At a time when Saudi Arabia is rapidly evolving into one of the world’s most dynamic markets, brands are under pressure to strike the right balance between bold creativity and measurable business impact. Few leaders understand this intersection better than Fizo Younis, Chief Creative Officer at Publicis Groupe Middle East, who headlined a fireside chat at Beast House in Diriyah earlier this week, during the KSA Senior Marketers’ Effectiveness Thinklab.
For Younis, the foundation of any great campaign is simple: creativity must work. “If you have an amazing idea that doesn’t resonate with the audience and doesn’t deliver results, then it’s just vanity work,” he said. His philosophy is rooted in a make-and-learn approach, an iterative model that evaluates both performance metrics and emotional sentiment to strengthen ideas.. “We learn from what we did right and we learn from what we did wrong. A campaign is a living thing, you adapt and evolve it as you go.”
But in a fast-changing Saudi landscape, relevance has become both an opportunity and a potential trap. Younis warns against surface-level cultural imitation by stating, “A lot of brands try to sound Saudi or look Saudi without doing the proper cultural mining. The result is bland, meaningless communication that hurts the brand more than it helps.”
True cultural resonance, he argues, can only come from immersion.
Quoting a line from Pink Floyd that he holds close – “All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be” – Younis explains his creative worldview: “If you want to be relevant to a culture, you need to live it. Eat the food, listen to the music, go to the places, connect with the youth. That’s not just Saudi, that’s any culture.”
Younis believes that ideas rooted in cultural truth, not trends, stand the test of time. “If an idea solves a problem, offers utility, or connects emotionally, you’re already 99% of the way to something iconic.”
Technology, including AI, is also reshaping creative output, but Younis is clear about its role. He said, “Technology without humanity is like an engine without a pilot. AI doesn’t have purpose, we give it purpose.” For him, tech is a tool that enhances insight mining, productivity, and execution, but never replaces human intuition.
His process remains adaptable, shifting based on platform and context. “There’s no single process. We always start with the human truth, then build a people-first idea and adapt the approach to the brief.”
For young creatives, Younis offers three guiding lessons: “Embrace AI instead of fearing it, immerse yourself in culture, and don’t be afraid to fail.”
He adds: “Be a fan of the work, listen to the music, watch the films, study what influences people. And don’t be intimidated by change. Just immerse, learn, experiment, and try again.”
In a market where culture and creativity are accelerating at unprecedented speed, Younis’ perspective offers a grounded, human-centered compass, one that prioritizes depth over trends, impact over noise, and truth over imitation.
By Afshan Aziz
