy with fearless creativity, turning complex briefs into campaigns people actually care about. He consistently thinks outside the box, using insight and craft to deliver work that cuts through, drives measurable impact, and raises the bar for the team; making him a clear face to watch for 2026

HAMID BAABDE, 29

Senior Content Producer, We Are Social – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Alexandre Bianchin, Senior Creative Operations Manager, We Are Social: Hamid is a pillar of our production team, blending great skills with steadfast reliability. Since joining, he has consistently delivered high-quality, culturally relevant content across many clients. His creative vision and work ethic allow him to manage complex projects under tight timelines, from social reels to brand campaigns. Hamid approaches every brief with curiosity, attention to detail, and a commitment to excellence and dedication.

FARAH ABOUJMEIH, 24

Social Media Executive, Momentum McCann – McCann Content Studios – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Mohammed Al Nashash, Social Associate Director, Momentum McCann – McCann Content Studios:

Farah has that rare drive you only come across ever so often. She does not settle for ‘good’ and constantly pushes herself to refine and elevate her work. Her commitment to improvement shows in every detail, from execution to final delivery. What makes her truly stand out is that her care extends beyond the work itself. She supports the team with the same dedication she gives her projects, creating a culture of accountability and growth around her. She is a powerful force within our department and an undeniable asset to the agency.

FATMA SHAMA, 29

Senior Social Media Manager & Assistant Lecturer, Digital Champions – Egypt

Nominated by Mahy Ihab, Social Media Director, Digital Champions: Fatma is one of the rare talents who seamlessly bridges the gap between high-level academic theory and gritty, resultsdriven execution. She has a remarkable ability to get under the skin of a brand, translating core values into viral content with surgical precision.

HASNAIN PURI, 30

Associate Performance Director, Assembly MENA – United Arab Emirates

HAIDER HABIB,

30

Account Manager, PIXL GLOBAL – United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Nominated by Prasad Sawant, Head of Performance, PIXL GLOBAL:

Haider is an exceptionally passionate and driven professional with deep knowledge of real estate marketing. His hunger to learn, ability to strategise, and dedication to delivering results make them a standout performer. Always a team player, Haider elevates every project he works on and inspires those around him.

Nominated by Anton Ivanov, Performance Director, Assembly MENA: Hasnain is an integral pillar of our agency, seamlessly managing both clients and internal teams with clarity and purpose. He communicates expectations effectively, motivates his team, and ensures every minute is optimised for impact. His expertise spans performance marketing and branding, giving him a well-rounded strategic perspective. Hasnain leads by example: junior and mid-level team members naturally look to him for guidance and growth. He approaches every challenge with deep-dive analysis and clear oversight.

Senior Account Manager, SOCIALEYEZ – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Inasz Ramzi, Account Director, SOCIALEYEZ:

I am recommending Farah because she combines sharp strategic thinking with exceptional communication skills. She has a natural instinct for understanding not just what to say, but how and when to say it to create real impact. Farah is dependable and delivery-focused, consistently producing work that meets the highest standards. She takes full ownership of her responsibilities and follows through without needing oversight, which makes her a trusted pillar within any team.

Senior Account Executive, Seven Media – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Rebecca Gill, Head of Social Media, Seven Media:

Karlos is the definition of a modern social media talent. A true team player, he seamlessly blends creativity, Gen Z cultural insight, and strong platform knowledge to deliver standout, trend-driven content for some of our biggest clients. He has an exceptional ability to take a brief, elevate it with fresh, relevant ideas, and execute with precision and enthusiasm. His positive energy is infectious, and he approaches every challenge with a solutions-focused mindset and a genuine passion for content. Karlos consistently raises the standard of our work and is undoubtedly one of the most valuable and promising talents in our team.

HLAA AL NAMARY, 29

Specialist – Client Engagement, Cicero & Bernay – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Joumana El Tarabulsi, Director – Earned Influence and Contributor Relations, Cicero & Bernay: Hlaa brings professionalism, strategic thinking, and real ownership to every government and institutional account she touches. She has contributed to integrated communications consultancy, social media strategy, and stakeholder-led initiatives across diverse sectors: always with a balance of precision and agility that is hard to find. Her calm leadership style, attention to detail, and commitment to quality make her someone you can rely on when the stakes are highest. She is a rising talent in integrated communications, and she is only getting started.

ISRAA WALID, 26 MAHA ALDAWEESH, 29

Media Manager, Leadgen – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Ahmed AbouAmmo, Deputy General Manager, Leadgen: Maha stands out for her curiosity, adaptability, and thoughtful approach to complex challenges. Maha consistently demonstrates reliability, collaboration, and a willingness to learn – qualities that make her a trusted team member and a promising talent within our organisation.

Nominated by Eman Itani, Head of Design, Netizency:

When I interviewed Mariam last spring, I could not have anticipated how impactful her contribution would become as our team expanded. She quickly exceeded expectations after joining Netizency as a Digital Designer, immediately leading design work on two major accounts while supporting a third. In less than a year, she progressed to become the main designer across four demanding accounts. Her strong attention to detail and refined aesthetic sense consistently deliver high-quality results.

Account Manager, Cheil MEA – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Senna Hazem, Associate Director, Cheil MEA:

Israa is genuinely one of the strongest rising talents I’ve had the pleasure to work with. She brings an incredible mix of discipline, passion, and true ownership to everything she takes on. I’ve watched her grow from a social media executive into confidently leading full campaigns and flagship launches, and her progression has been remarkable. Fiercely driven – very on brand for an Aries.

Senior

Account Executive, Serviceplan Middle East – Lebanon

Nominated by Laith Alemailat, Account Director, Serviceplan Middle East: Jessica is honestly one of those people every manager wishes they could clone. She brings calm energy, real ownership, and gets things across the finish line like it’s muscle memory. In a short time, she’s built serious trust with key clients because she’s got that rare combo of detail obsessed and big picture thinker. She builds real relationships, keeps teams aligned, and somehow keeps projects moving even when timelines are tighter than a revised_film_v7_final file. She’s a proper go getter, proactive, reliable, sleeves rolled up. Yeah, she pushes herself hard sometimes, but that’s also why the work slaps and deadlines don’t scare her. Basically, Jessica is the turbo mode on the team. Keeps things smooth, keeps morale up, and makes the whole ride way more fun.

MOHAMED SAMEER, 30

SEO Manager, Home of Performance – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by John von Hofsten, CEO, Home of Performance: Worked in the most profitable unit with technical brilliance. Spearheaded technical SEO for large e-commerce clients, ensuring growth targets were supported by solid foundations. Achieved an agencyhigh profit score of 36 per cent. Combined deep technical knowledge with commercial pragmatism to drive long-term organic revenue.

MOHAMMED SALMAN, 26

Martech & Data Specialist, C2 Communications – United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Nominated by Taher Patanwala, Head of Technology, C2 Communications: Salman does not just manage data – he makes it mean something. At C2 Comms, he has been the driving force behind our MarTech evolution, building systems and strategies that consistently challenge how the industry thinks about digital performance. His work on Icons of Porsche – integrating CRM, digital journeys, and audience intelligence at scale – is the kind of distinctive, forward-thinking execution that sets a new benchmark.

Senior Videographer, Creo Global – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Hannah Bain, Head of Client Services & Business Development, Creo Global:

MAMDOUH EL-MORALY, 28

Account

Manager, Serviceplan Experience –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Hisham El Gamal, Deputy General Manager, Serviceplan Experience:

Mamdouh is an operational powerhouse who possesses a rare ability to manoeuvre through high-pressure situations with a composure that makes complex tasks look effortless. His dedication and professionalism are unparalleled, consistently delivering precision and scale for major brands like Toyota and Zain.

MUHAMMAD ALIMAM, 26

Creative Lead, Imfluence Digital Marketing – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Mike Alnaji, Managing Director, Imfluence Digital Marketing: Muhammad leads with intention. He doesn’t design for aesthetics alone; he designs for impact. He’s shaped how we present ourselves to the world as well as how brands and creators show up online. I always say that creativity isn’t creative unless it serves a business purpose and most creative teams struggle with this understanding, but not Muhammad. At 25, he already operates with the discipline and perspective of a seasoned leader.

BARAKAH, 25 MUHAMMED HAMZA MUGHAL, 29 MUZZAMMIL KHAN, 30

I’m very happy to recommend Hamza as one of our agency’s true Faces to Watch. He has firmly established himself as a senior videographer who combines creative vision with full accountability for delivery. On a recent high-profile campaign, he led from concept through to the final result – shaping ideas, directing on set, and partnering closely in post-production to deliver a premium result. Hamza’s ownership mindset and instinctive storytelling consistently elevate our output. He goes beyond his remit, mentors junior crew, and raises the standard of craft across every project.

Senior Social Media Executive, Serviceplan Experience – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Hisham El Gamal, Deputy General Manager, Serviceplan Experience: Mohammed is a high-energy professional who hit the ground running with an impressive game face and rapid learning curve. His ability to navigate high-pressure environments, from managing fan sentiment for Al Ahli FC to launching AROYA Cruises, demonstrates a level of maturity beyond his years. Currently leading automotive campaigns for Abdul Latif Jameel Motors, Mohammed consistently delivers the best possible outcomes through his positive spirit and strategic approach to storytelling. His blend of cultural empathy and data-driven creativity makes him a standout talent in the Saudi marketing landscape.

MUNIS HUSAIN, 27

Senior Account Executive, C2 Communications – United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Nominated by Haresh Harikumar, Director, C2 Communications: Munis does not fit the mold, and that is precisely why he stands out. At C2 Comms, he has consistently brought fresh, forward-thinking ideas to technology, campaigns, and strategy, producing work that is distinctly his own and impossible to ignore. He challenges the way things are done because he genuinely sees a better way. From AI-powered reporting to independently leading MarTech and GEO initiatives, his work sets a new standard.

Associate Performance Director, Assembly MENA – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Anton Ivanov, Performance Director, Assembly MENA: Muzzammil has been with Assembly for more than five years, consistently demonstrating exceptional performance as he progressed through the career ladder. He approaches every pitch with diligence and strategic depth, and leads business reviews with robust analysis, forward-looking plans, and innovation at the core. Managing clients across the UAE, KSA, Qatar, and wider GCC markets, Muzzammil has developed into a true MENAT specialist with deep digital expertise.

Nominated by Wajih Bizri, Social Media Manager, Netizency:

Najah is a star. She’s a strong and reliable Senior Executive who consistently delivers high-quality work, particularly in structured projects such as reports, decks and pitch materials. She is a clear communicator, collaborative across teams, and contributes thoughtful input during brainstorming and problem-solving discussions. Najah demonstrates ownership and performs well under pressure. She is motivated, eager to contribute, and trusted with high-visibility deliverables.

Keyade, a WPP Media Brand – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Laura Gleadhill, General Manager, Keyade, a WPP Media Brand: He consistently goes beyond his remit, taking full ownership of results and treating client budgets as if they were his own. His work ethic is exceptional, he is often the first to spot risks, proactively proposing solutions before issues escalate. Naveen deeply cares about client success, continuously testing, optimising, and refining strategy to drive incremental growth. His commitment to excellence, accountability, and performance integrity makes him not only a high performer, but a trusted partner to our clients.

NICOLE DALY, 30

Head of Social & Creative, Home of Performance –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by John von Hofsten, CEO, Home of Performance: Engineered a massive turnaround in 2025 – merging social/ creative into a high-performance engine. Implemented AI workflows and flipped Profit Score from negative to positive. Drove more than 145 per cent year-on-year revenue growth, proving high-end creative is a scalable profit center. Leads the agency’s AI upskilling programme.

PAUL-OSCAR GABAY, 29

Head of Account Management, GAMNED MEA – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Yves-Michel Gabay, Managing Director, GAMNED MEA: I am his most demanding critic, yet he consistently exceeds every professional benchmark. He didn’t follow a path of least resistance; instead, he built a solid foundation in top-tier tech consultancy firms and his own tech start-up before earning his place here. His rise to leadership was fueled by a unique mix of analytical discipline, bold innovation and a visionary grasp of digital media. He possesses an innate ability to simplify complex systems for clients while maintaining a grounded, service-oriented mindset. He is a standout talent because of his results.

Associate

– Client Engagement, Cicero & Bernay – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Caline Boghos, Lead – Client Engagement, Cicero & Bernay: Obada’s development this year has been steady and real. He has grown in confidence, accountability and consistency – becoming far more independent in managing deliverables end-to-end. He takes feedback constructively and applies it immediately, which is a rare quality. His attention to detail and discipline have noticeably lifted the standard of his work. He is dependable, focused, and genuinely committed to improving with every brief he handles.

–

Nominated by Dina Saadeh, Managing Director, Blue Barracuda:

Neha has a strong awareness of how social platforms evolve and how audiences engage with content. Her strength lies in the way she bridges structure and creativity, applying the disciplined, strategic mindset she developed early in her career in data and operations to storytelling and content development. She brings sensitivity to tone, voice, and nuance, contributing ideas that feel relevant and culturally aware. As a creator herself, she stays closely connected to community behaviour, translating insight into meaningful work.

Nominated by Ramprasad Meenakshisundaram, Head of Creative & Experience, Cicero & Bernay:

Nariman is a highly skilled designer with a strong grounding in branding and visual identity. She combines conceptual thinking with technical excellence, building brand systems that are both strategically sound and visually compelling. Her ability to translate complex briefs into intelligent, structured design solutions sets her apart. Detailfocused and concept-driven, she ensures every element contributes to a cohesive story. Nariman represents the next wave of impactful brand designers in the region.

NIHAL HISHAM, 30

Associate Director – Strategy & Business Leadership, Boopin Cairo – Egypt

Nominated by Amir Tawaf, General Manager, Boopin Cairo: It has become increasingly rare to find professionals who demonstrate, early in their careers, this level of composure, commercial instinct and people intelligence. Nihal has played a pivotal role in strengthening client relationships, consistently transforming challenging situations into long-term partnerships that have directly contributed to agency growth and portfolio expansion. Nihal represents the next generation of hybrid agency leadership in our market.

REMY BERNE, 30

PRARTHANA CHATURVEDI, 25

Nominated by Dina Saadeh, Managing Director, Blue Barracuda: Prarthana has grown into a dependable voice within our team. She approaches her work with preparation and clarity, and handles scale and pressure with a level of composure that is rare at this stage in her career. In fast-moving environments, she remains steady and solutions-focused – something that truly sets her apart.

Nominated by Tom Berne, MD & Creative Lead, Crowd: Remy is easily the heartbeat of our creative team. Whether he’s acting as our resident AI ringleader or stepping up to lead huge accounts like Dubai Airports, Games of the Future, and Domino’s Pizza, he just gets it done. He’s that rare designer who always goes the extra mile to make sure our clients are happy and the work is top-tier. Honestly, he’s become our go-to for pretty much everything –always keeping us ahead of the curve while staying incredibly grounded.

Senior Animator, Netizency – Lebanon

Nominated by Layal Akiki, Head of Motion Graphics, Netizency:

Roy is truly a dream to work with. A genuine team player who’s always ready to support others, while confidently stepping up to take the lead when needed. He takes on every challenge with focus and determination, taking every project to the next level, always willing to go the extra mile, and exceeding expectations. Roy seamlessly blends creativity with efficiency. He’s constantly sharpening his skills, always eager to explore new tools and techniques. Simply put, Roy is a force to be reckoned with.

RANEEM ALHASSOUN, 24

Strategy

Manager, SOCIALEYEZ – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Heena Mak, Group Head of Strategy, SOCIALEYEZ: Raneem represents the next wave of strategic leadership in the region. In a landscape that demands both speed and substance, she consistently delivers work that is insightled, commercially grounded, and execution-ready. Having contributed to multiple projects across Saudi Arabia and UAE, she brings rare precision in translating complex briefs into clear positioning and scalable growth frameworks. What sets her apart is her ability to fuse Gen Z cultural intelligence with disciplined performance thinking, ensuring strategies are both relevant and measurable. Raneem is not just shaping campaigns, she is shaping how brands compete in fast-moving markets.

ROHAN KARMACHARYA, 24

Nominated by Muhammad Uzair Khan, Art Director, Inhaus Digital: I’ve worked closely with Rohan for the past two years, and from day one he’s shown a rare kind of hunger, the kind that creates its own motivation. Whether it’s brainstorming ideas or bringing them to life, he’s consistently switched on, curious, and pushing the work forward. What really stands out is his genuine love for advertising. He cares deeply about the craft, the idea, and the impact, and it shows in how he thinks and executes.

Social Media Account Manager, Seven Media – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Gabrena Grewal, Head of Abu Dhabi, Seven Media: Sarah is a proactive and dependable leader who confidently manages some of our most high-profile corporate and government accounts. She takes initiative in driving day-to-day client servicing, delivering strategic, detail-focused work across a diverse portfolio. She tackles challenges head-on and has a natural ability to build strong, trusted client relationships. Sarah is also a passionate mentor, investing time in supporting junior team members and guiding their growth within the agency. She brings creativity and clear thinking to everything she does.

REBECCA HARB, 26

Senior Social Media Executive, Netizency – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Maha Hussein Deabes, Senior Social Media Manager, Netizency: Rebecca has quickly distinguished herself as a rising talent in the creative industry. With a growth-oriented mindset, she combines cultural awareness with strong editorial and strategic instincts to deliver work that is thoughtful, relevant and commercially impactful. Her sharp understanding of regional trends and audience behaviour strengthens both creative and commercial output, while her collaborative spirit and growing confidence in client environments set her apart.

TALA ELAMINE, 24

Performance Executive, Keyade, a WPP Media Brand – Lebanon

Nominated by Laura Gleadhill, General Manager, Keyade, a WPP Media Brand: I recommend Tala for her exceptional growth, ownership, and impact over the past year. She has consistently demonstrated a strong work ethic and a genuine care for client performance, going beyond execution to proactively identify opportunities that drive better results. Her ability to translate data into clear, strategic recommendations has strengthened both operational delivery and client confidence. She approaches challenges with curiosity rather than hesitation, which has accelerated her progression and deepened her commercial understanding.

SILVANA SALAME, 25

UX/UI Designer, BPG Group – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ben Schwartz, VP Client Services, BPG Group:

Silvana joined us as part of our growth ambition around UX/UI and CX, and she has quickly proven to be a strong addition to the team. She integrates seamlessly, works at pace, and brings reliability to every project. What stands out most is her ability to think beyond the immediate brief, identifying opportunities that unlock additional value for our clients.

SHERIF AREF, 28

SAVANNAH WEHBI, 28

Senior Executive, OMD MENA – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Malek Morjan, Business Unit Director, OMD MENA: Savannah has demonstrated exceptional growth and consistency through her time in the business. Her calm demeanour, professionalism and ability to navigate complex challenges have made her a trusted partner to both clients and team members. Over the past years, she has shown a remarkable commitment to her personal and professional development, transforming her capabilities and elevating her impact. Her journey reflects resilience, dedication and ambition.

Account Executive, Serviceplan Middle East – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Hafsa Qureshi, Business Director, Serviceplan Middle East: Sherif is an exceptionally hardworking young professional who consistently delivers under pressure with outstanding attention to detail. He thrives on complex, large-scale campaign rollouts, bringing structure, reliability and smart problem-solving to every project he handles. Dependable and solutions-driven, he hustles to meet demanding timelines without ever compromising on quality. Always on his toes, he navigates fast-paced environments with focus and confidence.

TAMARA ABUDAWOOD, 27

Senior Account Executive, Boopin – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Zeena Kurd, Regional Social Media Comms Director, Boopin: Watching Tamara grow from day one has been a pleasure. She doesn’t just get the work done, she cares, and it shows in how she shows up, how she handles clients, and how seriously she takes her role. She’s dependable, thoughtful, and quietly impressive. I trust her. I value her judgment, and I know she can take on more without losing herself in the process. With time and the right space, Tamara will grow into someone the business truly leans on.

TAMARA OSMAN, 28

SEHER ARIFF, 30

Media Manager, Zenith – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Mona Abulhassan, Business Director, Zenith: Seher is a rising digital leader known for strategic clarity, strong client partnership, and award-recognised work. She has elevated planning quality and strengthened collaboration across markets on a key multinational account, consistently bringing structure and direction to complex environments. Beyond delivery, she actively builds team capability and improves ways of working, creating impact that extends beyond individual campaigns. Her consistent performance, leadership mindset, and rapid growth make her one of the region’s most promising agency talents.

Bilingual Creative Copywriter, SOCIALEYEZ – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ambreen Kazi, Creative Director, SOCIALEYEZ: Working closely with her, I am continually impressed by her intellect, remarkable attention to detail, and her ability to elevate ideas with precision and depth. Her creativity is thoughtful, original, and always rooted in purpose. She approaches every brief with genuine passion and consistently goes the extra mile for the team. Beyond the quality of her work, she brings humility, dedication, and quiet confidence to everything she does. Her impact on our projects has been truly meaningful.

TALIA ZEINEDDINE, 25

Social Media Executive, Momentum McCann – McCann Content Studios – Lebanon

Nominated by Mohammed Al Nashash, Social Associate Director, Momentum McCann – McCann Content Studios:

Talia is an absolute force. Despite her young career, she operates with the efficiency and quality of a seasoned professional. She consistently meets timelines with ease while elevating the accounts she manages through strong ideas and structured operational thinking. She does not simply maintain standards, she raises them. Her drive to learn, grow and support those around her makes her an invaluable asset to the team.

THALIA ALEXANDROS, 25

Social Media Executive,FP7 McCANN – Lebanon

Nominated by Ahmed Nour, Head Of Social, FP7 McCANN:

Thalia is the definition of highperformance digital talent. Fast, dependable, and relentlessly detailoriented, she takes on complex projects with confidence and consistently delivers above expectation. Whether managing always-on content or large-scale campaigns, Thalia combines precision with strategic clarity, ensuring work is both timely and impactful. Her ability to juggle multiple priorities without compromising quality makes her a trusted lead across accounts. Thalia is quickly becoming indispensable to both team and clients.

UROS ARSENIJEVIC, 28

Film Director, Create. Group – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Shona Royston, Head of Production, Create. Group: Uros is a narrative-driven creative with a strong instinct for shaping layered, story-led projects, particularly within docuseries and long-form formats. He approaches storytelling with structural clarity and creative discipline, even when navigating complex or evolving production environments. Collaborative and highly engaged, he contributes meaningfully to ideation while steadily building his voice as a creative lead. His curiosity around emerging tools and AI reflects a forward-thinking mindset aligned with where the industry is heading. Uros is a talent to watch in the evolution of documentary storytelling.

YANNICK VAN ELSUÉ, 29

Product Manager, November Five – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Darius LaBelle, Managing Director, November Five: Yannick has a strong point of view and the maturity to reflect when needed. I’ve seen him step back, take ownership, and handle difficult moments with honesty and accountability. Yannick doesn’t wait for direction. He steps in, builds momentum, and delivers. Strategic in thinking. Hands-on in action.

YASMEEN MAMDOUH, 29

Creative Strategist, Digital Champions – Egypt

WASSIM KEBBE, 29

Account Manager, Impact BBDO KSA

Nominated by Maria Helena Zakaria, Senior Account Manager, Impact BBDO KSA:

Wassim is someone we can rely on with our eyes closed. He takes full ownership of his work, follows through on every detail, and always makes sure both the client and the team feel confident and supported. When he leads a project, everything is under control; the client feels reassured and the team is aligned. On the operational side, he anticipates needs, stays organised, keeps timelines on track, and moves projects forward smoothly. He remains calm under pressure, is proactive, and always comes with solutions.

YASMIN ALAA, 28

Senior Account Manager, We Are Social –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Aurelien Fonteneau, Managing Director, We Are Social:

Nominated by Mohamed El Daly, Partner & Head of Strategy, Digital Champions: Yasmeen’s understanding of social is deeply behavioural and rooted in how people actually think, consume, and care, not just how platforms function. She consistently challenges briefs with analytical rigor and philosophical curiosity, ensuring every strategy ladders up to real business intent. Over the past few years, her growth has been remarkable. She now leads major pitches and campaigns with confidence, elevating both the thinking and the output around her. Yasmeen doesn’t accept default approaches. She pushes teams to question, refine, and raise the standard, shaping more commercially meaningful and culturally resonant work.

Yasmin has a razor-sharp, culture-first view on how brands win on social. Not by following trends, but by shaping relevance and building preference. She instinctively connects brand, platform and culture, turning business challenges into social strategies that stand out. Her impact spans Azadea’s Eataly and Paul Bakery, Solidere’s Al Zorah City and Al-Futtaim’s Dubai Festival City. Beyond strategy, she’s a disciplined project lead who turns ambition into delivery, and a generous mentor to younger talent in the agency. Yasmin isn’t emerging talent: she’s future leadership in motion.

MEDIA FACES TO WATCH

ADHAM HAGGAG, 28

Senior Media Executive, Starcom – Egypt

Nominated by Marina Awny, Head of Starcom Egypt: Adham consistently performs beyond his title. In a short time, he has taken ownership of key accounts, built strong client relationships, and delivered measurable growth across campaigns. He has been instrumental in leading the Samsung account over the past two years, driving strategic excellence and delivering outstanding business results. His impact, consistency and forwardthinking mindset position him as one of the most promising talents shaping the future of media.

ALESSANDRO BETTOLINI, 26

Executive Experience Design, Performics –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Nigel Keelson-Anfu, Head of Experience Design, Performics: Alessandro brings energy, intention and heart into everything he does. Incredibly smart and well-spoken, with quick wit and subtle sarcasm that lightens the most demanding situations. Proudly Italian and passionate about cars, Alessandro treats his work like a finely tuned machine, with meticulous attention and an obsession with performance. Whether refining a strategy, shaping a pitch narrative, or exploring technologies, Alessandro approaches every challenge with precision and creativity. No matter the pressure, you can always count on him, adding a dash of humour and positive presence.

ALEENA AMIR, 27

Media Manager, Starcom – Saudi Arabia

AISHWARYA APTE, 27

Performance Manager, Carat – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Sophie Macleod, Business Director, Carat:

She is one of the most dependable and driven members of our team, consistently going above and beyond to deliver for her clients. She has built strong, trust-based partnerships to the extent that clients see her as a true extension of their own team. Her reliability, strategic mindset, and solution-oriented approach position her as a trusted advisor. She represents the standard of excellence we value and are proud to have within the team.

Nominated by Mostafa Amer, Media Director, Starcom: Aleena is an exceptional media manager with the talent and potential to grow into a future industry leader. Adaptable to diverse client needs, she consistently tailors strategies that balance brand objectives with commercial outcomes. A strategic thinker, she leads cross-channel planning and activations with clarity and precision, ensuring cohesive execution across platforms. Her relentless focus on maximising ROI drives measurable improvements for clients and informs data-driven optimisations. Beyond delivery, she mentors junior colleagues and fosters collaboration across teams. Her combination of strategic vision, operational excellence and client obsession makes her an outstanding candidate for Campaign Middle East’s Faces to Watch.

AMANDA

Media Manager, UM Egypt

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Nominated by Mariam Medhat Wahby, Senior Director, UM Egypt: I recommend that Amanda continues on her path as she is and stay true to who she is, to never falter or self doubt. With a will as strong as her’s, she’ll always manage to stay her course and she’ll be able to always shine and be a joy to everyone who works with her.

ALEYNA ÖZKAN, 27

Senior Executive – TAAG, Publicis Groupe – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Pankaj Pagarani, Head of Data Sciences, Publicis Groupe: From campaign execution and tracking validation to architecting complex measurement frameworks, Aleyna approaches every challenge with structure, rigour and accountability. She has developed the ability to translate complex data into clear, actionable narratives – enabling clients to move from insights to informed decisions with confidence. Ambitious, grounded, and impact-driven, Aleyna is undoubtedly a talent to watch.

ANJI TOUTOUNJI, 25

Media Executive, iProspect MENA – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Rahaf Salama, Media Associate Director, iProspect MENA: Anji consistently goes over and above in everything she does. She sets a great example for her peers through her work ethic, attitude, and willingness to step in and help whenever needed. Anji is always positive, brings great energy to the team, and is someone others can truly rely on. She’s always curious, eager to learn, and shows great potential for continued growth.

ASADULLAH KHAN, 30

AMINA HASSAN, 26

Senior Executive – Media, Zenith – Egypt

Nominated by Kareem Demian, Head of Zenith Egypt:

Amina Hassan is a standout example of modern media talent: proactive, dependable, and consistently impact-driven. She takes ownership of demanding tasks, brings structure to fast-moving requests, and delivers with accuracy under pressure. Amina’s positive attitude strengthens every team she joins – she leans in, never says no, and supports colleagues without hesitation.

AYA MAE EL-DAHER, 26

Media Manager, iProspect MENA – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Claire Peach, Media Director, iProspect MENA:

Aya has been nominated in recognition of her exceptional ability to present ideas in a clear, confident and captivating way. She combines this with strong team management skills, consistently fostering collaboration and delivering high standards of work. Aya has built trusted, positive relationships with clients and is a true asset to our team.

ANTOUN ABI KHALIL, 26

Senior Digital Data Analyst, iMetric Digital – Lebanon

Nominated by Mark Rahy, Head of Data & Analytics, iMetric Digital: In a world where accurate data is everything, Antoun is the person we rely on most. He helps with managing our tracking ecosystem across GTM, GA4, MMPs, and server-to-server integrations with remarkable attention to detail. He approaches every challenge with calm focus and genuine ownership. What makes him stand out is not only his technical strength, but his willingness to collaborate, explain and support others.

CHARBEL CHAMOUN, 26

Senior Performance Planner, Carat – Lebanon

Nominated by Sally Adib, Associate Director, Carat: Charbel has quickly distinguished himself through his strong work ethic, attention to detail, and ability to manage performance campaigns with confidence and agility. He is ambitious, reliable, and consistently goes the extra mile to deliver results.

AZZAM KHAN, 30

Integrated Associate Director, 5th Element – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Khaldoun Zaghir, General Manager, 5th Element: Azzam is a reliable and thoughtful leader who approaches his role with maturity and a clear sense of responsibility. He consistently delivers solid work that balances creativity with business objectives. He has helped streamline internal processes and improve collaboration across teams, making our output more focused and efficient. He understands client needs well and ensures campaigns are aligned to measurable outcomes. He takes ownership, supports his team, and looks for practical ways to improve performance. He is committed to continuous growth and adds real value.

Nominated by Santosh Yadav, Business Director, Starcom:

Asadullah is a standout talent defined by his sharp strategic thinking, and strong command of data. He consistently goes beyond his role, bringing clarity to complex challenges and delivering measurable impact. His analytical mindset enables him to translate data into actionable insights, driving performance and optimising outcomes evidenced by delivering 2x growth in DTC revenue for one of his key clients. His attention to detail, ownership, and ability to operate under pressure set him apart, making him a trusted contributor on demanding accounts. Asadullah’s combination of commercial acumen and proactive mindset positions him as a future leader in digital marketing.

ALMA HOJEIJ, 26

Client Partner, Aleph Holding –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by George Skaff, Regional Commercial Director, Aleph Holding: Alma is a standout Client Partner who combines insight, creativity, and dedication in everything she does. She builds genuine trust with clients and colleagues alike, turning challenges into opportunities and finding smart, practical solutions. Her professionalism, collaborative spirit, and ability to balance vision with execution make her one of the region’s most promising media talents, driving innovation, shaping strategies, and setting a new standard for meaningful impact in the work she leads

CARLA RICHA, 28

Media Manager, Spark Foundry – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Hera Albarian, Associate Business Director, Spark Foundry:

Carla is a bright superstar in the team, on the track to achieving great things with her exceptional performance. Her unique mix of performance skills, creativity and passion for results places her as a face to watch. Her positive demeanour and desire to continuously elevate the standard has been noticed and greatly admired by her peers as well as her clients. In a short time, she has managed to take ownership of big projects and excel at them, becoming a go-to person with accoladed work ethic and contribution.

DHWANI MEHTA, 29

Biddable Media Specialist, Team Red Dot – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Irfan Mirza, Head –Digital Media, Team Red Dot: Since joining Team Red Dot, Dhwani has quickly established herself as one of the most commercially driven performance specialists in our team. She doesn’t just optimise campaigns – she challenges strategy, interrogates data and brings clarity to complex performance environments. Dhwani operates as a true extension of our clients’ marketing teams, earning trust through accountability and results.

Senior

Media Manager, Mindshare

Lebanon, A WPP Media Brand

Nominated by Abdallah Sharbaji, Head of Strategy and Client Lead, Mindshare Lebanon, A WPP Media Brand: From day one, Christina positioned herself as more than a planner –she positioned herself as a strategic partner. Her passion, structure and forward-thinking mindset immediately built trust with her clients. In an AI-driven era, she doesn’t just manage campaigns; she embeds media into the core business DNA of her clients. Her ability to lead both her clients’ businesses and her team with clarity and confidence makes her a true strategic anchor.

ELIAS RAHME, 26

Performance Executive, UM MENAT – Lebanon

Nominated by Anthony Razzouk, Associate Director –Performance, UM MENAT:

Since joining the company, Elias has quickly established himself as a key talent, demonstrating exceptional motivation, persistence, and a strong commitment to continuous learning and professional growth. He rapidly developed a holistic understanding of the digital ecosystem and successfully took on key accounts such as Nespresso, managing campaigns across social, programmatic and search platforms with best in class delivery. Within just a year and a half, Elias has taken on more responsibilities and now operates with a high level of independence.

DARINE ABOU SAAD, 24

Senior Executive, Integrated Planning, Magna Global MENAT – United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Nominated by Georges Oneissy, Associate Director, Integrated Planning, Magna Global MENAT: Darine is a dedicated, reliable and resilient talent who consistently goes above and beyond expectations. Her ability to take ownership, stay composed under pressure, and deliver high-quality work has earned the trust of both clients and colleagues. Darine embraces feedback, learns rapidly, and continuously pushes herself to improve. Her drive, adaptability, and strong work ethic position her as one of the emerging talents truly worthy of the recognition.

Senior Planning Executive, dentsu – Lebanon

Nominated by Julie Larguier, Business Director, dentsu: Cyma has it all: taste, timing and precision. Just like a couture piece in a world of ready-to-wear, she combines planning excellence with creative finesse, turning briefs into high-impact, measurable results. Cyma anticipates trends rather than follow them, elevating both client ambition and team performance. With poise, resilience, and sharp local insight, she embodies the next generation of game changers.

Integrated Planner, Magna

Nominated by Jad Barakat, Associate Digital Director, Magna Global MENAT: Dana rapidly became the go to person across accounts with creativity and proactivity, she is very attentive to details and always trying to be accountable of the tasks she is handling. her strength in data analysis helped shape different client strategies and recommendations while also maintaining great communication with different peers. Dana’s creativity and support is remarkable as she is always ready to train, support and help her colleagues.

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Associate Media Director, Fusion5 –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ramy Mouganie, Client Leadership Director, Fusion5: Elias’s swift rise to Associate Director while leading multi-market strategies for key accounts is just one proofpoint of him being a rare talent. He now operates at media’s most critical intersection: integrating AI to drive tangible business outcomes. His purpose-driven approach, focused on real impact over vanity metrics, is already foundational to our agency’s AI roadmap, and his intricate knowledge of tech and automation makes that work possible. His contributions were instrumental in our recent Performance Marketing Agency of the Year win.

Senior Executive – Performance, Initiative MENAT – Lebanon

Nominated by Rahul Karam, Head of Performance, Initiative MENAT: Farah stands out as a rare blend of strategic thinker, builder, and future-ready leader. She takes on every challenge with genuine ownership, sharp attention to detail, and a natural instinct for innovation, consistently turning complex data into clear actions that drive growth. Her work reflects an AI-forward mindset, creating systems and frameworks that scale impact beyond short-term results. Trusted by clients and respected by peers, she pairs reliability with vision, delivering outcomes while uplifting those around her. What truly sets Farah apart is her drive to raise the bar, not just for performance, but for people.

FADI TOUMA, 29

Senior Executive – Media, Spark Foundry – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Mustafa Zeidan, Business Director – Media, Spark Foundry: He consistently demonstrates an outstanding work ethic, paired with a genuine commitment to client success. He builds strong, trusted relationships with both clients and internal teams, and approaches every challenge with strategic thinking and ownership. What truly sets him apart is his willingness to go above and beyond, creating smart, insight led campaigns that deliver meaningful media performance and tangible business outcomes.

ESLAM ABDULWAHAB, 28

Content Specialist, Imvent Studios – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Sandra Alshediak, Head of Production, Imvent Studios:

Eslam is one of the most dependable people I’ve come across. He brings discipline, consistency, and a sharp creative eye to every project, and after five years in the industry, he’s developed an editing style that’s distinctly his own while always staying aligned with what each brand needs. He works well under pressure and delivers polished work without cutting corners. His curiosity keeps him ahead of trends, which keeps our content feeling current and competitive. But beyond the technical ability, it’s his reliability and sense of ownership that make him stand out well above his years.

FARIS FAYIH, 29

Account Director, TEN-X Marketing Solutions – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Stephanie Aoude, Chief Strategy Officer, TEN-X Marketing Solutions:

Faris is one of the key pillars at TEN-X. I worked closely with him and witnessed his growth into a strong leader who now oversees all accounts alongside his team. He is sharp, disciplined, and consistently focused on finding solutions that move the business forward. Faris approaches challenges with maturity and clarity, always thinking a step ahead. What distinguishes him is the depth of his thinking, he balances strategy with creativity and brings real substance to everything he leads.

Manager – Performance Marketing, Publicis Global Delivery – Lebanon

Nominated by Kamal Akil, Associate Business Director – Performance Marketing, Publicis Global Delivery: Hussein is an experienced Performance Marketing Manager with around five years of expertise driving strategic growth and leading highperforming teams. He goes beyond campaign execution, setting clear direction, building scalable performance frameworks, and ensuring every initiative aligns with business objectives. With a sharp analytical mindset and deep expertise in media buying, he transforms data into actionable strategies that consistently deliver measurable results. Hussein leads by example, fostering accountability, collaboration, and continuous optimisation within his team.

Nominated by Chantal Hajjar, Associate Media Director, Zenith:

As Ghewa’s manager, I’ve seen how naturally she earns people’s trust, both with clients and within the team. She stays calm when things get intense, thinks things through properly, and always comes prepared. During a big transition on the account, she didn’t hesitate to step up and take on more, bringing clarity and reassurance when it was needed most. She’s detail-focused but also starting to look beyond the brief and think more strategically. What stands out is her consistency and drive to keep improving.

ELIE TABET, 24

Programmatic Executive,Publicis Groupe – Lebanon

Nominated by Elsa Badran, Manager, Publicis Groupe: Elie has consistently proven to be a highimpact performer, successfully managing multiple markets for the Samsung client. He stands out as a quick learner and a proactive professional who anticipates challenges and delivers results. Over the past year, Elie has demonstrated significant growth, particularly in mentoring and delegation, as he onboarded and trained several new team members.

IAD HAMADE, 25

Senior Executive – Media Investments, PHD – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ihab Halawy, Head of Investments – Media Investments, PHD: Iad represents the true spirit of emerging leadership within our industry. Starting his journey at PHD as an intern, he has rapidly grown into a Senior Investment Executive, earning his progression through performance, dedication, and commercial maturity beyond his age. He is one of our standout young talents; future-focused, disciplined, and trusted across teams. Iad independently handles large-scale offline and online campaigns end-to-end, from strategic thinking and planning to execution and launch, with minimal supervision.

KARAN PATIL, 26

JAD HADDAD, 27

JAD JABER, 28

Media Manager, Zenith – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Mostafa Abou Hussein, Business Director – Media, Zenith: Jad has been a remarkable talent at Publicis since the day he joined. Rotating across multiple departments and consistently excelling wherever he goes is a testament not only to his strong technical capabilities, but also to his outstanding communication skills and adaptability. He naturally takes ownership of his work, quickly earning the trust of both clients and colleagues. Jad approaches every challenge with maturity, curiosity and a solutionsdriven mindset. Without doubt, he represents the next generation of leaders shaping the future of our industry in the Middle East.

KHALED SHATILA, 26

Senior Executive – Performance, Magna Global MENAT – Lebanon

Nominated by Ahmed Abayazeed, Head of Performance, Magna Global MENAT:

Khaled is a rare talent who bridges the gap between technical precision and interpersonal acumen. Managing a complex portfolio of brands in the entertainment sector, he has delivered exceptional revenue growth through sophisticated cross-channel innovation. In just two years, Khaled has become a cornerstone of our performance department.

Manager – Performance Media, PHD – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Amit Patel, Executive Director, PHD: Jad stands out because of his character before his capability. At PHD, he has led high-pressure digital mandates across major automotive portfolios with focus and accountability well beyond his years. He doesn’t wait to be asked and he supports teams when workloads spike, protects client outcomes when complexity increases, and carries responsibility without ego.

Executive – Data Engineer, Hearts & Science – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Nathan Rodrigues, Manager – Data Analytics Product Strategist, Hearts & Science:

Karan is one of those people you want on every project. He is proactive, committed to delivering outstanding results and consistently shows up with the right attitude. He learns fast, picks up new concepts quickly, and applies them in a way that improves the work. He thinks strategically while staying close to execution, and doesn’t just spot problems, but also finds solutions.

KARIM MALLAK, 24

Senior Planning Executive, Hearts & Science –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ibrahim Arulogun, Associate Director – Planning, Hearts & Science: Karim stands out for his strong strategic thinking and technical depth. He consistently demonstrates the ability to connect media performance with tangible business impact, ensuring campaigns are both efficient and effective. His structured approach to problem-solving, combined with curiosity for innovation and measurement, makes him a valuable asset on complex accounts. Karim takes ownership, collaborates seamlessly across teams, and maintains high standards of accountability. He is unquestionably one of the emerging talents to watch in 2026

JONNY HAKEM, 29

Senior Executive –Performance, Initiative MENAT – Lebanon

Nominated by Rahul Karam, Head of Performance, Initiative MENAT: Jonny has made an exceptional impact in a remarkably short time, distinguishing himself through sharp strategic thinking, composure under pressure, and consistent delivery. He quickly grasps client goals and turns them into insight-led strategies that perform, whether for planned launches or fast-turnaround briefs. Detail-oriented and highly adaptable, he combines strong platform expertise with a clear commercial mindset, often exceeding targets. What truly sets Jonny apart is his hunger to grow, continually learning new tools, sharing knowledge, and strengthening those around him.

JOUDI OUEINI, 30

Nominated by Meera Bala, Associate Media Director, Frontline BPN: From day one, Joudi has distinguished herself as someone we can completely rely on. Always proactive and driven, she is a true asset to the agency. With her passion for the industry and natural leadership, she consistently raises the bar, inspires her team and builds strong client relationships. She continues to demonstrate exceptional potential and is undoubtedly a talent to watch.

KLARA ABOU FADEL, 26

Senior Executive, OMD MENA –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Adil Showkat, Business Unit Director, OMD MENA:

Klara exemplifies the qualities of a rising talent in today’s media industry. She combines a strong willingness to learn with sharp thinking and the ability to adapt quickly in a fast-paced environment. Klara approaches every challenge with resilience and a never-giveup attitude, consistently pushing herself to improve and deliver. She is highly reliable, brings great energy to everything she does.

LANA EL JAROUDI, 27

Sr. Media

Executive, Zenith

–Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Fariha Afzal, Business Director, Zenith:

Lana Jaroudi is a dynamic media professional whose growth trajectory sets her apart. She combines sharp analytical thinking with strategic instinct, transforming complex briefs into performance-led media solutions that deliver measurable results. She has confidently expanded her scope across sectors, demonstrating agility, curiosity, and leadership beyond her title. Always reliable and accountable, Lana brings clarity to data, precision to execution, and momentum to teams. She actively contributes to agency culture, making her a standout talent and truly a face to watch.

LIBIN JOSEPH, 27

Senior Media Operations Specialist, C2 Communications – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Chady Azar, Head of Media, C2 Communications:

Libin consistently stands out for his sharp analytical mindset and relentless drive to optimise digital campaigns. At C2 Comms, where making clients unignorable demands both precision and accountability, he delivers exactly that. He does not simply manage campaigns, he elevates them, identifying opportunities others overlook and turning data into meaningful performance gains that clients can measure. Libin brings a rare combination of technical depth and strategic thinking that goes beyond execution, he understands what clients actually need and builds towards it. That quality is what makes him an invaluable asset to our team and a true rising talent in this industry.

MARAH JANZEER, 28

Manager – Performance Marketing, Publicis Groupe – Jordan

Nominated by Khadija Batool, Senior Manager –Performance Marketing, Publicis Groupe: Marah is a standout performance marketing leader who consistently delivers results beyond expectations. She combines strong analytical thinking with a deep understanding of audience behaviour across MENA markets. Her ability to translate data into scalable growth strategies has made her a trusted partner across teams and clients.

MALEK SLEEM, 28

performance manager, Equation Media – Lebanon

MARIA SALAMEH,27

Senior Media Executive, Zenith – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Rita Kteiche, Business Director, Zenith: Maria is a highly determined professional who brings creativity and intelligence to everything she does. She consistently approaches her work with focus, resilience, and a strong sense of ownership, pushing herself to deliver impactful results. Maria is smart, curious, and loves to think outside the box, often challenging conventional approaches to find innovative solutions. She is proactive, eager to learn, and motivated to elevate her skills and contribution.

Nominated by Fadi Zeidan, Regional Managing Director, Equation Media: From day one, Malek has been one of those rare performance managers who blends analytical thinking with a genuine, collaborative team spirit. His data-driven obsession with measurement and driving real ROI for our clients is truly commendable. Beyond numbers, Malek sets clear expectations, always open to learning, and brings a growth mindset that will continue to fuel his success while elevating everyone around him.

LOULWA MORSI, 29

Senior Media Planner, Starcom – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Nour Al Sheikh, Media Manager, Starcom: Loulwa stands out as one of the most driven and high-potential professionals I have had the privilege of working with. She consistently exhibits an exceptional growth mindset, actively seeking opportunities to expand her capabilities, take on increased responsibility, and position herself for the next stage of her career. Her meticulous attention to detail and commitment to operational excellence translate into seamless execution across every account she leads. She brings forward-thinking perspectives identifying more innovative and efficient ways of working while fostering a collaborative, teamoriented environment.

Media Manager, Mediaplus Middle East – Lebanon

Nominated by Fatima Saralapova, Digital Media Director, Mediaplus Middle East: Mario is an outstanding Media Manager who leads our automotive portfolio with expertise and precision. His deep understanding of media platforms including their nuances, strengths and optimisation levers allows him to craft highly effective performancedriven recommendations. He combines strategic thinking with operational efficiency, delivering results at the highest standard. He is a true asset to his team and clients.

Paid Social Manager, Frontline BPN –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Rosie Elligate, Digital Director, Frontline BPN:

During Mayssa’s time at BPN MENA, her dedication, proactiveness, and – most importantly – her skill and expertise within the social media sphere have been truly impressive. Her constant drive to go above and beyond in improving client performance and delivering strong results stands out as her number one priority. She demonstrates excellent client servicing skills, which further complement her strong ability to excel in her role.

MOHAN CHOWDARY, 29

Senior Performance Manager, Assembly MENA – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Nayan Joshi, Senior Client Director, Assembly MENA: Mohan brings a disciplined performance mindset across a diverse portfolio. With seven years of experience in the region, he manages end-to-end campaign strategy with a clear focus on efficiency and measurable growth. His work across high-profile brands reflects his ability to translate data into actionable optimisations across search, social, and multi-channel environments. Clients value his clarity in reporting and his ability to explain performance shifts with logic and data. Mohan’s approach is grounded in accountability; clear targets, measurable impact and disciplined optimisation across every stage of the funnel.

MENATALLA SHAWKY, 26

Executive – Media, Zenith – Egypt

Nominated by Kareem Demian, Head of Zenith Egypt:

Menatalla Shawky is a standout contributor within Zenith Egypt, known for her consistency, precision, and dependable delivery across assignments. She manages her responsibilities with care, ensuring output is delivered on time and meets a high standard. Menatalla helps teams stay organised, keeps tasks progressing smoothly, and raises potential risks early with clear, practical recommendations. She earns trust through her composure in busy periods, responsiveness to requests, and commitment to quality from brief to delivery. Zenith Egypt is proud of Menatalla’s contributions, professionalism, and continued development, and we believe she is a deserving person of the Media Agency Faces to Watch recognition.

MOHAMAD ALI DAKROUB, 26

Programmatic Executive, Publicis Media – Lebanon

Nominated by Karthikeyan Palani, Business Director, Publicis Media:

Mohamad Ali has proven himself as a high-impact performer, managing multiple Nestlé brands with precision, accountability, and strategic oversight. He consistently delivers against KPIs while maintaining strict budget control and optimisation discipline across campaigns. He navigates complex structures, aligns with global stakeholders, and ensures full compliance with brand, platform, and regulatory standards across markets. Mohamad Ali effectively balances performance outcomes with governance requirements, minimising risk while maximising efficiency. His strong cross-market coordination and multi-brand execution demonstrate readiness for broader responsibility and sustained regional impact.

MUHAMMAD OWAIS MARFANI, 30

Integrated

Planning Manager, UM MENAT – Bahrain

Nominated by Tony Deeb, General Manager, UM MENAT: Muhammad is a standout talent in our media department. He is highly skilled, creative, and consistently exceeds expectations on every project. His positive attitude and ability to handle pressure make him an indispensable part of the team.

MARIEM ISSA, 28

Associate Performance Director, Assembly MENA – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Nayan Joshi, Senior Client Director, Assembly MENA: Mariem’s journey at Assembly reflects both performance and trust, progressing from intern to Associate Performance Director over seven years. What distinguishes her is her judgment, she knows when to push, when to refine, and when to challenge assumptions. Clients rely on her clarity under pressure, and she consistently elevates conversations from metrics to business impact. Her growth trajectory is a direct result of consistent accountability and delivery at scale.

MOHAMAD KASSEM, 26

Executive – Technology & Activation Group, Publicis Media – Lebanon

Nominated by Mia Saloumi, Manager –Technology & Activation Group, Publicis Media:

Mohamad is an exceptional team player whose performance consistently exceeds expectations. He combines strategic thinking with precise execution, managing accounts with significant impact while building trust across teams and stakeholders. Proactive, reliable and solutionfocused, he drives improvements in processes, communication, and overall efficiency. He motivates those around him, inspiring through guidance, mentorship, and accountability. His ability to balance hands-on support with strategic oversight, deliver tangible results and elevate team performance demonstrates his influence and potential, positioning him as a professional poised to grow into a true leadership role.

NADA ABDELZAHER, 26

Media Executive, Starcom – Egypt

Nominated by Mayar El Zanaty, Senior Media Manager, Starcom:

Nada is a rising star who embodies passion, drive, and relentless ambition. She began her career as an Operations Executive, quickly establishing herself as a powerhouse – mastering operations before expanding her impact far beyond her initial scope. Today, she is a well-rounded TV and digital planner, confidently delivering for her market while also supporting other MEA markets. Always the first to raise her hand to support those around her, Nada brings energy and commitment to everything she does.

MOHAMAD KLEIT, 28

Senior Media Executive, Publicis Media –APEX – Lebanon

Nominated by Pranav Rautdessai, Senior Media Manager, Publicis Media – APEX: Mohammad is a goal-oriented leader who consistently delivers strong results. He approaches every campaign with clear targets and a practical plan to achieve them. He is highly accountable, commercially sharp and focused on performance. His resilience and dedication to his work is truly remarkable.

Strategy Manager, Initiative MENAT –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Mohamad Hachem, Media Director, Initiative MENAT: Nabil is a strategist who consistently elevates how brands think about growth, not just how they execute campaigns. His creative foundation gives him an instinct for cultural relevance, while his strategic thinking ensures every idea drives real business momentum. He has played a role in shaping long-term growth planning, connecting media, creative, social and PR into unified demand platforms.

NATALIA NADER, 27

Programmatic Manager, WPP Media MENA – Lebanon

Nominated by Yasmine Al Turk, Media Solutions –Director, WPP Media MENA:

She is a consistently high-performing talent who brings discipline, adaptability, and pride to everything she works on. What I admire most is her response to feedback – she treats constructive criticism as guidance, acting on it immediately and using it to push herself further. Her commitment to stepping outside her comfort zone, combined with her reliability and experience, has made her indispensable to the team.

NOUR ZAYAT, 28

Managing Director, Reach – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ihab Ghazal, CEO, Reach:

I’ve seen how she’s developed into a leader, retained clients, developed and tailored fresh and outside the box activations for each client. Our retention rate speaks about why she’s a face to watch.

Executive – Performance, Magna Global MENAT – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Jad Barakat, Associate Digital Director, Magna Global MENAT: Raja showed great commitment and responsibility across clients, while being a team player, Raja is always thriving to deliver great accomplishments by adapting new techniques and pro-actively pushing clients to test different recommendations for improved results, he is always eager to learn and improve his expertise.

Nominated by Ahmed Abayazeed, Head of Performance, Magna Global MENAT: Omar is a primary driver of operational excellence within our most technically sophisticated performance unit. He has been pivotal in the successful deployment of regional benchmarks, serving as the lead practitioner for our most advanced optimisation frameworks. A master of adoption, Omar was the first to operationalise our new ways of working, subsequently scaling that expertise to upskill the broader team. His ability to navigate complex transitions with autonomy and precision makes him an indispensable anchor. Omar doesn’t just follow a roadmap; he is the specialist who ensures its success and reliability at the highest level.

Media Consultant, We Are Social –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Shivangi Agiwal, Media Manager, We Are Social: Puneet is that person who’d walk into data heavy meetings with a warm, all teeth smile, even when the conversation is knee deep in optimisations, reports, and insight hunting. He’s the sort who brings an energy that lifts the room and makes working with him genuinely enjoyable, something anyone who knows Puneet would agree with. He approaches complex, nitty gritty tasks with enthusiasm, humour and a practical mindset.

RALPH MANSOUR, 28

Executive, OMD MENA – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Hossam Sherif, Business Unit Director, OMD MENA:

Ralph is highly motivated and always eager to learn and take on new challenges with a positive attitude. I’m truly proud to see how he has evolved, he’s now confidently leading conversations across different stages of the funnel.

RAMZI ELTABCH, 26

Senior Executive – Integrated Planning,  UM Qatar

Nominated by Kelly Vardala, Head of Operations, UM Qatar: Ramzi is a highly promising integrated planner who has already demonstrated leadership well beyond his years. He has successfully managed complex local and international projects, showcasing outstanding project management skills, precision, coordination, and speed of execution. With a seamless, no-silos approach, he confidently handles all media channels and consistently strengthens cross-team collaboration across the agency.

RAND BERRI, 23

Executive – Integrated Planning, UM MENAT

– Kuwait

RAWAD ZEBIAN, 29

Senior Executive – Integrated Planning, UM Qatar

Nominated by Nay Akl, Director – Integrated Planning, UM MENAT: I highly recommend Rand for this recognition because she is an exceptional media planning executive who brings structure, creativity, and precision to every campaign. Rand’s dedication, reliability, and collaborative spirit make her an invaluable asset to our planning team.

SAIF SLEIMAN, 27

Senior Programmatic Manager, WPP Media MENA – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Yasmine Al Turk, Media

Solutions – Director, WPP Media MENA: Saif is one of those rare talents who combines sharp technical understanding with strong commercial instinct and genuine leadership. He is a trusted problem-solver who consistently delivers, while also elevating those around him through clear guidance and thoughtful delegation. His integrity, reliability, and ability to simplify complexity make him a go-to advisor across teams. Saif brings energy and humour to the workplace, often using metaphors to make complex ideas land.

REINA ABOU FAKHER, 26

Media Manager, WPP Media MENA – Lebanon

Nominated by Racha Semaan, Global Business Lead, WPP Media MENA: Reina demonstrates exceptional commitment and ownership in everything she leads. She thrives in building long-term strategies and ensuring they come to life through seamless operational excellence. Her strength lies in connecting vision to execution – carefully planning, aligning stakeholders, and maintaining consistency over time. Reina brings stability, structure, and accountability to complex streams of work, ensuring that strategic ambitions are not only designed thoughtfully but delivered with precision.

SALMA ELSERTY, 25

Nominated by Rohan Eden, Head of Digital, UM Qatar: What truly sets Rawad apart is his passion for media combined with an innate curiosity to continuously learn and improve. He consistently challenges briefs in a constructive way, bringing fresh perspectives that elevate both strategic thinking and final output. Despite being at an early stage in his career, Rawad demonstrates a maturity beyond his years, actively identifying opportunities to add value and contribute to new business growth for the agency.

SAMEEH DAWERJI, 24

Senior Media Executive, Mindshare Jordan, A WPP Media Brand

Nominated by Abdallah Sharbaji, Head of Strategy and Client Lead, Mindshare Jordan, A WPP Media brand: Sameeh joined WPP Media as a fresh graduate with the highest GPA in his class. What stood out immediately was not just academic excellence, but the way he thinks. He approaches media with structure and discipline. He does not execute tasks mechanically – he questions, analyses and validates before making decisions.His analysis goes beyond reporting performance; he connects media metrics to commercial outcomes in a way that clients understand and value. His advice is consistently backed by logic and measurable evidence.

Senior Media Executive, WaveMaker – Egypt

Nominated by Marwa Ahmed, Senior Media Manager, WaveMaker: Salma has consistently proven herself as a reliable, strategic, and results-driven leader. She demonstrates exceptional ownership across her accounts, manages complex cross-market coordination with confidence, and maintains strong client relationships built on trust and performance. Her ability to balance strategic thinking with operational excellence makes her a valuable asset to the team. In addition to delivering high-quality work, she mentors her team members effectively and contributes positively to internal collaboration across functions.

Arab Emirates

Nominated by Mike Alnaji, Managing Director, Imvent Studios:

Sandra is the operational backbone of Imvent Studios. As Head of Productions, she manages complexity with a level of composure well beyond her years. She has built systems that allow our creative ambitions to be executed consistently and reliably. Sandra doesn’t simply coordinate projects; she creates clarity in environments that would overwhelm most people. Her ability to align teams under pressure has directly strengthened our client relationships and delivery standards. She understands that production is not just logistics, it is leadership. Sandra represents the kind of disciplined, future-focused operator this industry needs.

SANJANA KOSHY, 23

Media Executive, UM MENAT – Kuwait

Nominated by Yasmine Temsah, Senior Manager –Integrated Planning, UM MENAT: Sanjana is a rising talent in media with exceptional potential. Despite being early in her career, she has demonstrated sharp strategic thinking, strong analytical skills, and impressive attention to detail. She quickly grasped the dynamics of the media landscape, confidently contributing to planning, insights, and execution across campaigns. Her curiosity, proactive mindset, and ability to translate data into meaningful recommendations set her apart.

SARA SAMHOUN, 22

Programmatic – Executive, Publicis Media – Lebanon

Nominated by Rita Boulos, General Manager, OMD Egypt: Sara has demonstrated exceptional leadership and strategic insight, significantly enhancing the Madinet Masr account through her strong relationship-building and proactive approach. She ensures seamless campaign execution and timely communication, consistently exceeding client expectations. Her dedication to mentoring team members fosters a collaborative environment, driving overall team performance.

Nominated by Razi Asim, Programmatic – Associate Business Director, Publicis Media: Sara consistently demonstrates maturity, leadership potential and strong operational capability that go well beyond the expectations of her current role. She takes initiative, manages responsibilities independently and consistently delivers high-quality work across campaigns. Her ability to coordinate with internal teams and clients reflects both accountability and strategic thinking. Sara also supports her peers, shares knowledge proactively, and contributes to a collaborative team environment.

SARA ALKHALILI, 28

Senior Media Planner, Spark Foundry – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Reem Lizzaik, Senior Media Manager, Spark Foundry: From day one, Sara has distinguished herself through her positivity and genuine passion for learning. Her proactive ‘I’m on it’ attitude inspires confidence and consistently delivers high-quality results. Her contributions to Aramco have been remarkable, and seeing her take ownership and earn well-deserved recognition makes me incredibly proud.

Media Planning Manager, Mindshare – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Joseph El Bcherrawy, Client Leadership Director, Mindshare: She consistently demonstrates strategic thinking, analytical depth and strong client leadership well beyond her years of experience. She has the rare ability to translate complex data into clear, actionable media strategies while maintaining strong collaboration across teams and partners. She represents the next generation of media leaders.

SEIF MOHSEN, 29

Senior Media Planning Executive, OMD Egypt

Nominated by Rita Boulos, General Manager, OMD Egypt: Seif has consistently demonstrated exceptional accountability on the PepsiCo account, particularly during a pivotal period of team transformation. His unwavering commitment to excellence and proactive approach played a vital role in navigating the complexities of this shift. Always on the lookout for new opportunities to present to clients, Seif has shown remarkable initiative and insight. His eagerness to learn and grow further enhances his ability to drive success, fostering strong relationships and establishing trust with the client while maintaining high standards of service delivery.

TIA ISMAIL, 24

Integrated Planning Executive, UM MENAT – Lebanon

Nominated by Yara Kassar, Associate Director –Integrated Planning, UM MENAT:

Tia is a highly driven and dependable planning executive who consistently brings enthusiasm, ownership, and attention to detail to every project. She continuously shows growth in communication, client management and problem-solving, while maintaining a proactive mindset and strong team spirit. Her willingness to learn, take initiative and go the extra mile continues to make a meaningful impact.

VLADA VULFOVICH, 29

YARA DALLY, 26

TONIA EID, 30

Associate Business Director, Starcom –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Dima Zaytoun, Business Lead, Starcom: Since joining the P&G team in July, Tonia quickly earned client trust while managing complex categories across the portfolio, bringing diversified and innovative media and tech solutions, cross-market strategy, AIled search integration, retail media innovation, and advanced measurement frameworks. Internally, she has made a strong footprint, combining operational precision with strategic vision to strengthen governance, elevate collaboration, and unlock growth across categories and markets.

Programmatic Account Manager, WPP Media MENA – Lebanon

Nominated by Kareem Salhab, Senior Programmatic Manager, WPP Media MENA:

Yara has been an integral part of Media Solutions from the day she joined. She is an exceptionally quick learner, eager to take on challenges no matter the difficulty. While she has only been a member of the team for a few months, she has already become well known amongst her peers due to her pro-activeness and organisation, which is a testament to her character.

Senior Performance Manager, Assembly MENA – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Nayan Joshi, Senior Client Director, Assembly MENA:

Over the past few years, Vlada has taken on increasing responsibility across one of the region’s largest hospitality portfolios, now leading performance strategy for more than 40 properties. She plays a central role in driving direct booking growth while maintaining strict cost discipline across markets. Her work across key international feeder regions has delivered consistent revenue uplift, supported by structured account management and strong commercial alignment with the client stakeholders. She is dependable, commercially aware, and consistently delivers outcomes that extend beyond platform metrics.

YASMIN IBRAHIM AHMED, 29

Media Planning Manager, UM Egypt

Nominated by Mohamed Aly, Media Director, UM Egypt:

Being Yasmin’s current direct manager and seeing her performance today and 3 years back. I’d comfortably nominate her for her resilience, persistence and effort. That’s beside being an amazing colleague to have within my team.

VANESSA WAZEN, 28

Senior Planner, Initiative MENAT – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Jyotishree Pandey, Business Director, Initiative MENAT:

ASIRI, 25

Senior Content Executive, Publicis Media – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Saleem Sharma, Senior Manager – Content, Publicis Media:

Tala joined as a Senior Content Executive and immediately made the role her own, swiftly becoming our go-to expert for insight-led creative. Bringing formidable expertise from Talabat, she has taken her work to the next level, driving pitches and guiding projects from briefing to flawless execution with astounding creativity. Tala displays maturity and professionalism beyond her years, exemplifying team spirit while possessing a strong sense of ownership. Tala is undoubtedly a face to watch in 2026

I am proud to recommend Vanessa for her exceptional leadership, strategic acumen, and ability to deliver outstanding results. She seamlessly combines performance expertise with big-picture thinking, consistently developing integrated, high-impact solutions that drive client success. Vanessa demonstrates remarkable ownership, professionalism, and dedication in every project, earning the trust of colleagues and clients alike. Her ability to navigate complex challenges, collaborate effectively, and deliver with excellence sets her apart as a truly high-performing leader. Confident, insightful and results-driven, Vanessa is poised to take on broader responsibilities and make a lasting, top-level impact within any organisation.

YASMINA SINNO, 27

Media Manager, Starcom – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Sarah Hani, Business Director – Strategy, Starcom:

Yasmina is a strong example of young talent that genuinely stands out. She learns fast, adapts quickly to new markets, and takes ownership of her work with a level of maturity that’s rare at this stage. She is proactive, detail-oriented and consistently reliable, even in highpressure situations. What sets her apart is her drive and curiosity – she asks the right questions, pushes herself to improve and follows through on what she commits to. She shows clear leadership potential, and given responsibility, you can rely on her to deliver and move things forward with confidence.

Senior Executive – Commerce, Publicis Groupe – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Henna Rafeeque, Senior Manager – Commerce, Publicis Groupe:

Zain is a key driver of retail media growth for P&G as part of the Publicis Commerce team. She is widely trusted by clients and retailers for her reliability, strong relationship -building, and consistent delivery across brands and markets. Zain brings a thoughtful mix of strategic planning, data- driven insight, and category expertise to navigate the evolving commerce landscape effectively. Her ability to anticipate needs, influence stakeholders, and translate complexity into clear action is what sets her apart, and why I confidently recommend her as a standout talent to watch.

Senior Media Planner, Initiative MENAT – Egypt

Nominated by Sherin Mukhles, Media Director, Initiative MENAT: As Yehia’s Team Director, I am confident to nominate him, though any of his clients would gladly do so given the trusting partnerships he has built. Beyond his development and ownership and eagerness in media planning, Yehia has become a cornerstone of Initiative Media’. He is a key pillar who consistently pushes to a supportive, highly collaborative environment. I am proud of the who he has become and look forward to seeing him grow with us.

Senior Executive – Integrated Planning, Magna Global MENAT – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ihab Thebian, Associate Director –Integrated Planning, Magna Global MENAT:

Zouheir is an exceptional digital media planner who consistently demonstrates strategic clarity, commercial awareness, and strong client leadership. He takes full ownership of planning and performance, ensuring campaigns are structured, optimised, and aligned with clear business objectives. His ability to manage complex portfolios while maintaining precision in forecasting and budget allocation sets him apart. He builds trust with clients through transparency and accountability, positioning himself as a reliable strategic partner. He represents the next generation of disciplined, performance-driven media leaders.

YOUSSEF SHEBRIA, 25

Senior Executive, Zenith – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Rami Kabbani, Business Director, Zenith:

Youssef consistently demonstrates strategic excellence, combining data-driven insight with innovative media thinking to deliver measurable business impact. From leading complex, multi-channel campaigns to optimising performance across platforms, Youssef brings clarity, precision, and creativity to every challenge. Beyond results, Youssef is respected amongst his colleagues, has strong client relationships, and drives a culture of continuous improvement. Youssef nurtures collaboration across disciplines, embraces technologies, and champions accountability through clear KPIs and performance benchmarks.

Youssef consistently demonstrates professionalism, integrity and forwardthinking mindset, making him highly deserving of this recognition.

Nominated by Meral Mohamed, Media Manager,Spark Foundry:

Zeinab demonstrated remarkable growth, consistently elevating both her strategic thinking and operational ownership. She took ownership of the Nestlé brands, becoming the central driver behind its daily management. Her leadership set a strong foundation for efficiency within the team streamlining processes, improving cross-functional coordination, and ensuring that every output was aligned with the client’s expectations and business objectives. Beyond execution, Zeinab showed clear progress in her ability to anticipate challenges, propose data-backed solutions, and steer discussions toward meaningful outcomes. Her proactive mindset and structured way of working enabled the team to deliver more consistently, while her collaborative approach strengthened dynamics.

PR FACES TO WATCH

ADNAN MUNAWAR, 21

Junior Account Manager, Empyre Communications – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Anisha Sharma, Head of Corporate Communications and Strategic Growth, Empyre Communications: Adnan Munawar stands out for his exceptional media relationships and instinctive understanding of what drives coverage. He has cultivated strong, trusted connections across key UAE titles, enabling him to consistently secure high-impact, relevant placements for our clients. Adnan demonstrates a deep understanding of client objectives, translating briefs into strategic, results-focused execution. Combined with a relentless work ethic and calm composure under pressure, Adnan is a rising force in the region’s PR landscape and undoubtedly one to watch.

Account Executive, Redhill Middle East & Africa

– United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Suzanne Kanianthra, Senior Director, Redhill Middle East & Africa: She joined the team less than a year ago and is one of our youngest team members, but you wouldn’t know it from the way she works. She carries herself with a calmness and maturity that people twice her experience rarely have, especially in high-pressure moments where others tend to scramble. She’s proven sharp at both media relations and the numbers side.

AFSAL BACKER, 27

Multimedia Designer, Aurora The Agency – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Iona Al Suwaidi, Agency Director, Aurora The Agency:

Afsal has consistently demonstrated creativity, dedication and a strong commitment to growth since joining Aurora. He brings a thoughtful approach to every project, combining design precision with storytelling impact. His ability to adapt to new tools, embrace emerging technologies and support both clients and colleagues makes him a valuable asset to the agency. Beyond his technical skills, his positive attitude and willingness to learn truly set him apart.

ALISHA POONAWALA, 25

Designer, Tales & Heads – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Joanna Agnew, Managing Director, Tales & Heads: Alisha is one of those rare designers who elevates everything around her. At Tales & Heads, she is the creative force behind some of our most impactful desks and brand assets, consistently delivering work that is slick, thoughtful and creatively sharp. What truly sets Alisha apart is her attitude: unfailingly positive, calm under pressure and trusted implicitly by senior teams, even when managing multiple high-stakes deadlines simultaneously.

Nominated by Injeel Firoz Moti, Managing Director, Catch Communications:

Her ability to manage both client and talent relationships with professionalism and ease truly sets her apart. She is highly committed, consistently meeting deadlines and exceeding expectations when it comes to account delivery. She is also deeply passionate about her own growth, embracing new challenges with enthusiasm and never shying away from opportunities to learn. Her dedication, skill and positive attitude make her an invaluable asset.

Associate Account Director, Seven Media –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Rebecca Gill, Head of Social Media, Seven Media:

Alice is a natural leader who truly leads by example. She has an incredible ability to stay calm under pressure, think strategically, and always balance both client and team needs effortlessly. She is one of the most dependable members of our team – any task entrusted to her is delivered to the highest standard, with precision and care. Her strategic thinking is one of her greatest strengths, enabling her to create thoughtful, insight-led plans that drive results. Alice is deeply committed to mentoring and developing junior team members, who genuinely value her guidance and support.

ANDREW YOUNG, 27

Senior Account Manager, Burson –Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Robin Heymann, Managing Director, Sport, Gaming, Entertainment, Burson: Andy quickly recognised the scale of opportunity for ambitious sports and entertainment communications professionals in Saudi Arabia and has pursued it with rare maturity and focus. He has earned the trust to lead teams and manage high-profile, demanding clients. Grounded yet ambitious, Andy is committed to continuous improvement – a mindset that will define his long-term impact and leadership in the industry.

Account

Nominated by Emma Procter, Communications Director, Publsh Media Group: Aprati came to us about a year ago and life has never been the same since. Her very first week saw her deal with a truly challenging event situation that I thought would see her wave goodbye to the role but she didn’t even flinch. She’s a total PR pro and beloved by the clients.

Nominated by Saad Abu Touq, Managing Director, PR, Memac Ogilvy UAE: Basant delivers strong results and does so with real intent and care. She builds trusted client relationships that directly support account retention and overall business performance. She doesn’t shy away from new challenges and is always looking to stretch herself and grow. She has clear drive, strong leadership potential and is steadily establishing herself as a rising star.

ARTEMIS SARANTI, 30

Senior PR Executive, Umami Comms – United Arab Emirates

Account Manager, JRN Consultancy – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Sarah Fernandez, General Manager, JRN Consultancy: She brings an indepth knowledge of the market and demonstrates clear strategic thinking in the way she approaches both planning and execution. She quickly understands the broader commercial picture while maintaining attention to detail, ensuring that every initiative is aligned with client objectives. Responsible and genuinely passionate about her work, Catherine consistently demonstrates a high level of commitment and integrity. She is a valuable asset to any team and has already proven herself to be someone with strong leadership potential and long-term impact.

Nominated by Paudie Marum, Head of Content, Katch International: Beth joined Katch nearly two years ago with no prior PR experience and an incredible willingness to learn. She dove headfirst into the industry, quickly grasping the dynamics of the market and how to shape strong, compelling narratives. Through her hard work and consistency, she has grown into a confident writer across our entire portfolio, delivering tangible results for a wide range of clients. Beth is driven, thoughtful, and constantly improving, with a natural instinct for storytelling. She has a very bright future ahead of her in the industry.

DIVYA BHATIA,

Nominated by Marjorie Chapas, Head of PR, Umami Comms: Artemis is an exceptionally driven and results-oriented PR professional. She consistently secures high-impact coverage for our clients and goes above and beyond in everything she delivers. From leading international press trips and building strong global media relationships to supporting multiple high-profile openings, she approaches every campaign with focus and determination.

Nominated by Sarah Downes, Head of Consumer PR, QComms: Caitlin is an outstanding candidate for Campaign Middle East’s Faces to Watch. She has progressed rapidly at QComms thanks to her tenacity, strategic mindset and exceptional work ethic. Highly valued by both clients and colleagues, she consistently goes above and beyond to ensure KPIs are not only met, but surpassed. Caitlin brings genuine passion to her portfolio, with a strong personal interest in wellness and fitness that allows her to offer unmatched insight and authenticity to clients in the sector. With an impressive media and influencer network, she is a rising talent with an incredibly bright future ahead.

Senior Communications Executive, Havas Red Middle East –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Palak Mehta, Communications Director, Havas Red Middle East: Divya is someone who quietly makes a real difference. She brings focus, resilience and a strong work ethic to everything she does, and you can always rely on her to step up when it matters most. Her strength in media and influencer relations stands out, but it is her attitude that truly defines her. She is proactive, positive and always willing to learn.

FAYROUZ KHALED, 27

Senior Executive – Public Relations, MSL Group – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Hana Taha, Associate Business Director, MSL Group: Fayrouz is one of the most promising communications professionals I have worked with. She combines strategic clarity with cultural intelligence, consistently delivering campaigns that go beyond coverage to create real brand equity. She has led complex, multi-stakeholder projects with precision and maturity beyond her years. Tech-savvy, insight-driven, and deeply committed to storytelling, she understands that narrative is the true driver of influence.

HANEEN ASFOUR, 25

Director of Social Media, Reachuals – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Sina Ikhlasi, Account Manager, Reachuals: Haneen leads with clarity, vision, and a level of strategic thinking that pushes everyone around her to perform better. Haneen doesn’t just build campaigns – she builds direction, structure, and purpose behind everything we do. What sets her apart is her ability to stay composed under pressure while making bold decisions that drive real impact. She trusts her team, challenges us to grow, and creates an environment where high standards feel motivating, not overwhelming. She is a true leader who elevates both the work and the people around her.

ISABELLA SHAFI, 26

Account Manager, Bacchus GCC – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Sophie Lee-Pybus, Senior Account Director, Bacchus GCC:

I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside Isabella at Bacchus Agency, where she consistently demonstrates exceptional skill as an Account Manager in luxury hospitality and lifestyle PR. Her ability to execute high-profile launches – from TATTU Dubai’s -1,000guest opening to the Sky Pool event with Jason Momoa – is matched by her creativity, cultural insight, and unwavering positivity. Isabella seamlessly brings brand visions to life, balancing client expectations with innovative campaign execution. She is a collaborative, hands-on professional whose energy, strategic thinking, and meticulous attention to detail make her a standout talent.

HAIDY TAMER, 23

Account Executive – Strategic PR and Communications, Kensho Mindful Communication – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Rana El Naggar, Managing Partner, Kensho Mindful Communication: Haidy is a true Face to Watch, defined by both impact and trajectory. Over the past year, she has overseen more than 70 published content pieces across the region for Netflix comms MENA, ensuring brand consistency, cultural relevance, and editorial quality. She has grown from execution to ownership, confidently managing content positioning, translations, media relations, and onground event coordination.

HANNAH GUENTHER, 28

Director, TrailRunner International – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Seth Hand, Head of International, TrailRunner International: Hannah combines a strong work ethic, strategic thinking and the ability to unite teams. She has led communications training for over 50 senior UAE government officials and serves as a trusted adviser to businesses across industries. She connects Middle East and global teams, aligning standards and culture across markets. She brings empathy and precision to transnational collaboration, while mentoring and supporting colleagues to elevate client counsel and team performance.

GHALIA SUKKAR, 29

Senior Communications Manager, Action Global Communications – Saudi Arabia

Nominated by Barry King, Managing Director – KSA, Action Global Communications: She displays a real entrepreneurial mindset and a desire to deliver quality service for clients while mentoring younger members of the growing team in our Riyadh office. Ghalia demonstrates maturity beyond her professional experience and is destined for great things.

ISHITA SINGH, 28

Senior Account Executive, PR, Memac Ogilvy –United Arab Emirates

HANZLA WAJID, 25

Account Executive, APCO – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Mathilda Saad, Director, APCO: Hanzla has demonstrated exceptional growth in a short period of time, taking on increasingly complex responsibilities with confidence, accountability, and sound judgment. He approaches his work with a strong sense of ownership and consistently delivers to a high standard, even in fast-paced and high-pressure environments. He has a clear ability to absorb new information quickly and apply it thoughtfully, adapting to unfamiliar challenges without losing focus or quality. His calm, composed manner and reliability set him apart.

Nominated by Saad Abu Touq, Managing Director, PR, Memac Ogilvy UAE: Ishita is thoughtful in how she approaches her work and reliable in how she delivers it. She takes ownership of her tasks, thinks ahead, and shows a strong sense of responsibility for her level. She’s naturally curious and makes the effort to properly understand what she’s working on, rather than just skimming the surface. She looks beyond the obvious, picks up on what’s shifting, and turns that into clear, useful input for the team and our clients. She’s a solid young professional with the right mindset.

Senior PR Executive, Golin MENA –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Corporate Practice, Senior Director, Golin MENA:

Janice is a dynamic, proactive communications professional who brings energy and agility to every project she touches. Always eager to learn and quick to take initiative, she consistently steps up to new challenges with confidence and curiosity. Her ability to adapt, think on her feet, and maintain momentum under pressure makes her a dependable force.

Account Executive, Marylebone Communications – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Kate Fox, Associate Director, Marylebone Communications:

Krisha distinguished herself as an exceptionally impressive PR professional from the moment she joined the team. Incredibly hardworking and dedicated, she consistently goes above and beyond, approaching every brief with confidence, positivity and determination. She has quickly built strong capabilities across client management, media relations and strategic storytelling, regularly exceeding KPIs and delivering excellent results for clients. Her attention to detail and commitment to excellence ensure every task is handled efficiently.

KARYN VAZ, 24 LAKSHIKA KHURANA, 29

Account

Executive, M+C

Saatchi – Sport & Entertainment – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Scott Grayston, Account Director, M+C Saatchi –Sport & Entertainment:

Karyn is an instrumental part of our PR team. She’s built wonderful connections with local media and influencers and has grown at an impressive rate since joining in September. Already in her short tenure, she’s conducted interviews, helped handle press centres and gained experience in prestigious tier one sports and entertainment events such as DP World Tour Championship, Dubai Fitness Challenge and Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open. Karyn is certainly a Face to Watch in this space and I’m excited to see what the future holds.

LEEN AL-SHARABI, 29

Senior PR Executive, Pencell

PR & Events – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Nadine Kalache Maalouf, Regional General Manager, Pencell PR & Events: Leen’s unwavering dedication to excellence, unmatched work ethic, and ability to consistently deliver exceptional results make her stand out. She excels in influencer management, cultivating strong, authentic relationships with key figures. Her knowledge of trends and deep understanding of brand strategies allow her to lead and collaborate seamlessly within our team. Always ready to go above and beyond, her contributions have been integral to the success of our PR campaigns, and she is undoubtedly a future industry leader to watch.

KATIE

Senior Account Executive, The Romans – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Joe Lipscombe, Partner, The Romans:

Katie brings a combination of quality pop culture references, country bangers, original hot sauces, sarcasm, travel advice, and – occasionally – top PR. We’ll fight anyone that tries to hire her.

LEEN KHOURY, 30

Account Manager, Burson – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Yousif Noureldin, Director of Social Media, Burson: I’ve watched Leen grow from an Account Executive to an Account Manager leading Dubai Media City and in5 Dubai districts for our client TECOM Group. She pairs sharp strategic thinking with hard work and commitment, resulting in high-performing and engaging social content. Leen played a key role in major, successful campaigns for Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City, as well as supporting award-winning campaigns, while also building trusted client relationships and quickly becoming a valued mentor and creative force.

Influencer Marketing Lead, Assembly MENA – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Muzammil Hamza, Business Unit Director – Strategy and Growth, Assembly MENA: Lakshika Khurana is genuinely one of the most impressive young professionals I’ve had the pleasure of managing. What I value most about Lakshika is her ability to combine creativity with structure. She does not simply execute influencer campaigns. She takes the time to understand the broader objectives, ensuring her strategies are thoughtful, measurable, and aligned with the bigger picture.

LEEN SHEHADEH, 22

Junior Account Executive, ComCo Middle East & Africa – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Lloyd Arceo, Associate Director, ComCo Middle East & Africa: Great PR talent reveals itself through curiosity, initiative, and a genuine hunger to learn – qualities Leen consistently demonstrates. Despite being at a junior level, she has quickly proven her ability to take ownership, confidently managing assigned accounts with minimal supervision while maintaining strong organisation and accountability. She is highly proactive, always seeking opportunities to strengthen her understanding of PR and media relations while delivering reliable support across campaigns.

MANAL ABBASI, 25

LILLIAN GHOUSSEINI, 25

Account Executive, Ruder Finn Atteline –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Aishwarya Anand, Senior Account Manager, Ruder Finn Atteline: Lillian has a knack for building connections – she’s the most cheerful and helpful person in the room; it’s no wonder she holds strong relationships with influencers across the region. Her passion and energy are her biggest strengths, and I’m sure she will go to great heights as she takes her team along with her on new adventuresevery day.

Nominated by Vicky El-Kassir, Managing Director, Houbara Communications:

Manal is a dedicated, hard-working Account Executive with a genuine passion for communications. She lives and breathes our agency values, bringing an agile mindset to fast-moving briefs, inventive thinking to problem solving, and a committed approach to every task. Manal is building strong media relationships and is developing into a trusted adviser who helps deliver measurable impact for clients.

MEGHAN LANE, 27

PR Manager – Head of Lifestyle, Hospitality and F&B, Empyre Communications – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Anisha Sharma, Head of Corporate Communications and Strategic Growth, Empyre Communications: Meghan Lane is driven, disciplined and exceptionally focused, with a work ethic that consistently sets the benchmark within our team. Meghan has built her reputation through her ability to confidently manage client expectations while securing impactful, relevant coverage. She understands that effective PR is about aligning strategy, storytelling and delivery, and she executes all three with maturity, precision and commercial awareness well beyond her years.

MAHEK MUNAWAR, 24

Account Manager, PRCO Group –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Georgia Calafiore, Account Director, PRCO Group:

Mahek has become an integral force across our luxury hospitality portfolio, bringing a rare blend of drive, precision and strategic instinct. Exceptionally detail-orientated and creatively sharp, she shapes compelling narratives for some of the region’s most prestigious hospitality brands, ensuring every touchpoint reflects the highest standard of luxury storytelling. Her proactive mindset, commercial awareness and calm confidence make her a trusted partner to clients and colleagues.

MAI HAJOUJ, 29

Senior Integrated Associate, MENAT, Current Global – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Luanne D’Souza, Influencers Relations Director, Current Global: I’ve had the privilege of watching her grow from limited influencer experience into a confident lead across award-winning campaigns for New Balance, Dubai Airports and Heinz. Mai is the definition of dependable, she is exceptionally organised, quick to action, a fast learner, and determined to get the job done right and fast. You always know you can count on her. She manages influencer comms, briefings, content direction and shoots while nurturing her junior team with patience and compassion. Clients adore her and so does her team. If cloning was an option, she would definitely be on my no.1 list.

MAYA ABBASSI, 25

Senior PR Executive, Maison Pyramide – Egypt

Nominated by Hend ElKhouly, Senior PR Manager, Maison Pyramide: She doesn’t just do the job, she pushes herself to elevate it. Her ability to build real relationships with media is one of her strongest assets and it comes from consistency, credibility, and emotional intelligence. She understands how to shape a story in a way that makes it worth reading, not just sending.

MAYA ABDULAZIM, 28

Influencer Marketing, We Are Social –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Danielle Bedin, Strategy Director, We Are Social: Maya understands the nuances of the influence space in the GCC better than anyone I’ve ever met. This deep understanding allows her to shape influence work that is both astonishingly creative and culturally nuanced. She leads influence initiatives across many of our brands, most notably Revolve, Switz, ATRC, TikTok and Rove.

MERLYN SELVANATHAN, 25

Creative Strategist, Sumea Social –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Svenja Maltzahn, CEO & Founder, Sumea Social: Merlyn is one of the most impressive professionals I have worked with. She is an exceptionally fast learner who implements feedback instantly and consistently goes beyond expectations. Despite being trained as a designer, she has grown into a true 360 degree talent, leading client meetings, shaping PR and personal branding strategies, designing high level outputs, and managing clients independently. Merlyn raises the standard for everyone around her and is undoubtedly a face to watch in 2026

Account

Executive, The Romans

– United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Joe Lipscombe, Partner, The Romans: Like a stray cat, Mira appeared at our window and we’ve been obsessed with her ever since. She has zero filter and contributes significantly to each and every single conversation happening, often simultaneously. She thinks like a veteran and works like a race horse.

Account Manager, Communication Manager, Action Global Communications – Qatar

Nominated by Eliana Maakaroun, Country Manager, Action Global Communications:

Mireille is an exceptionally sharp and deeply committed professional who consistently goes above and beyond for the Qatar Free Zones Authority. Functioning as a truly embedded partner, she works around the clock and consistently finds innovative, outsidethe-box solutions to push the client’s strategic objectives forward. Her ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments with unparalleled dedication ensures that initiatives resonate powerfully. Mireille’s relentless drive, intellectual agility, and passion for authentic, human-centred marketing guarantee that she has a very bright

MOHAMED

Account Manager, Weber Shandwick MENAT – Qatar

Nominated by Public Relations, Senior Director, Weber Shandwick MENAT: Mohamed is one of those rare talents whose presence elevates every team lucky enough to have him. A trained journalist by trade, extremely smart, and always delivering at the highest quality, Mohamed comes with the sharp eye of a strategic communications professional that goes well beyond the tactical day-to-day work. While he brings dynamic creativity and a can-do attitude to the table, he also maintains a fingertip feel for what works and what won’t.

Senior Account Executive, Gambit Communications – United Arab Emirates

Account Manager, Edelman – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ashley Cartmill,Senior Director, Edelman: Mohammad has seen a rapid and well-earned rise through the ranks. He is known for his sharp editorial instinct, strong strategic thinking and dependable delivery across demanding media briefs. He approaches his work with ownership and composure, often anticipating challenges and proactively driving solutions. Ambitious and committed to raising standards for himself and those around him, he is steadily building a strong reputation as an emerging comms professional.

Senior PR Executive, White Label Media – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Sameer Joshi, Senior PR Strategist, White Label Media:

She is a visionary communications professional redefining lifestyle and luxury brand storytelling across the GCC, she brings a rare blend of strategic insight and creative excellence. With experience spanning hospitality, government, fashion, wellness and F&B, she has led high-profile launches, curated international press experiences, and delivered impactful events that elevate brand equity and regional influence. Known for her trusted media relationships and sharp editorial instinct, she crafts immersive, partnership led campaigns grounded in authenticity and cultural relevance. Her work not only amplifies brand narratives but also shapes meaningful connections between brands, audiences, and the evolving luxury landscape of the region.

Nominated by Tony Sidgwick, Account Director, Gambit Communications: Executing campaigns across lifestyle, tech, trade and B2B press, Mohammed leverages his strong relationships with top-tier media and tech influencers to execute award-winning campaigns for multiple major global brands in the consumer tech space. Boasting exceptional people skills, he has been a solid support for senior team members as well as mentoring juniors new to the team. Mohammed has grown massively in his role over the past year, and is on track for a bright future in PR.

Junior Account Executive, Publsh Media Group – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Emma Procter, Communications Director, Publsh Media Group:

Mohammadi has shown real passion and courage taking the jump from the glam world of aviation to essentially start again in PR. She’s a real asset to the company and eager to absorb everything. She’s brought calm, openness and a touch of class to what we do and sees the world with a unique vision. Luxury clients in particular appreciate her vibe.

Senior Digital Manager, Weber Shandwick Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by David Willett, Director – Head of Digital Team, Weber Shandwick Abu Dhabi: Nour is an exceptional leader who is regularly singled out by clients and colleagues for her brilliant attitude, thoughtful solutions, and in-depth knowledge of digital communications. Her strategic instinct allows her to navigate complex accounts with ease and achieve strong results. Whether mentoring her team or spearheading a major campaign, Nour brings a unique blend of creativity and technical precision to every project.

PEARL FERNANDES, 26

Account Executive, KPR – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Sarah Daud, Account Manager, KPR: Pearl joined KPR in May 2025 and, in less than a year, has seamlessly become an integral part of the team. She is hands-on in her approach, consistently taking initiative to ensure tasks are completed efficiently and in an organised manner. Proactive and dependable, she brings a thoughtful, solutions-focused mindset to every project. Well-read and well-travelled, Pearl adds valuable perspective to our rapidly growing team. She approaches challenges head-on, quickly identifying clear, practical solutions that are both simple and actionable. Her intuitive nature, strong work ethic and positive attitude make her a trusted and valued member of KPR.

PRANAV VINOD, 27

PR & Comms Account Manager, BUZ Marketing & Consulting – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Casilda Corderio, Chief of Business & Strategy – Projects, BUZ Marketing & Consulting:

Pranav brings consistently positive and dynamic energy to the team. He blends well across departments and is reliable in day to day execution, stepping in where needed while maintaining a respectful, collaborative approach. He has made solid progress in building and nurturing media relationships, improving coordination and responsiveness across accounts. He approaches PR tools, monitoring and reporting with the right mindset.

Senior PR Account Executive, Katch International – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Maheen Hussain, Senior Account Manager, Katch International: Rachna is truly someone to watch in the PR world, not just for her results but for the way she shows up every single day. She is incredibly loved and trusted by her clients, who rely on her not only for strong execution but for her honesty, calmness, and unwavering support. In an industry that can often feel fast-paced and chaotic, Rachna is the steady force people turn to.

Campaign Manager, Starfish Agency – United Arab Emirates

Junior Account Manager, Aurora The Agency – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Liz Bamford, PR Director, Aurora The Agency: Ramsha brings a rare combination of strategic depth and cultural intelligence to our team. Her academic background in anthropology gives her a nuanced understanding of audiences and narratives, which she translates seamlessly into impactful communications strategies. She approaches ESG and corporate communications with both analytical rigour and creative sensitivity. Ramsha consistently demonstrates professionalism, insight and strong execution.

Nominated by Ana Gixhari, Head of Influencers, Starfish Agency: Her dedication, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple campaigns simultaneously have consistently delivered outstanding results, earning satisfaction from all parties involved. Rawan’s human-centric approach, rooted in positivity, empathy, and authenticity, has strengthened influencer relationships ,and campaign outcomes. She creates an environment of trust and collaboration, making her a true leader in the field. We celebrate Rawan’s efforts and recognise her as a rising star in the industry.

Senior Account Executive, The Alto Agency – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Holly Wallace, Account Director, The Alto Agency: Rana represents the next generation of communications professionals in the region. In the past year, I have seen her transition from a capable executor to a confident advisor, trusted to lead accounts, shape narratives and represent clients independently. She combines discipline with creativity, preparation with instinct. What stands out most is her growth mindset and composure under pressure. Rana does not wait to be told what to do; she anticipates, prepares and delivers. She is building not just campaigns, but credibility, and she is absolutely one to watch.

Account Manager, Edelman –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Chase Burns, Head of Crisis & Risk, Edelman: Raneem has always been an outstanding performer within Edelman’s Corporate Reputation practice. She’s someone who approaches each task diligently, takes initiative and provides her perspective that can help shape the direction, which is truly valuable. Not only is she organised but her quality of work is to be recognised. Clients value her counsel and she knows how to challenge them diplomatically. Raneem is a rising star at the firm.

Account Manager, Tales & Heads – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Margaret Flanagan, Co-Founder, Tales & Heads: When Reem joined us, someone told me, ‘You got yourself a real gem’, and I could not agree more. With a great attitude and an ability to handle projects and people with skill and grace, she’s made an immediate impact at Tales & Heads. Whether she’s working on events, media and influencer relations, planning or client servicing, Reem takes everything in her stride.

REINE ALSHEIKH, 25

Junior Account Manager, House of Comms –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Jennifer Sephton, Senior Account Director, House of Comms: Reine is a proactive and detail-oriented Junior Account Manager with a strong understanding of integrated communications.

A valued member of both her client and internal teams, she plays a key role in the day-to-day running of accounts, ensuring projects run smoothly and deadlines are consistently met. She has a natural strength in media and influencer relations, building and nurturing relationships with journalists, content creators, and industry KOLs to secure meaningful coverage and partnerships. Collaborative and dependable, she supports her team with energy and commitment, always willing to go the extra mile to deliver quality work and create impact for her clients. Reine’s dedication, professionalism and positive approach make a trusted colleague and a true asset to any team.

SARA KALANTARIAN, 27

Account Executive,

RUMANA SHAIKH, 30

Senior Manager – Communications Consultancy, MSL Group – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by MacLean Brodie, CEO, MSL Group: It’s a rare that a talent has the capacity to consistently surprise, but Rumana crosses that important threshold. Deeply curious, culturally fluent, and a fine wordsmith, she has made her mark not just through the work, but through the people she’s brought along with her. She has an instinct for what culture is doing before the culture knows itself.

SALMA ELBAGHDADI, 29

SAHIL KULKARNI, 30

Senior Account Manager, Marylebone Communications –United Arab Emirates

Nominated byKate Fox, Associate Director, Marylebone Communications:

Sahil is a true team player – reliable, solutions-oriented and always prepared to go the extra mile. He balances structured delivery with thoughtful problem-solving, ensuring campaigns are executed with precision and purpose. Even under pressure, he remains calm and strategic, protecting both the bigger picture and the details that drive success. He actively mentors junior colleagues and fosters a supportive, growthfocused environment.

PR Manager – Client experience, Weber Shandwick MENAT – United

Arab Emirates

Nominated by Liam Turner, Head of Practice – Corporate & Financial Department, Weber Shandwick MENAT:

She effectively translates her European experience to the Gulf context, blending different ways of doing things with a deep appreciation for regional nuances. This rare ability to bridge cultures, connect worlds and skilfully apply her experience has earned Salma the respect of clients and colleagues alike. Her collaborative spirit and endless desire to learn make her a true asset to our team.

Red Middle East – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Jessica Kelly, Associate Communications Director, Havas Red Middle East:

Sara is one of those people who makes everything look easier than it is. Her creativity and unique way of thinking consistently elevate our work and deliver real impact for clients. She’s endlessly curious and always thinking about how things could be done better, often already a few steps ahead. Sara brings infectious positive energy and is the first to support her team, making her a genuine culture carrier. She balances professionalism with authenticity, and her growth over the past few years has been incredible to watch.

SELENA ABU RAS, 23

Senior Account Executive, Bacchus GCC – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Fiona Wishart, Co-Founder, Bacchus GCC:

Since joining Bacchus, Selena has quickly become our media whisperer, turning standard pitches into genuine, long term industry friendships. Having moved up the ranks swiftly, she spots trends before they hit. Whether she’s securing a massive headline or mentoring the team, Selena brings a creative spark and a can-do energy to the team that is contagious. She doesn’t just do the job, she goes the extra mile and her work reflects the same.

SARAH ALBARAZI, 25

Associate Account Manager, Current Global – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Mohammed Al Sayed, Account Director, Current Global:

From day one, she has stood out for her energy, instinct, and ability to read a room, whether that’s a client meeting or a media landscape. As an Associate Account Manager at Current Global, she combines exceptional organisation with genuine curiosity and a strong sense of ownership. She is calm under pressure, proactive in finding solutions, and naturally builds trust with both clients and colleagues. What makes her different is her hunger to learn and push ideas further. In a fastmoving PR industry, she has the mindset, drive, and presence of someone we’ll be hearing a lot more about.

SHARANYA NAIR, 28

Senior PR account Executive, Ad&M International Advertising LLC – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Vishnu Manoj, Media Operations Manager, Ad&M International Advertising LLC: Sharanya is a power house of strategic growth and the definition of a face to watch. Her achievement in scaling OGold to 1 million active users is a masterclass in modern PR. She possesses a rare versatility, moving seamlessly from the regulatory rigours of Federal Bank to the high-energy demands of Goa Tourism at ATM. Sharanya doesn’t just secure coverage; she builds brand authority. Her leadership in integrating AI for Cyber Square proves she is futureproofing our industry. Sharanya is a transformative talent whose results-driven vision makes her an essential face for this year’s list.

SIM DEVGUN, 30

PR Account Director, Umami Comms – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Marjorie Chapas, Head of PR, Umami Comms:

Sim is a strategic leader with an instinctive grasp of storytelling, ensuring narrative sits at the core of every campaign, from large scale experiential activations to disciplined press office programmess. She combines creativity with logic, bringing structure, organisation and team focus to everything she delivers. What stands out most is her ability to elevate those around her while consistently producing culturally sharp, ambitious work in a highly competitive GCC market.

SHAY THOMAS, 29

PR Account Director, StickyGinger – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Heba Hemdan, Head of PR, StickyGinger:

I have seen firsthand her exceptional growth, resilience and commercial instinct. She does not simply manage accounts, she strengthens them. From expanding M&S into social media to confidently leading global fashion and regional hospitality brands, Shay consistently delivers beyond scope and expectation. Her strategic maturity, client trust and team-first mindset set her apart at this stage in her career. She combines ambition with humility, creativity with accountability, a rare balance.

SINA IKHLASI, 25

Account Manager, Reachuals – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Haneen Asfour, Director of Social Media, Reachuals:

She manages communication with more than 100 influencers seamlessly, always with a calm and composed approach, no matter the pressure. What truly sets her apart is her solutionoriented mindset – she doesn’t just flag challenges, she resolves them efficiently while keeping all stakeholders aligned. Sina brings a rare balance of precision, professionalism, and composure, making her an invaluable asset to any campaign she leads.

TAANYA GARG, 25

Senior Account Executive, NikNak PR – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Anika Berger, Founder & CEO, NikNak PR, NikNak PR:

Taanya brings a rare blend of editorial intelligence and PR execution, shaped by her background in fashion journalism and luxury communications. Balancing full-time agency work alongside her Master’s studies, she shows exceptional drive, maturity, and discipline. She takes real ownership of her work and consistently delivers beyond expectations. Taanya is someone I trust implicitly, and I can’t wait to see what else she achieves.

SOFIA CHESNOKOVA, 26

Senior international PR

Specialist, PRHub.ae – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Vlada Lomova, CEO, PRHub.ae:

She has a rare ability to quickly understand a brand’s story, sharpen it, and position it in a way that genuinely interests journalists rather than feeling like generic marketing. What really stands out about Sofia is her newsroom mindset. Because she also works as an editor, she knows how editors think, what makes a pitch newsworthy, and when a story simply isn’t ready. She’s honest about this, and that honesty builds trust.

SOHA HAIDAR, 29

Graphic

Designer, Action Global Communications – Qatar

Nominated by Eliana Maakaroun, Country Manager, Action Global Communications:

Soha’s evolution from a junior designer to the creative force managing the visual portfolios of our key government entities is truly remarkable. She possesses an extraordinary ability to transform abstract concepts into emotionally resonant visual narratives. Never one to settle for the status quo, Soha is constantly pushing the limits of design, going far beyond merely creating visuals to architecting comprehensive, impactful brand identities.

SYREN MALINTAD-SANTOS, 30

Junior Account Manager, TishTash Communications – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Ylova Hamdan, PR Director, TishTash Communications:

With nearly six years of agency experience specialising in beauty and lifestyle, Syren has quickly established herself as a standout PR talent. She consistently goes above and beyond, leading influencer campaigns, media relations, and brand activations with both creativity and passion. From building culturally attuned seeding strategies from the ground up to securing toptier regional talent and premium media coverage, she takes full ownership of every detail. Her strong work ethic, accountability, and solutions-first mindset set her apart.

VEDIKA MALHOTRA, 27

Communications Manager, BPG Group –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Stephanie Badjonat, Vice President, Communications, BPG Group:

I am delighted to nominate Vedika – in her short time at BPG, she is already taking the lead on integrated corporate and consumer clients, handling every brief with a mix of confidence, creativity and maturity. Her experience across multiple markets has given her a sharp 360 -degree perspective. She is able to translate insights into impactful ideas and storytelling that really resonates. Vedika never settles for the obvious, she pushes beyond the brief and is always passionately challenging teams to think bigger and smarter. She is exactly the kind of PR talent driving the industry today and I can’t wait to see her continue to rise and set her mark.

TANIA KURDIEH, 28

ZEENA BAZIAN, 27

Senior PR Executive, PRCO Group –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Shivani Sharma, Senior Account Director, PRCO Group:

Zeena Bazian has grown at an exceptional pace over the past year. In a short time at PRCO, she has taken on real responsibility across major accounts including One&Only, MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants and The Red Sea destination. Most recently, she led the four-day hosted media programme for MENA’s 50 Best, managing 18 international journalists and overseeing a complex Abu Dhabi itinerary with calm and control. She is organised, sharp and instinctively good with both clients and media. Zeena doesn’t wait to be asked. She steps up, delivers and earns trust quickly. She is absolutely one to watch.

VIKTORIA BARSHCHOVA, 29

International PR

Specialist, PRHub.ae –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Vlada Lomova, CEO, PRHub.ae: Viktoria is exceptionally productive and solutions-driven. She is able to both develop and execute a long-term strategy. In one year, successfully raised brand awareness for a top client through delivering 31 news-driven pieces (press releases, reports, op-eds, interviews, features, comments) with total media reach exceeding 950M. She moves fast from insight to angle, builds strong media relationships, and consistently delivers coverage across formats, print/online, TV, radio and podcasts. She adapts quickly to each client’s tone and priorities and is a valuable team player.

Associate Account Manager, Seven

Media –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Jessica Little, Head of Consumer & Lifestyle PR, Seven Media:

Tania is the perfect example of an individual who brings resilience, strategic thinking and creativity to her role as a PR professional. Tania will take on any challenge that comes her way with a positive outlook and willingness to learn. She understands the balance of pushing her clients to think strategically, creatively and ‘out-of-the-box’ whilst maintaining an understanding of their business goals. Tania’s genuine passion for her clients is infectious, and her independent and solutions-focused approach demonstrates Tania’s abilities, making her one of the most promising talents within our team.

VICKY GARRICK, 30

by

is an exceptional PR professional whose impact consistently exceeds her years of experience. She combines sharp strategic thinking with natural networking abilities, building meaningful relationships across media, partners and the wider industry. A true team player, she elevates those around her while delivering measurable results for brands across multiple sectors. Focused, collaborative and culturally aware, Vicky represents the next generation of communications leaders shaping our region’s evolving industry.

VINAYAK SHARMA, 29

Senior Account Executive – Data, Intelligence and Behavioural Science, Burson – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Nick Tapley, Regional Director –Creative Strategy, Burson: Vin has a super ability to transform complex challenges into clear, actionable insight that shapes both strategy and creative direction. Whatever the brief, he turns data and market signals into compelling narratives that teams can immediately act on, turning information into competitive advantage. In an industry increasingly driven by speed, noise and surface metrics, we need more people like Vin – those who anchor creativity in insight, bring rigour to storytelling, and ensure communications are not just bold, but meaningfully effective.

ZARA KENNEDY, 25

Junior Account Manager, Katch International – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Haroon Tahir, Associate Account Director, Katch International: In an era of niche specialisation, Zara stands out as a true all-rounder. She effortlessly pivots between client profiling, securing VIPs for hospitality events and coordinating complex international press trips. Leveraging an extensive black book of media contacts and a proactive, hands-on work ethic, she consistently delivers quality coverage while maintaining great client relationships. It has been a genuine privilege to witness her growth and her infectious passion for every single campaign.

VIVIAN MIA WEICHLER, 26

Senior Account Executive, Gambit Communications – United Arab Emirates

Account Manager, Redhill Middle East & Africa – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Suzanne Kanianthra, Senior Director, Redhill Middle East & Africa: Yara joined our team just over a year ago and has already become someone we’d struggle to work without. Her strong media relations efforts across corporate and tech clients, consistently land earned placements in tier1- publications that clients always strive for. She doesn’t just pitch stories; she builds actual relationships with journalists, and the coverage reflects that. Clients trust her because she understands what they need and follows through without being chased.

Senior Account Manager,  White Label Media – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Sameer Joshi, Senior PR Strategist, White Label Media: A strategic communicator with sharp media instincts, Zoe consistently turns complex narratives into compelling stories that drive measurable impact. From securing high-profile media placements to leading integrated campaigns that elevate brand reputation, she brings both creativity and discipline to every initiative. Known for her composure under pressure and forward-thinking approach, She is also a great mentor and trusted advisor. Zoe’s vision, integrity, and results-driven mindset marks her as a rising leader in the industry.

Nominated by Alexandra Richards, Associate Account Director, Gambit Communications: I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone slot into a team so easily. In her six month tenure at Gambit Communications, Vivian has become invaluable for her reliability, professionalism and positive attitude. A cornerstone for Atelier, nothing fazes her and she has an uncanny knack for navigating challenges and handling even the trickiest of clients. From pitching to presenting, she’s a total natural in the field of PR.

Senior Account Executive, Ruder Finn Atteline – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Stephanie Dafeta, Senior Account Manager, Ruder Finn Atteline: Tala exemplifies the modern PR professional: strategic, agile, and relentless. She consistently delivers impact across multiple functions including media relations, influencer partnerships and client leadership, while maintaining industry relationships that translate into meaningful results. She thrives under pressure, approaches every challenge with solutions-driven thinking, and brings creativity and precision to both strategy and execution. Tala is not just an asset to our team; she is a rising leader who truly deserves this recognition.

Account Manager, The Alto Agency – United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Holly Wallace, Account Director, The Alto Agency:

Vrushti is an exceptional account manager whose strength lies in both her thinking and her execution. She combines industry awareness with structure, ensuring every campaign is considered, purposeful and delivered to a high standard. Clients value the clarity and confidence she brings to conversations, and teams rely on her steady guidance and organisation. She absorbs complexity quickly and turns it into actionable direction for her team.

Senior Communications Executive, BPG Group –United Arab Emirates

Nominated by Stephanie Badjonat, Vice President, Communications, BPG Group: I’m thrilled to recommend Yasser. He has quickly proven himself a powerhouse in PR, influencer marketing and media relations. He consistently delivers high-impact campaigns for our flagship clients and with his background as a content creator – he provides a unique, insider perspective on authentic engagement for his clients that sets his work apart. Yasser is a truly dynamic talent shaping the future of communications – I’m excited to see his career continue to reach new heights.

Founded: 30 years ago in MENAT; established 2024 through the merger of BCW & H&K

Type of agency: Public relations & communications agency  Regional Headquarters: Dubai

Head of company: Fouad Bou Mansour, CEO Middle East, North Africa and Turkey  Number of staff: 400+ bursonglobal.com   +971 4 553 9543 MENA@bursonglobal.com

Director – Sports, Gaming & Entertainment

ROBIN HEYMANN

Managing Director – Sports, Gaming & Entertainment

WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SHIFT IN GAMING AND ESPORTS MARKETING LANDSCAPE OVER THE PAST YEAR?

Reputation and credibility for gaming and esports in the region internationally have continued to grow from fans, players and investors.

This past year has been transformative for gaming and esports in MENA. The region has moved from emerging player to global hub, hosting world-class events and shaping how the industry evolves. Our team has grown in step with

Burson, a global communications leader established in 2024, draws on a long and successful history in the MENAT region through the merger of WPP’s BCW and Hill & Knowlton. Our collective of more than 400 creative problem-solvers offers C-Suite solutions with a critical client-side perspective, blending earned-first creative power and cultural understanding to build resonant brands.

SERVICES: Reputation management, brand building, earned media strategy and relations, creative content and engagement strategy, executive visibility and strategic advisory, crisis communications and issues management, influencer marketing, product launches and campaigns, sports and entertainment marketing, corporate, internal and policy communications, stakeholder and key opinion leader strategy, community engagement, government relations, design and content production, predictive data intelligence, research and behavioural science, cognitive and generative AI applications, business transformation, geopolitical risk consulting, sustainability communications and strategy

TECH PARTNERS: WPP Open: the AI platform for marketing | WPP

SPORTS AND GAMING CLIENTS:  Abu Dhabi Gaming, DreamHack Sport Arabia (EFG), Esports World Cup Foundation, LIV Golf, Qiddiya Investment Company, Saudi Esports Federation, Saudi Ministry of Sports, Saudi Pro League, Tencent

AWARDS: PRCA Mena Young Lions PR Competition at Cannes 2025, 11 MEPRA Awards 2024, Athar Awards 2024, EMEA IN2 SABRE Award, PRCA MENA Awards 2024

Bucke Director – Sports & Entertainment

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

that shift – from advising on high-level strategy to supporting some of the biggest international tournaments on the calendar.

Motley Senior Consultant –Sports & Entertainment

Account Director – Sports & Entertainment

Gaming audiences here are digitally native and mobile-first, so our campaigns are built on data-driven insights and deep cultural fluency, then scaled globally. That means grounding ideas in player behaviour, community insight and platform trends – not just repurposing traditional assets. With MENA now helping set the future of gaming, brands that fail to adapt risk becoming irrelevant to a new generation of fans.

WHAT ARE BRANDS STILL GETTING WRONG WHEN TRYING TO ENGAGE GAMING AUDIENCES

?

First, understand the communities you’re speaking to. Gaming (everyone who plays) and esports (elite competitive level) audiences are two different groups with different nuances, expectations and platforms to play, watch and engage with. We’re also seeing a mix of age groups and demographics in the region. Sticking to a generic playbook that is one way and, for example, only speaks to a young core audience is limiting. Second, really understand the cultural context of the region and its passionate communities in the sector. Earning the right to ‘play’ and show how your brand can add value to their experience, whether it’s an energy drink, console or a telco, is vital to be accepted by the community.

Success requires building a targeted and comprehensive strategy that adds value,

including paid native integrations that respect the play, earned media built on authentic PR and cultural relevance. The best campaigns feel authentic via creator-led and creator-first partnerships supported by owned always-on content that builds long-term community. By blending these pillars, brands shift from being interruptions to becoming integral parts of the ecosystem. Our integrated approach ensures every touchpoint, from social-first video to influencer streams, feels organic, meeting gamers where they live to build true reputation capital, rather than just buying impressions.

HOW ARE YOU MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GAMING AND ESPORTS CAMPAIGNS?

Effective measurement has moved beyond reach and impressions. Our clients demand measurable impact across visibility, engagement and cultural relevance. We look at sentiment, share of voice and influencer impact, as well as how campaigns build longterm brand equity. At Burson, we prioritise sentiment and brand equity, as evidenced by our work on the Esports World Cup, where we ignited a global conversation across 128 countries and 56 languages to claim true narrative ownership.

Similarly, our Pokémon GO launch in Saudi Arabia used a community-led influencer strategy to create a cultural phenomenon. This integrated campaign secured #1 rankings on YouTube and app stores, driving 50.8M impressions and a 5,000-strong live event.

Beyond the reward

Comarch outlines how MEA brands are using gamification to survive sustainable growth.

16 per cent increase in qualified pipeline opportunities. To secure market share in 2026, the transition from a static cost center to a dynamic engagement engine is a matter of survival.

The spend-and-get era of loyalty is hitting a ceiling in the Middle East and Africa, where 33 per cent of consumers now explicitly demand gamified experiences. To thrive in 2026, CMOs must shift from transactional carrots to liquid loyalty, a blend of advanced gamification and sustainability. This evolution transforms loyalty from a traditional cost center into a high-performance engine for emotional engagement.

GAMIFICATION: THE DOPAMINE ENGINE

Gamification uses game-like elements – points, badges, challenges and leaderboards – to make non-game environments more motivating. For businesses, the results are tangible: a potential 47 per cent rise in engagement and a 22 per cent rise in brand loyalty. In the MEA, where personalisation is a priority, AI-driven gamification allows brands to move from ‘one-to-many’ to ‘one-toone’. To succeed in 2026, CMOs must transition toward intrinsic motivation, tapping into the internal desire for mastery and social influence rather than just ‘buy-get’ loops. This shift powers Liquid Loyalty, a dynamic ecosystem where interactions sync with the customer’s life rhythm.

Effectiveness depends on catering to specific player types, such as: The status seeker: Motivated by exclusivity and Platinum badges. The explorer: Driven by discovery, mystery rewards and ‘spin-towin’ mechanics.

The purpose seeker: A rapidly growing segment valuing brand alignment with personal ethics and green impact.

Brands adjusting their strategy, especially using AI, can transform passive members and discount-chasers into active advocates.

THE PIVOT TO SUSTAINABILITY: TRUST OVER HYPE

At the same time, the MEA market is also evolving toward a purposedriven model. As highlighted in our webinar, Trust over Hype, consumers – particularly Gen Z and Millennials – increasingly expect brands to demonstrate a positive social impact.

WHY THE EARN-AND-BURN LOYALTY MODEL IS OBSOLETE IN 2026

For decades, the Middle East and Africa loyalty landscape operated on a simple, linear premise: “Buy X, get Y later.” However, this spend-and-get era is reaching a point of diminishing returns. Consumers are becoming increasingly immune to discounts.

Relying solely on extrinsic motivators (such as cashback or points) creates a relationship where the customer’s loyalty is only as strong as the next competitor’s coupon.

This systemic decline in effectiveness is driven by three primary structural failures:

1. The reward latency gap: Modern consumers, particularly the mobile-first Gen Z demographic, operate in real-time. A model that requires weeks of earning before a burn event creates a psychological disconnect that leads to churn.

2. The invisible brand syndrome: When loyalty is reduced to a line item on a receipt, the brand becomes a commodity. Transactional programmes fail to occupy mental real estate because they lack interactive or emotional touchpoints.

3. The zero-sum discount race: Competing solely on price or point value erodes margins. Without a unique engagement hook, brands are forced into a race to the bottom that devalues the product and the relationship.

At Comarch, our 2025 data confirms that staying stagnant is a financial liability. Programmes that failed to evolve beyond transactional carrots saw a stagnation in customer lifetime value (CLV), while those adopting gamified, real-time mechanics saw a

The mistake many brands make is treating sustainability and gamification as separate silos. The most successful programmes in 2026 will be those that gamify sustainable behaviour. By creating sustainability-based challenges, brands can offer bonus points for recycling, choosing greener delivery options, or completing ecofriendly quests.

This approach addresses the ‘epic meaning’ driver, the feeling that a user is part of something bigger than themselves. When a member of a travel programmes sees their ‘carbon offset progress bar’ moving forward, the loyalty becomes an emotional partnership.

STRATEGIC IMPLEMENTATION: A BLUEPRINT FOR THE BOARD

For the board and C-suite, the primary concern is always: How does this impact the bottom line? At Comarch, we view loyalty not as an expense, but as a revenue-generating model.

1. Defining the mechanics (The ROI layer)

To turn a programme into a revenue stream, the mechanics must drive specific, profitable behaviours:

Streaks: Encouraging daily app logins or weekly purchases to build habit formation.

Tiers: Creating a VIP Status that encourages higher spend to unlock exclusive access.

Treasure hunts: Using AR to drive foot traffic into physical retail locations to find hidden virtual rewards.

2. Avoiding over-gamification

A senior marketer must balance the Builder – straightforward value – with the Explorer –adventure and quests. Over-bombarding users with badges and pop-ups leads to progress fatigue. The goal is to

keep it simple: one or two perfectly aligned mechanics that support a clear business goal.

3. Native vs. rented attention

There is a growing debate about connecting popular mobile games to loyalty programmes versus building native experiences. For longterm growth, native always wins. It allows the brand to maintain full control over the data, the narrative and the customer relationship rather than ‘renting’ attention from a third-party platform.

INDUSTRY SPECIFICS: TAILORING THE EXPERIENCE

One of Comarch’s core strengths is understanding that a one-size-fits-all approach fails in the diverse MEA market. To drive true liquid loyalty, the mechanics must feel native to the industry’s specific consumer journey:

Travel and airlines: Beyond destination-based badges and interactive route maps, we are seeing a shift toward social status tiers. Imagine a frequent flyer between Dubai and London earning a ‘Global Connector’ status that unlocks exclusive lounge access not just through miles, but through sustainable travel choices or social advocacy.

Retail and grocery: Spin-to-win moments at checkout provide instant dopamine hits, but the next frontier is contextual quests. Using geofencing, a mall-based retailer can trigger a flash challenge, for example, “Visit three specific departments in 20 minutes to unlock a 2X points multiplier”. This turns a routine grocery run into an engaging scavenger hunt.

Banking and finance: Gamifying financial literacy quizzes builds trust, but Comarch is taking this further by gamifying life milestones. Banks can offer home ownership quests, where completing modules on mortgages or reaching savings targets unlocks lower interest rates or waived processing fees, aligning the bank’s success directly with the user’s financial health.

consumers juggle multiple memberships (an average of 13 in Saudi Arabia alone), blockchain allows for the seamless exchange of value between trusted partners, such as using airline miles to pay for a grocery delivery or a coffee at a partner cafe.

This creates a feel of a universal wallet, significantly increasing the perceived value of the points. Furthermore, blockchain provides the proof of impact required for green loyalty, allowing users to transparently track how their actions contributed to reforestation or carbon offset projects.

YOUR GAMIFICATION LAUNCH CHECKLIST

Before rolling out a gamified, sustainable programme, ask:

1. Are the goals clear and measurable? (e.g., Increase retention by 10 per cent or reduce churn).

“As we look toward 2027, the technology stack will become even more sophisticated, transitioning from reactive systems to predictive loyalty engines and autonomous agents.”

THE

FUTURE OF CUSTOMER LOYALTY: AI, BLOCKCHAIN AND BEYOND

As we look toward 2027, the technology stack will become even more sophisticated, transitioning from reactive systems to predictive loyalty engines and autonomous agents.

We are moving toward a model, where a customer’s personal AI assistant interacts with a loyalty engine to optimise rewards in real-time. Furthermore, the rise of spatial computing will anchor gamification in the physical world, allowing brands to overlay digital quests onto MEA’s iconic landmarks through augmented reality.

Hyper-personalisation with AI

AI will process live behavioral data to adjust challenge difficulty or reward size in real-time, preventing churn before it happens. At Comarch, we call this ‘dynamic balancing’. If the AI detects a user is losing interest, it can automatically lower the ‘ability’ threshold of a challenge or increase the ‘motivation’ by offering a high-value, personalised prompt. This ensures the user stays in a flow state, where the challenge is neither too hard (causing frustration) nor too easy (causing boredom).

Blockchain transparency

2. Do you know your players? (Are they motivated by status, competition, or purpose?).

3. Is it integrated? (Does gamification support the existing loyalty framework rather than functioning as a side-project?).

At Comarch, we’ve spent 25 years helping global brands like Alshaya Group, Etihad Airways and BP navigate these fast-changing environments. We understand that true loyalty isn’t bought with a discount. It’s built through engaging, meaningful and sustainable experiences that turn every customer interaction into a win for both the user and the brand.

Using decentralised ledgers ensures point security and facilitates interoperable loyalty ecosystems. In the MEA region, where

Founded: 2011

Headquartered: Riyadh

Type of agency: Social media marketing

Head of company: Amer Al Massimi

Number of staff: 80+ hashtag-me.com hello@hashtag-me.com +971 4 457 86 78

Hashtag is a social-led marketing agency helping brands humanise their presence across the GCC. With offices in Riyadh, Dubai, Cairo and Beirut, and more than 15 years of regional experience, the agency operates at the speed of culture, turning trends into opportunities that keep brands at the centre of the conversation. Its integrated ecosystem spans social strategy, content creation, influencer management, social-first production and paid media, all delivered in-house. Powered by local insights and AI-assisted production, Hashtag builds campaigns that align commercial goals with real platform behaviour, delivering reach, engagement and cultural relevance that lasts.

SERVICES: Social media strategy, social media management, reporting, community management, social content creation, analytics, video production, influencer marketing, paid social

KEY CLIENTS: Dubai Economy and Tourism, Ninja, Centrepoint, Emaar, Al Matar, Subway, Cinnabon, Doux, Landmark Group, Fitness First, Home Box

LEADERSHIP PANEL

WHY BRANDS MUST THINK LIKE CREATORS IN THE SCROLL ECONOMY

The Anghami Studios team reflects on the fragmented social media landscape in which brands must create content that audiences actively choose to engage with.

There was a time when advertising followed a predictable formula. Brands relied on billboards, television commercials, print and radio to get their message across. Campaigns were carefully crafted, launched, and then left to run their course. Today, that world feels far away.

Social platforms have fundamentally changed how people consume content and how culture itself moves. Audiences no longer wait for campaigns to reach them. They scroll, swipe, react and engage in real time. Attention is faster, more fragmented and harder to earn than ever before.

In this environment, brands are no longer simply advertisers. To stay relevant, they need to start thinking and acting more like creators.

The rise of social storytelling

On social media, relevance is not driven by traditional advertising formats. It comes from personality, cultural awareness and storytelling that feels native to the platforms people use every day.

Content needs to feel natural in the feed: short, authentic, entertaining and easy to share.

This shift has led to the rise of social-first storytelling, content created specifically for social platforms rather than adapted from traditional campaigns.

For brands, that means a different mindset. Instead of one-off campaign moments, the focus shifts toward continuous storytelling. Instead of static ads, brands create content that audiences can interact with, react to and share.

Turning brands into content creators

Built for the platforms that matter

Every Social Series is designed with platforms in mind from the start. Episodes can be produced in horizontal formats for YouTube, while vertical edits are optimised for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. This platform-native approach ensures the content feels natural wherever it appears, rather than forcing traditional formats into spaces where they simply don’t work.

At Anghami Studios, this shift inspired the creation of Social Series, a format designed to help brands engage audiences in ways that reflect how people actually experience content on social media.

Rather than producing isolated pieces of branded content, Social Series takes an episodic approach. Each concept unfolds through short-form episodes built around recurring formats, personalities or themes, giving audiences a reason to return and engage with the content over time.

The thinking is simple: if audiences follow creators because they enjoy their content, brands can adopt similar storytelling formats to build familiarity and connection.

“Social media has fundamentally reshaped the role that brands play in culture.”

Behind the scenes, Anghami Studios manages the full process; from concept development and production to influencer and artist collaborations and platform-specific editing.

Talent selection is a key part of the model, with creators and artists chosen to reflect each brand’s identity and cultural positioning.

Extending reach through the Anghami ecosystem Distribution is just as important as the content itself. Through Anghami’s own digital ecosystem and social channels, Social Series content reaches millions of music and entertainment fans across the region. Campaigns can then be amplified through targeted distribution, digital advertising and performance analytics, giving brands visibility into how audiences engage across platforms.

Social series in action

Recent collaborations show how this approach translates into real results. A collaboration with Doritos brought this model to life.

Doritos partnered with Anghami Studios to create short-form, social-first content designed to inspire young audiences to be bold and pursue their ambitions. The campaign used creator-led storytelling and platform-native formats to connect with viewers in a way that felt natural within their social feeds. The content quickly gained traction, generating more than 54 million views on TikTok, 14 million on Instagram, and reaching over 790,000 unique users through Anghami’s ecosystem and digital amplification. These results demonstrate how episodic, creator-driven storytelling can cut through the noise on crowded social platforms.

The new role of brands in culture

Social media has fundamentally reshaped the role that brands play in culture. Traditional advertising alone is no longer enough to capture attention in a world defined by constant content consumption.

The brands that stand out today are those willing to participate in culture, not simply advertise within it. They collaborate with creators, embrace storytelling and develop formats designed for the rhythm of social platforms.

In the attention economy, relevance belongs to those who understand the scroll.

Social Series is one way brands can navigate that shift, turning marketing messages into content experiences that audiences choose to watch, share and engage with.

Founded: 2012

Headquartered: The Citadel, Business Bay

Head of company: Lama Accary Bibi and Baha Bibi

Number of staff: 75 meansdesign.ae connect@meansdesign.ae +9714 355 1500 Instagram: @Meansdesign

Means Design is a 360° integrated marketing agency delivering strategic consultancy, creative excellence, branding, social media management, performance marketing, website development and public relations through one seamless model.

We operate at the intersection of strategy and creativity, aligning every discipline to drive clarity, cohesion and measurable impact. Built on collaboration and long-term partnerships, we support ambitious brands in navigating complex markets and evolving consumer behaviours.

Our approach prioritises depth over volume, precision over noise and relevance over trends, resulting in sustained growth, strong brand value and continued year-on-year success across the region.

SERVICES: Integrated 360° marketing consultancy, creative and branding, public relations and influencer management, social media and digital strategy and analytics, performance marketing, content planning and creation, events planning and execution

KEY CLIENTS: Dubai Opera, At.mosphere, Address Hotels + Resorts, Montgomerie Golf Club Dubai, Vyom by Emaar, BP Arabia Lubricants, Entrecôte Café de Paris, Masafi

LEADERSHIP PANEL

If you are anything like me, you probably interject tasks – such as writing this article – with mindless phone scrolling time. While trying to think of a pithy way to open this piece, I’ve saved a date ball recipe for toddlers, watched a Huntr.com post about an AED 2,500 Kaiseki in DIFC and found what seems to be a ‘Not on the High Street’ (NOTHS) for the UAE housing local makers and sellers called Beyond the Mall – wish I’d seen that in December.

You see, that’s the thing. In this region, where people keep switching between an average of eight social platforms and spend 3.5 hours a day on social media, the scroll is relentless. And, let’s be honest, the content on my discovery tab or for-you page (FYP) is nine times more exciting than staring at my laptop screen.

In this landscape of content churn, never-ending hidden spots and extremely well-dressed individuals, a sporadic campaign doesn’t just look cheap; it looks invisible.

A hard truth to swallow for marketers trying to drive return on investment (ROI) on social is that the concept of the campaign is a relic of the broadcast era. It implies a distinct start, a distinct end and a singular moment of high-impact activity.

Accounts that maintain a consistent content flow of posting three to five times per week see double the follower growth of those posting sporadically.

Going even further, weeks with zero posts don’t just result in stagnation; they actively degrade your account’s standing, causing growth to dip by 0.08 standard deviations below the norm. Essentially, when a brand goes dark between campaigns, the algorithm assumes the relationship is over.

SERIALISED SOCIAL STORYTELLING, NOT CAMPAIGNS

We Are Social’s Danielle Bedin says the regional brands that will define the next decade will not be the ones with the loudest launch, but the ones with the most unmissable arcs.

But on social, the feed never ends. In an infinite, always-on environment, the finite nature of a campaign is a strategic vulnerability.

In 2026, we’re seeing a fundamental shift in how brand equity is constructed. It’s no longer built through high gloss, six-week bursts of activity. It’s built through serialised social storytelling. Campaigns rent attention; series build loyalty.

THE HIGH COST OF SILENCE

The first argument against the sporadic campaign model is purely mathematical. In the current algorithmic landscape, ghosting is toxic.

Recent data from Buffer (2025) quantifies exactly how much being ‘off’ hurts.

You cannot campaign your way out of this deficit; you have to rebuild your relationship. We all know that this takes work, especially from the side that ghosted its audience for four months between its Ramadan and Back to School campaigns.

THE POWER OF EPISODIC NARRATIVES

So, you’re probably thinking, well that’s all right. I have a content plan every month that covers my four pillars, and my agency churns it out easily. We’re third in our competitor set but our reports say we’re achieving great things.

The problem is: traditional social media planning of content pillars, one-off pieces and making sure we fulfill the ‘four carousel deliverables’ with one post going up every Friday still leaves you one step behind. And

your top performing content every month will become a giveaway post.

Social that is driving true engagement, genuine save-ability and virtual ‘lols’ in direct messages (DMs) is not your one-off store walk through. It’s episodic, entertaining storytelling that turns brands from logos into worlds.

The algorithm rewards audience retention heavily. The latest data from a JoyByte case study suggests that episodic content, including videos that are part of a narrative series, are valued by algorithms up to 10 times more than one-off videos. They also performed eight times better in terms of views and engagement compared with standalone posts. Why?

Because they drive high-intent return visits.

We did a similar exercise analysing Target’s social strategy over the last six months. This exercise was performed for a current client and our data revealed that when Target posted a content series, the brand outperformed a minimum of three times better in engagement rate (ER) per cent than one-off posts – with some series performing up to 14 times higher.

AN ARGUMENT FOR CREATIVITY ON SOCIAL

Okay, at this point in most client conversations we hear the argument for generating revenue and proving ROI – ‘How will I drive sales with content that is only built to tell stories?’ Well, the data says that you can. According to a pivotal study by System1 and the IPA on ‘Compound Creativity’, brands that commit to a consistent creative platform – such as recurring characters, consistent fluent devices and familiar scenarios – don’t just build brand love; they generate greater profits.

This is the ‘Compound Interest’ of creativity. When you change your creative style every campaign, you tax the consumer’s brain. They must re-learn who they are. When you use serialised and consistent creativity, you bypass their cognitive filters. You tap into ‘System 1’ thinking, which is fast, instinctive and emotional.

Not to mention that the most entertaining short-form social ad content drives a 39 per cent memory lift, two times higher brand awareness lift, 2.8 times higher brand image lift and a 50 per cent conversion lift compared with the least entertaining short-form content.

This is why leading with entertainment works. When you lead with entertainment and emotion, you lower the barrier to the sale. You aren’t telling people to ‘buy now’, you’re creating a feeling that makes buying inevitable.

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

Ultimately, neither the feed nor consumers cares about your marketing calendar. They only care about what’s next. By clinging to the campaign model, you are perpetually auditioning for attention you should already own.

The brands that will define the next decade in this region won’t be the ones with the loudest launch, but the ones with the most unmissable arcs. In a landscape of infinite scroll, you have two choices: continue to be the interruption or finally become the entertainment. It’s time to tear up the launch plan and renew the season.

Well, now that I have written this piece, I think I can reward myself with 10 minutes of phone zombie time.

By Danielle Bedin, Strategy Director at We Are Social

Founded: 2018

Type of agency: PR & Communications

Headquartered: London, UK

Head of company: Anna Rozwandowicz

Number of staff: 17 contact@thestorymob.com thestorymob.com

The Story Mob is a global communications consultancy shaping how the world talks about player culture, gaming and esports. It advises publishers, brands, events and investors on strategic, culturally fluent communications that resonate with gaming audiences.

Known for its deep understanding of fan communities, The Story Mob has delivered over 100 campaigns for clients globally. Most recently, the agency led communications for the Esports World Cup 2025, generating more than 35,000 media stories worldwide.

Female-founded and more than 50 per cent female-led, the agency operates a four-day workweek and represents a modern model for high-performance communications in a fast-evolving industry.

SERVICES: PR and communications, social media, consultancy

KEY CLIENTS: Esports World Cup Foundation, Riot Games, BAFTA Games Awards, Steer Studios, Fateless Games

AWARDS: 2025 GEMA Awards, Publicity Gold Award, Esports Agency All Star 2023

ANNA ROZWANDOWICZ

Founder and CEO

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST SHIFTS YOU ARE SEEING IN HOW BRANDS ARE INVESTING ACROSS SOCIAL PLATFORMS TODAY?

Brands are moving from platform-first to audience-first ecosystems. Investment is concentrating in fewer, higher-impact channels, with a clear focus on participation over passive reach. Creator partnerships are now core infrastructure, and owned channels are treated as media products. There is also a shift from campaign bursts to sustained narrative building, with social seen as a long-term, compounding asset.

HOW IS AI CHANGING THE WAY SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT IS PLANNED, PRODUCED AND OPTIMISED?

AI is compressing timelines and enabling faster iteration, but its real impact is in planning. Teams can identify patterns, test ideas earlier, and make more informed decisions. Strategy is shifting from intuition-led to signal-informed. Scale is easier, but the advantage comes from sharper content - not more content. AI will not

replace taste or cultural fluency, but rather, it will expose the absence of them.

WHAT SHIFTS IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ARE INFLUENCING HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS ARE PLANNED?

Audiences expect to participate, not just consume. Trust has shifted from institutions to individuals and communities, making creatorled ecosystems more effective than brand-led messaging. This has long been true in gaming and is now standard across industries. There is also an expectation of relevance at speed. Brands must respond in real time, but speed without cultural understanding leads to misalignment. The balance is agility with editorial discipline.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL BE THE BIGGEST SHIFT IN HOW SOCIAL MEDIA IS USED BY BRANDS OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

Social will move from a marketing channel to a core business function, sitting closer to product, community, and revenue. Brands will build direct relationships with audiences, using platforms as infrastructure. We will also see a shift from storytelling to world-building. The strongest brands will create environments people choose to engage with, and the advantage will come from shaping conversations, not reacting to them.

For years, esports has been defined by its tournaments. Packed arenas, prize pools and livestream viewership have been used as the primary signals of growth. But in Saudi Arabia today, the real engine of esports sits somewhere else entirely: the social feed.

Our recent consumer research across the Kingdom shows that gaming culture increasingly spreads through platforms and creator ecosystems rather than through tournament broadcasts themselves. While 29.5 per cent of respondents say they watch esports tournaments, a larger share, 42.4 per cent say they regularly watch gaming videos online.

That difference is significant. It suggests that for many audiences, esports is experienced not through the competition itself but through the highlights, commentary and creator reactions that circulate across platforms afterwards. In practice, tournaments create the moment. The feed determines whether that moment becomes culture.

This dynamic reflects a broader shift in how entertainment spreads in Saudi Arabia, driven overwhelmingly by the Kingdom’s under-30 demographic. Nearly 74.7 per cent of consumers say they regularly watch online video on platforms such as YouTube or TikTok. These environments have become the primary discovery layer for gaming moments, where spectacular plays, reactions and commentary can travel far beyond the original audience.

A single play during a tournament might reach thousands of viewers live. But once clipped, remixed and shared through creator networks, that same moment can reach millions.

GAMING IS NOW MAINSTREAM ENTERTAINMENT

Gaming itself has moved firmly into the mainstream of Saudi media consumption. Nearly seven in 10 respondents say they play video games at least weekly, while 35.7 per cent report playing daily.

Equally important is how they play. Gaming in Saudi Arabia is fundamentally mobile-first, with 50.9 per cent of players saying their primary gaming device is a smartphone. Consoles account for 34.5 per cent of gameplay and personal computers (PCs) just 10.9 per cent.

Mobile gaming aligns naturally with a platformdriven media environment. Short sessions, social sharing and instant highlights all fit seamlessly into the mobile-first habits that dominate younger audiences.

Creator culture plays a critical role in this ecosystem. For many fans, gaming content is consumed through creators who provide commentary, humour and personality around gameplay. Their streams, clips and reactions often act as the bridge between the competition and the wider audience. The result is that esports moments frequently reach far larger audiences through creator ecosystems than through the original tournament broadcast.

None of this means tournaments are losing relevance. They remain the catalyst that generates the moments fans care about. But the centre of gravity has shifted. The feed now determines how the moments fans care about are discovered, discussed and remembered.

VISIBILITY ALONE NO LONGER WORKS FOR BRANDS

This shift is also forcing brands to rethink how they approach gaming sponsorship.

Traditional sports marketing has historically focused on visibility. Logos on jerseys, banners inside arenas and placements within broadcasts were designed to maximise impressions. Gaming audiences behave differently. They are highly

attuned to authenticity and quick to recognise when a brand appears without contributing meaningfully to the experience.

Our research shows gaming partnerships can be highly effective when they feel embedded within the environment. More than 70 per cent of respondents say a brand partnership with a video game or gaming character improves how they feel about that brand.

However, the format of that integration matters. Passive placements such as in-game ads generate less enthusiasm than more immersive activations. Instead, audiences respond more positively to branded game characters, in-game items and experiences that become part of gameplay itself.

In gaming ecosystems, brands succeed when they enable the experience rather than interrupt it.

THE NEW ESPORTS ECOSYSTEM

The platform landscape reinforces this reality. Short-form environments such as TikTok and Snapchat act as discovery engines where highlights and reactions spread rapidly across audiences. Streaming platforms build deeper engagement through extended gameplay and creator commentary. Gaming communities add another layer again, with 18.9 per cent of respondents saying they participate in communities where players discuss games, share strategies and organise play sessions.

Together these layers create a continuous cycle of discovery, conversation and participation. The influence of storytelling extends beyond gaming itself. Cross-media discovery is increasingly common among fans. In fact, 81.5 per cent of respondents say they have started playing a video game after watching or listening to a TV show, movie or podcast based on it.

The same behaviour appears in traditional sports. Nearly 64.6 per cent of respondents say they have watched a football-related sports docuseries, and 55.6 per cent say they began following football more closely after watching one.

Across gaming, esports and sport, the pattern is consistent. Fans are drawn not only to the competition itself but also to the personalities,

‘‘THE FEED NOW DETERMINES HOW THE MOMENTS FANS CARE ABOUT ARE REMEMBERED.”

narratives and behind-the-scenes access that surround it.

For brands and rights holders, the implication is clear. Esports tournaments remain an important stage, but they are no longer the primary engine of cultural momentum. That engine now lives in the feed, where creators, communities and platforms amplify moments and transform them into shared cultural experiences.

Because, in today’s gaming ecosystem, fans do not simply watch the moment. They decide how far it travels.

By

Ali AlJehani, Senior Vice President – MENA, dentsu Sports International

THE REAL ENGINE OF ESPORTS IN SAUDI ARABIA

dentsu Sports International’s Ali AlJehani explains the importance of the social feed, where creators, communities and platforms amplify moments and transform them into shared cultural experiences.

Founded: 2010

Type of Agency: Digital marketing

Headquartered: Dubai

Heads of company: Mazen Nahawi, CEO; Tarek Esper, Head of Agency  Number of staff: 412 info@social-eyez.com social-eyez.com

SOCIALEYEZ is a regional agency of creative strategists shaping how brands connect, influence, and grow in a rapidly evolving digital world. Built on the philosophy of ‘Create No Ma er What’, the agency combines insights, strategy and creativity to deliver work that drives both cultural relevance and measurable impact.

Headquartered in the UAE, with offices in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Egypt, SOCIALEYEZ operates at the intersection of content, community and technology, partnering with government, corporate, and consumer brands to navigate complexity and build narratives that move people and markets forward.

SERVICES: Communications strategy, social-first branding, integrated content and always-on storytelling, high-end film production and social video, CGI, animation and immersive content, AI-enabled content, digital performance and growth marketing

KEY CLIENTS: du, RTA, Department of Government Enablement, ADDED, Dubai Culture, Canon, DEWA, ENOC and more

AWARDS: Campaign Agency of the Year Awards Middle East. Social Media Agency of the Year – 2025 & 2024; Strategic Planning Team of the Year 2025, Head of Agency –Digital 2025

LEADERSHIP PANEL

The Middle East’s original social-first powerhouse.

Founded in 2010 as Socialize, the region’s first specialist social agency, we’ve spent over a decade sparking narratives for global giants and regional brands. Now fully rebranded as We Are Social, we’re a 60-strong team of chronically online specialists connecting culture to commerce across the MEA. We don’t just adapt to social: we live there. Through our cultural comms framework and ‘Plan, Play, Prove’ flywheel, we unearth real-time insights that take over algorithms and drive provable business growth. From AI production to niche community engagement, we create the talkability that defines the modern zeitgeist.

Founded: 2010 (Dubai); 2008 (London)

Headquartered: Dubai, UAE

Type of agency: Social-first creative

Head of company: Akanksha Goel, CEO Number of staff: 60 wearesocial.me hala@wearesocial.net

SERVICES: Social listening and insights, editorial strategy, brand strategy, content creation, 360 campaigns, influencer marketing, CRM, TikTok Branded Effect, video and AI production

TECH PARTNERS: eClerx, Meltwater, Global Web Index

KEY CLIENTS: Switz, ATRC, DWTC, Sephora, Babyshop

AWARDS: Gold in Creative Effectiveness at the MENA Digital Awards for Pringles; Gold in HR and Employee Experience at the Webbies

Private View

DINA AL DAOUD

Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Umniah by Beyon

WABA (1):

Captivating from the first second. The rhythm of the music and dishes creates a hypnotic flow where the product becomes part of the choreography. The styling feels authentically Arab while the cinematography adds a modern edge. It is a great example of how craft and culture build brand distinctiveness.

BIRKENSTOCK (2):

The calm settings mirror the reflective nature of Ramadan. The campaign captures everyday moments and places Birkenstock naturally within them. Strategically, it works as a positioning piece, reinforcing the brand’s place in simple, mindful everyday life during the season.

IKEA (3):

The awkwardness of Ramadan small talk is instantly relatable, and that is where the humour lands. By anchoring the story in familiar social moments, IKEA becomes part of real Ramadan gatherings. It works well because it reinforces the brand’s role in everyday life.

CAREEM (4):

I loved this, not because of the production, but because of the impact. What stands out is how Careem moves beyond CSR into participation. By enabling donations, partnerships, and merchandise through its platform, the brand mobilises collective action. It is a strong example of how a digital ecosystem can turn reach into real impact.

UNHCR (5):

This campaign reframes generosity as a choice rather than a privilege. By focusing on dignity and resilience, it builds empathy without relying on hardship. Strategically, that shift delivers a message of hope that feels especially powerful during Ramadan.

SEYOAN VELA

Chief Creative Officer, Livingroom Dubai

WABA (1):

The target audience was mothers across the Gulf region. I’m not a mother and I loved it. There was real craft in the filmmaking: The composition of the shots; the editing; the styling; the production design and the music all working in harmony. It is a lovely take on tradition. Too often traditional in the region feels cliched and, as a result, unauthentic. The edge in this film is what makes it feel genuine.

BIRKENSTOCK (2):

I have painful memories of owning Birkenstocks and I tried to not let this cloud my judgement. Spoiler alert: it may have. To be fair, the music gives the films a nice mellow feeling – a Balearic sunset vibe. However, this is the unforgiving world of fashion. And I am finding it hard to forgive some of the models and the lighting.

IKEA (3):

I’m not the target market, so I will happily hold my hands up and say my opinion may not be the popular one. John Hegarty always used to say, ‘It’s 80 per cent idea and 80 per cent execution’. The idea is there but I found the acting a bit wooden. For me the execution let it down. For others it may be their perfect cup of tea.

CAREEM (4):

An amazing initiative, that I am glad to see is real. It’s there on the Careem website and it is genuinely raising money for a great cause. It’s direct action and not just a company associating themselves with a purpose. I will be truly impressed if it’s not been entered for awards rather than seeking them. (After all, the entry money could have gone to the cause.)

UNHCR (5):

The film leaves me totally conflicted. Wonderful people working for a wonderful cause. I so want to love it. However, it felt expected. That sounds so heartless in this world of charity fatigue. But good charity ads like this one bring awareness and agreement. Great ones provoke action.

WABA

Title: Same Tastes Agency: Shareet Studios

Title: A Journey Through Tradition Agencies: Havas Red, Havas Creative Production house: Good

Title: Small Talk, Big Gestures Agency: Memac Ogilvy

Careem

Title: Seeds For Gaza In- house agency: Careem Creative Studios Production house: Bigfoot Films

UNHCR Title: Generous Hearts Find A Way Production house: Atnafas

Appointments

HUMAIN, a Public Investment Fund (PIF) company, has appointed ABEER AL QADI as Chief Marketing Officer. She takes the mantle from former Acting CMO Steve Plimsoll, who continues in his role as Chief Strategy Officer. In her new role, Al Qadi will architect HUMAIN’s AI-native marketing and communications strategy, strengthening its global brand and driving impact.

streamlining the region’s operations. His leadership will centre on strengthening how Assembly scales across markets, aligns regional delivery, and continues building an operating model designed for the pace and complexity of the MENA region.

FP7 McCann MENAT has promoted CYNTHIA SARKIS to Regional Head of Creative Hub. She now oversees the agency’s Creative Hub operations across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, building on its continued momentum and strengthening operating models across key MENAT markets. She supports a portfolio that includes Mastercard, L’Oréal Paris and McDonald’s, ensuring the agency’s multi-disciplinary teams can move with speed and clarity – without compromising on craft.

Assembly, a global media agency, has appointed RAVI RAO as Chief Executive Officer for the Middle East and North Africa. He steps into the CEO role with a mandate focused on growth execution, market expansion, and

Havas Life has appointed JOÃO CAMACHO as Chief Creative Officer for India and the Middle East in a move to reinforce the network’s commitment to creative excellence across two of the world’s fastestgrowing healthcare markets. Camacho moves from Publicis in Dubai, where he was Executive Creative Director at Saatchi Wellness ME (KSA and Turkey). He is now based in Mumbai, India and reports to Eric Weisberg, Global Chief Creative Officer, Havas Health, and Dorelle Kulkarni, Managing Director, Havas Life Mumbai.

Dubai-based independent creative agency JWI has promoted ADELE BAXTER to Managing Director, as Charli Wright steps into the role of CEO. Previously Client Services Director, Baxter has played a central role in shaping JWI’s client partnerships and commercial focus. In her new position, she will lead the agency’s operational strategy and functions, with a mandate to further strengthen JWI’s strategic partnerships and creative offerings.

Digital marketing agency Chain Reaction has appointed MOHAMAD ITANI to the role of Chief

Operating Officer. Itani brings more than two decades of experience spanning digital transformation, media, partnerships and leadership roles across MENAT and Europe. The agency says it will rely on his start-up mindset and enterprise-scale execution to bring strategic clarity and operational rigour to the agency.

NEXA, a Dubai-based digital growth agency, has appointed SIDDHANTH VALECHA as Chief Growth Officer. In his new role, Valecha will lead the agency’s growth strategy, focusing on expanding client partnerships and driving commercial performance across markets. His appointment comes as NEXA continues to expand its capabilities and market presence across the region.

Real Chemistry, a global leader in AI- and insights-driven healthcare communications has appointed KATH HARRISON as Group President – International Growth. Based in Dubai, she will lead international growth and the delivery of end-to-end capabilities across global markets. Harrison will also serve as General Manager of the Dubai office, strengthening Real Chemistry’s presence in the Middle East and its ability to support clients into Asia Pacific and beyond.

The Spin

1. Toy train sets usually promise hours of play. This one appears to have taken a slight detour along the way. The Spin didn’t realise the line now runs through the kitchen.

2. The Spin recently came across a spray bottle with rather … technical instructions. We’re not entirely sure what settings are needed. But ventilation might not be the only thing required while using this product.

3. This skincare box promises to clear things up. Judging

by the packaging, it seems to be doing a fairly thorough job already.

4. Stations rarely leave safety advice open to interpretation. This one takes a slightly different  approach. The Spin suspects the tracks would still prefer some distance.

5. Instructions matter, particularly when they involve medicine. One might need to read this twice, just to make sure you’re seeing it correctly.

6. We’ve all heard of a brisk walk. But this hotel listing appears to take efficiency to another level entirely. The Spin assumes this itinerary may require something a little faster than walking shoes.

7. Government paperwork usually comes with a fair amount of transparency. This visual appears to take that concept a little further than expected.

8. Design can change the way numbers are read. This Formula 1

graphic recently shared two positions that, when placed side by side, created a rather unfortunate combination. The Spin suspects that was one pairing the design team never intended to highlight.

9. It’s not every day that buying more makes something … more expensive. This jewellery deal appears to follow a pricing strategy that The Spin hasn’t quite encountered before. The Spin’s glad that at least the maths seems to be consistent. Even if the logic isn’t.