Can you believe it’s almost the end of the year? 2024 has been an exciting time filled with incredible innovation in marketing in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
We’ve seen a travel marketing brand harnessing AI to help them understand how many visitors arrived as a result of their campaigns, a big beauty brand using augmented reality technology to connect with consumers, and a mega-infrastructure project tapping into the power of search to ignite curiosity. We’ve also deep dived into research that reveals why creators are a top choice for brands looking to connect with people, and explored how creativity helps businesses win during peak retail season.
Sound interesting? Take a deeper look at these stories below. Whether you’re searching for creative inspiration, AI applications, or ideas on how to innovate, we’re sure there’s something here that’ll help you fuel your future marketing plans.
Case study: The Egyptian Tourism Authority's AI ad campaign
The Egyptian Tourism Authority traditionally focused on offline advertising — TV, print, out-of-home — to market Egypt. However they wanted to gain a clearer understanding of how many visitors actually arrived in the country as a result of their digital ad campaigns.
Enter an AI-powered, end-to-end tool that helped them measure visits to Egypt, calculate return on investment, and offer insights to optimise future campaigns.
Actionable creative: 5 tips to help you maximise ROI
MENA’s retail season has evolved to include four major peaks — Saudi National Day, Singles’ Day, Black Friday, and the end-of-year season. Brands can thrive during the peaks and drops of this highly competitive time by putting their creative caps on.
Uncover five tips and evergreen video ad examples to get your creative juices flowing and maximise your brand’s return on investment during peak retail season.
Case study: How Neom used a search insight to boost curiosity
Neom is one of the most ambitious mega-infrastructure projects being built today. Even though it has attracted plenty of international attention, brand health tracking research revealed that only 12% of participants understood what it is.
When Neom discovered people were mostly asking “what is Neom”, they partnered with Google to super-charge that question. They developed a 360-degree video campaign to motivate people to keep searching for exactly that. The results were impressive, with brand searches increasing by over 3X year-over-year.
Video connection: Creators help brands connect with people
Over half of people would prefer to watch creators breaking down a major event — like the Oscars or Grammys — rather than watch the event itself. With this in mind, Google Creative Works ran a series of ad experiments to understand how brands can work with creators to better connect with their audiences.
Marketing innovation: Beauty brand reaches millions using augmented reality
Capturing and maintaining consumer attention is a constant challenge in today’s fast-paced digital world. When Christian Dior Parfums launched its Dior Addict Lipstick campaign in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, they embraced innovative technology to do just that.
Utilising YouTube’s Augmented Reality (AR) Beauty Try On tool, the brand enabled people to virtually try on lipstick using their mobile phone camera. The technology helped Christian Dior Parfums reach four million people in just under a month.
We hope that by incorporating these insights and inspiring examples into your 2025 planning, you can create impactful campaigns that resonate with your audience and drive business success next year and beyond.
