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Khaleej Times
26-06-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Balancing AI automation with authentic engagement in the GCC
In a region where tradition and modernity are constantly colliding, and personal relationships, hospitality, and cultural nuance shape everyday interactions, the rise of AI in brand communication is prompting a moment of reckoning. As automation becomes the norm across the GCC, many consumers are beginning to feel a disconnect; interactions are faster, yes, but often colder, more generic, and lacking the emotional depth that defines the region's customer expectations. While AI offers clear advantages with efficiency, scale, and speed; GCC brands now face a critical question: how can they embrace this technology without losing the authenticity that builds loyalty and trust? To unpack this challenge, Khaleej Times spoke with Sharif Kotb, AVP Sales GCC at Braze, who shared how GCC brands can strike the right balance between innovation and authenticity. From insights rooted in local data to real-world examples of brands doing it right, Kotb outlined how GCC marketers can find the balance and blend innovation with empathy to keep the human element front and center. Excerpts from the interview: Question: As brands in the GCC region increasingly adopt AI technologies, what specific factors does Braze recommend to ensure that customer communications remain authentic and culturally relevant? Answer: As part of our 2025 GCC Customer Engagement Review, 74 percent of surveyed GCC marketers said they were 'extremely or very concerned' about their messaging missing the mark and not resonating, which can impact their ability to forge connections and brand loyalty. Therefore, we looked at the three key factors that typically determine whether content is emotionally resonant with any given audience. It's important to prioritise the following factors for any AI initiative: Authenticity: Genuine communication of brand values and beliefs fosters trust and connection with consumers, making them feel that the brand is relatable and true to itself. Storytelling: Compelling narratives that evoke emotions - such as joy, empathy, or nostalgia - capture attention and create memorable experiences, allowing consumers to connect personally with the brand. Personalisation: Tailoring messages to individual preferences and behaviors enhances relevance, making consumers feel valued and understood, which deepens emotional connections. Question: What innovative approaches can GCC brands implement to effectively leverage AI in their customer engagement efforts while still preserving the personal touch that is essential in the region? Answer: To amplify emotional resonance, GCC brands are unleashing a vibrant mix of content and technology-driven strategies. They're not just playing it safe; they're infusing humour, pop culture references, current events, and social causes into their messaging, outpacing the global average (41 percent vs 36 percent). Across the GCC region, brands are embracing local flavours that resonate with their audiences. They're also leveraging AI to fine-tune the message's tone, ensuring it aligns with individual preferences. Ultimately, it's about forging emotional connections that keep customers coming back for more. Data-informed personalisation is a key tactic in the region, with GCC brands more likely than the global average to personalise web and app content (via tools like Content Cards) and utilise first-party data to tailor paid ads. Question: How can data help GCC brands strike the right balance between automation and authentic human interaction in their marketing strategies? Answer: 99 percent of surveyed global marketing executives say plans to use advanced personalisation have been impacted by data privacy concerns, which is crucial to creating authentic human-like interactions. Consent is key, and in-product channels like Content Cards or in-app messages help to build trust and support personalisation. By leveraging features like responsive buttons and surveys, brands can use explicit customer preferences to inform personalisation efforts, supporting increased transparency. Braze encourages a customer-centric approach: Brands can employ a robust first-party data strategy, continually learning from their customers, to create engaging cross-channel customer experiences, while saving time through automating journey creation and orchestration, routine copywriting tasks, content refinement, and image creation, among other efficiencies. Question: Can you provide examples of GCC brands that have successfully integrated AI into their customer engagement strategies without compromising their unique voice and authenticity? Answer: Majid Al Futtaim Holding, a Braze customer, is a great example of automation being leveraged to support migration and campaign efforts. The team was able to migrate all of Majid Al Futtaim's different brands and communications to a new customer engagement platform on Braze—something that's particularly challenging with such a large organisation. Moving to Braze made it easier to support the strong personalisation, automation, and ongoing innovation that make sustainable engagement possible. They were able to accelerate the launch of over one hundred automated campaigns by the end of 2022. They executed over one thousand unique communications on Braze during their first year using the platform. They also successfully sent communications to over 5.5 million recipients with strong open and click rates. 'The new email design system has grown and flourished, allowing us to reduce the amount spent per setup of campaigns while maintaining the excellence in our look and feel,' said Sereen Hindawi, senior manager, Customer Engagement at Majid Al Futtaim. Question: How does Braze intend to assist GCC brands in navigating the complexities of merging traditional values with innovative technologies in their customer engagement strategies? Answer: To help brands figure out AI, we created The Flamework Framework. This methodology helps brands to evaluate and implement new ideas, no matter where they're at with AI. The approach works on three levels: Match, Spark, and Flame. Match: This first phase involves implementing simple, automated features. One feature that's popular at Braze is AI Item Recommendations. This feature uses AI to analyse customer data and surface relevant items to those who they are most likely to resonate with. Spark: This phase is all about adding data components on top of AI overlays. At Braze, brands are combining AI Item Recommendations with zero-party data to forge tailored, meaningful interactions between brands and customers. Flame: This final phase represents big ideas - the exciting ones that speak directly to customer needs in a creative way, and differentiate the brand from competitors. Beyond personalisation, this step is about creating memorable experiences that convert customers and build long-term loyalty. As the GCC region continues to position itself at the forefront of digital innovation, the real opportunity lies not just in adopting the latest tools but in using them with intention. Technology can power efficiency, but it's the human element that drives connection, trust, and loyalty. The brands that will lead in this new era are those that recognise AI as an enabler for meaningful engagement, not a replacement. By staying rooted in cultural understanding and emotional intelligence, GCC marketers have a chance to craft experiences that feel not just smart, but personal. In the end, it's not about choosing between automation and authenticity, it's about making space for both.
Campaign ME
17-03-2025
- Business
- Campaign ME
48 per cent of Middle East marketers share concerns about data privacy
Almost half of Middle Eastern marketers (48 per cent) are concerned about the use personal data and consumer consent, according to new data released in the fifth edition of the Braze Customer Engagement Review (CER). The report combines data from the Braze platform with the results of a global survey developed in partnership with Wakefield Research, which surveyed 2,300 senior marketing executives across 18 countries. The research findings indicate that data privacy concerns have impacted marketers' plans for more advanced personalisation efforts, with key worries including customer consent (48 per cent), internal team concerns (37.8 per cent), and regulatory and compliance issues (33 per cent). 'As AI adoption grows among marketers across the GCC region, many find themselves at a crossroads. Consumers are expecting highly personalised experiences, but what we're hearing is marketers are being cautious about using personal data without explicit consent,' said Sharif Kotb, GCC Area VP, Braze. 'The key to navigating this challenge is striking the right balance between personalisation and transparency. Customers want relevant, engaging experiences but also demand control over their data. First-party data strategies is the key here, and leveraging AI in a way that clearly demonstrates value, brands can build trust and lasting connections. Marketers must take the lead in ensuring transparency. Being upfront about data collection, usage, and the tangible benefits it brings to the customer.' Navigating data ethics and consumer trust This research shows that industry leaders are unable to decipher what is and isn't ethical use of customer data. Google's introduction of technology such as fingerprinting and IP address collection, for example, are methods that enable brands to effectively target consumers. However, it's argued to be a blow to privacy with it being harder for users to control what data is collected about them. With the rush to adopt AI tools within marketing teams, a quarter (45 per cent) are using AI-informed data collection tools to identify patterns and combinations in data sets to help with personalisation. Marketers play a crucial role in fostering consumer trust through transparency of how data is being collected and used, and the consumer benefits. Building emotional connections Customer retention is yet again the priority for marketers this year, with almost all (95 per cent) allocating between 26–75 per cent of marketing budgets towards this effort, a similar figure to 2024. However, marketers also admit they are finding it challenging to connect with consumers to achieve this goal with 97 per cent struggling to craft emotionally resonant messaging to forge those connections. To address this, the top tactics being deployed include using humour, pop culture and social causes to connect emotionally (41 per cent), AI-driven tone adjustments for each recipient (41 per cent), and personalised messaging based on customer and channel preferences (30 per cent). This is where the collection of first-party data and consumer consent to its use can help brands maximise the information they collect to create more intentional customer engagement. Tactics for emotional resonance across industries also vary. Media and entertainment brands leverage community-focused initiatives to encourage a sense of belonging (40 per cent) through tactics such as regionally most watched programmes, and watch-party mode. Health and Wellness and Finserv apps capitalise on time-sensitive features such as using countdown timers and send-time optimisation (41 per cent) to connect with their customers.
