3 days ago
Stacked, stuck and scrolling: Why the MENA marketing playbook needs a rewrite
The Middle East marketing landscape is at a turning point. With Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) poised to redefine how people discover information online, marketers in the MENA region are no longer optimising for keywords alone — they're now competing to become the cited source within AI-generated summaries.
This emerging shift demands a new mindset: Generative engine optimisation (GEO). In this future, only brands producing deeply authoritative, structured, and multilingual content, especially in Arabic — will earn visibility.
Traditional SEO tactics are no longer enough. Authority, clarity and trust will determine who wins the AI citation race.
Yet while AI pushes search into a new dimension, many brands remain trapped in outdated marketing tech-stacks that are choking creativity and speed.
Marketers are working across too many disconnected tools that don't talk to each other, creating data silos and friction at every stage of the customer journey.
The result? Slower campaigns, inconsistent performance and frustrated teams. What's needed now is ruthless simplification: auditing your tech, integrating key platforms, and aligning tools with real workflows, not shiny features.
Governance matters too. Without it, mar-tech becomes a monster, not a multiplier.
Meanwhile, social media has become a proving ground for AI in real time. Platforms are using AI to curate feeds, decide visibility, and influence engagement at scale. Brands must move beyond vanity metrics and focus on relevance.
The smartest teams in the region are leveraging generative tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney to draft ideas, but they're pairing that automation with local insight and cultural nuance.
That balance is what builds trust and resonance. Social listening, AR features, AI chatbots, it's all happening. The challenge isn't adoption, it's intention.
Marketing in the Middle East is being reshaped by AI, by integration and by innovation. The brands that will lead aren't just experimenting with tools.
They're rewriting how marketing is done. Those who act now, evolve fast, and stay human at the core will define the next decade of growth.
By Saad Muhammed Bhatti, Founder, NAAS Digital
