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ABG x IPSOS: MARKETING AS A GROWTH AGENT
Marketing has become a core growth engine across MENA, driven by data, AI, and advanced analytics. Insights from ABG and Ipsos show that performance is no longer separate from marketing—it defines it. While 41% of marketers feel their function is strong, the pace of technology transformation varies across the region, from the UAE as an accelerator to emerging next-generation hubs. Future-ready marketing teams are increasingly data-led, adaptive, and AI-literate, with many already using analytics daily and AI embedded—often unknowingly—into areas such as customer engagement, targeting, and predictive analysis.
UAE CONSUMER SURVEY ABOUT INFLUENCER MARKETING & AI
This October 2025 survey of 1,148 UAE consumers explores attitudes toward AI influencers and influencer marketing. Key findings reveal that 87% of consumers are aware of AI influencers, yet 53% strongly prefer human influencers for recommendations. A significant 73% support mandatory disclosure when brands use AI in content. On purchasing behavior, opinions are split: 32% are less likely to buy from AI recommendations, while 27% are actually more likely—suggesting a divided market.
ABG x IPSOS: AI TRANSFORMATIVE PULSE
AI Transformation Pulse: Insights from the Region
In partnership with Ipsos, ABG’s AI Transformation Pulse offers a snapshot of how advertising and media professionals in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are moving from AI experimentation to real business impact. The report highlights current AI fluency, adoption patterns, and core applications, while exploring attitudes toward efficiency, ethics, and governance. With only a fraction of professionals using AI consistently, the findings underscore the need for targeted upskilling, robust governance frameworks, and trust-driven adoption. This research provides actionable insights for organisations aiming to unlock AI’s full potential and transform occasional use into sustained competitive advantage.
FROM PILOTS TO PERFORMANCE: BUILDING A MATURE AI ECOSYSTEM FOR AGENCIES & ADVERTISERS
ABG x Ipsos Survey (June 2025) found that while 96% of advertising professionals use AI tools and 73% of companies actively embed AI, adoption remains inconsistent. Most professionals understand AI but use it only occasionally, with primary applications in content creation, data analysis, and personalization. 89% view AI positively, but significant concerns persist around bias, privacy, and over-reliance without human oversight.
The main challenge: only 27% of companies have well-defined AI policies, and training is insufficient. To scale AI adoption responsibly, the industry needs targeted learning programs, clear ethical frameworks, and role-specific implementation guides.
WFA x ABG: MARKETER OF THE FUTURE SURVEY RESULTS: MIDDLE EAST
The WFA’s Marketer of the Future survey (May 2025), conducted with Oxford, reveals that Middle Eastern marketers are optimistic and future-focused. With 58% reporting that their organisations outperform their sector, senior marketers highlight the importance of strong marketing fundamentals, strategic alignment, and continuous skills development. Technology, data, and sustainability are seen as the most significant drivers of change, while challenges such as complexity, economic uncertainty, and retail power are also top priorities.
ABG PUBLISHES BEST PRACTICES CHARTERS FOR UAE & KSA, AND WHITE PAPER ON INFLUENCER MARKETING
The Evolving Landscape of Influencer Marketing Within the UAE and KSA
Below documents provide a comprehensive look at the evolving landscape of influencer marketing in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, offering actionable insights for brands, influencers, and agencies.
HOW TRANSPARENT ARE INFLUENCERS IN THE UAE & KSA? A DEEP DIVE INTO 2024’S FINDINGS
Unpacking the 2024 Transparency Report: How Influencers in the UAE and KSA Disclose Paid Content
The latest ABG Creator Brand Transparency Study takes a close look at influencer marketing practices in the UAE and Saudi Arabia—analyzing 7,000 Instagram and TikTok posts tagged with the region’s top 120 brands. The goal? To assess how clearly influencers are labeling sponsored content and how those practices compare to previous years.
INSIDE THE MIND OF THE UAE CONSUMER: TRANSPARENCY IN INFLUENCER MARKETING
What Do UAE Consumers Really Think About Influencer Transparency?
ABG’s latest UAE Consumer Survey on Influencer Marketing Transparency explores public perceptions around how clearly influencers disclose paid content. Conducted in November 2024 via Google Opinion Rewards, the survey gathered responses across a representative UAE sample, covering key demographic groups.
ABG X IPSOS: THE FUTURE OF DATA PRIVACY CONSOLIDATED REPORT
The amount and types of data our economies generate has grown exponentially over the last decade, so has the ways it can be processed and used. Such transformation has greatly raised societal concerns around the protection of consumers and users’ privacy and personal data.
Ever since 2015 legislators and industry self-regulatory organizations around the world started rolling out updated measures to safeguard Data Privacy and condemn the misuse of personal data.
WFA CLIENT AND CREATIVITY GLOBAL REPORT
Our goal is to help brand owners address, and reverse, the decline in creativity in marketing communications to drive sustainable brand growth.
We know that creative communications effectiveness is in decline. Which poses a huge problem. We also know clients feel not enough is being done to address this. The majority feel that, at an industry level, ‘we focus too much on problems and plumbing and not enough on people and art’.
IPSOS COVID RESEARCH
Assessing internet and technology users’ habits and their changing media and content consumption amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
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