Hoda Rizk
As the creator economy grows, PR and marketing agencies are quietly becoming its most powerful architects. What began as execution and talent coordination has evolved into something far more strategic.
Today, agencies shape narratives, design long-term creator strategies, and influence how brands build trust in a market where attention is scarce and audiences are increasingly skeptical.
In the GCC alone, the influencer marketing market is expected to reach $315.5 million in 2025 and grow at a 13.9 percent CAGR between 2026 and 2032, hitting $771.6 million by 2032, according to P&S Intelligence.
To understand how this ecosystem is taking shape, Communicate spoke with leading agencies across the region to unpack the latest trends, challenges, and shifts redefining influence.
Data-driven matchmaking
“The GCC’s creator economy has exploded to over 263,000 influencers in 2025, making it impossible for anyone without specialized tools to navigate effectively. Regional brands, in particular, look to us for end-to-end guidance,” reveals Bassam Mustafa, Founder and Managing Director at Nine71, a UAE-based agency.
While global brands often arrive with a shortlist of creators, they increasingly rely on deep market intelligence to validate those choices.
“We leverage our data platforms to move beyond follower counts and identify creators with true cultural resonance and audience alignment, ensuring every partnership delivers measurable impact, not just visibility,” says Mustafa.
Yet data alone is not enough.
“A partnership that looks perfect on paper can fail when the human element is ignored. If a creator does not genuinely believe in the product, the content feels forced, and audiences see right through it,” he says.
With 64 percent of Gen Z and Millennials in the GCC trusting creators more than brands, authenticity has become a non-negotiable requirement.
“Video may have killed the radio star, but social media didn’t kill celebrities. It just shifted the spotlight, with more emphasis on ‘girl- or guy-next-door’ creators. The fact that these creators are still early in the influencer lifecycle actually works in favor of brands. They don’t feel untouchable or overly polished, and provide a sense of authenticity which resonates far more with audiences today,” explains Rawan Al Itani, Senior Social Media Manager at TBWA\RAAD.
When partnerships are not handled thoughtfully, they can actually do more harm than good.
“Younger audiences are quick to pick up on whether an endorsement is genuinely earned or simply paid for, and when it feels like the latter, it can be counterproductive. I call this the ‘influencer resistance’ phenomenon,” adds Al Itani.
Instead of driving interest, the manager says this can push audiences away, sometimes even leading them to disengage from the brand altogether.
How to spend smarter
Despite the market’s growth, influencer budgets have not changed significantly in recent years.
“Brands aren’t asking ‘how can we spend less?’ but ‘how can we spend smarter?’ This means investing in better data, longer-term partnerships, and more sophisticated measurement. Budgets are reallocated away from high-cost, low-engagement mega-influencers toward a more diversified and efficient mix of creators,” Mustafa explains.
A few years ago in the GCC, most influencer budgets were spent on creator fees and production. Paid amplification was a smaller part of the mix. As the market has matured and creator costs have increased, things have changed.
“Today, around 40 percent of the budget goes to creators and content, and around 60 percent goes to paid amplification. Content and distribution must work hand in hand. The key reason is efficiency,” reveals Eric Bequin, Senior Luxury Business Advisor.
Highest-performing categories
As the market reaches an all-time high, brands can no longer afford to create content that goes unseen.
“Influencer content is now treated as high-performing creative that supports media through boosted posts and performance-driven campaigns,” Bequin continues.
But not all sectors benefit equally.
“The most immediate impact from influencer and celebrity collaborations is seen in beauty, fashion accessories, and FMCG,” explains Dana Tahir, Chief Executive Officer at Havas Red.
“These categories are built for discovery and impulse, making it easier to track sales, traffic, and conversions. Some categories naturally lend themselves to measurable impact, while others prioritize long-term brand equity,” she adds.
Al Itani agrees: “The equation is simple: less commitment equals stronger uplift. The ‘TikTok made me buy it’ effect is very real here, because the perceived commitment is low and the payoff feels instant.”
In contrast, sectors like automotive and luxury heritage operate on longer timelines.
“An influencer endorsement on its own might not be enough to convince someone to choose a car or switch banks,” says Itani. “These decisions require informed decision-making, long-term commitment, and multiple touchpoints.”
Tahir adds, “Here, partnerships are less about instant transactions and more about shaping perception, credibility, and cultural relevance.”
Influence in 2026 and beyond
Brands are also becoming more selective and more cautious about chasing scale for its own sake. As part of Havas Red’s global predictions, The Rise of Intentional Influence, the traditional macro-influencer playbook is expected to fade by 2026.
“Influence and news will increasingly be shaped by podcasters, Substack writers, and niche creators who stand alongside legacy media in shaping opinion and purchase decisions,” explains Tahir. The report highlights the rise of “newsfluencers”, creators who blend journalistic credibility with the reach and relatability of social platforms.
“In 2026, influence will be about earning access to passionate micro-communities,” Tahir adds. “For brands and PR agencies, this means building real connections behind closed doors and earning relevance in an increasingly fragmented media environment.”
When asked how influencer best practices will evolve in 2026 and beyond, Al Itani highlights the importance of strategic alignment from the start:
“In a nutshell: know your audience, reduce subjectivity, and don’t lock your brand into a single creator persona too early. One of the most common mistakes brands make is defaulting to a familiar ‘type’ of creator and building the strategy around them. When subjectivity drives selection, ideas end up bending to fit the creator rather than the other way around.”
Based on this perspective, getting priorities wrong early limits relevance, reach, and ultimately, performance.
Different markets, different trends
Another persistent misconception is treating the GCC as a single market.
“What works elsewhere cannot simply be translated here,” says Bequin.
“Influence in the GCC is closely tied to family, faith, generosity, modesty, and social status. If a campaign goes against these values, no level of media spend will fix it,” he says.
Common blind spots, according to him, include treating Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait as interchangeable markets, misunderstanding aspiration-driven messaging, and underestimating regulation around licensing and advertising compliance.
Instead, Bequin recommends involving local teams early in any campaign, as well as building creator strategies by audience group rather than reach. Another priority should be respecting key cultural moments such as Ramadan and National Days, and prioritizing long-term partnerships over one-off transactions.
“Creator selection, tone, and role must be adapted to how influence is experienced locally, since differences across GCC countries are meaningful,” says Athanas Jamo, Chief Client Director at Ipsos, a global market research agency.
Data from the Ipsos STATEX Influencer tool confirms influencer strategies cannot be replicated across GCC and Middle Eastern markets.
“Saudi Arabia rewards culturally embedded, timely content; the UAE values clarity, premium association, and consistency; and Lebanon responds strongly to personal, expressive, and socially aware storytelling,” says Jamo.
AI as a tool of influence
While some speculate that AI-generated content could become leverage in influencer negotiations, industry leaders disagree. “AI is about efficiency, not leverage. A creator’s value lies in their voice, creativity, and trust, none of which can be replicated synthetically,” says Mustafa.
AI is increasingly used as a back-office accelerator, improving discovery, vetting, and performance analysis. An Ipsos study conducted with ABG found that 59 percent of marketing professionals say AI improves decision-making, 61 percent say it enhances targeting, and 53 percent say it improves media planning.
Where AI falls short
At the same time, concerns around data privacy, ethics, and bias remain.
“Sixty-seven percent of professionals believe adoption will take time to fully embed, and 57 percent raise ethical and bias concerns. While three in four expect that AI will automate many tasks, one in three believe it will even replace creative or strategic human roles,” says Jamo.
AI also struggles where human nuance matters most. “An algorithm can identify an influencer with a high engagement rate, but it cannot gauge the true sentiment or trust that influencer has built with their audience. This is why we see a ‘good metrics, bad results’ phenomenon,” explains Mustafa.
Moreover, in a region as diverse as the GCC, cultural context is everything.
“AI cannot replicate the intuition required to assess brand alignment or build personal relationships. The most resonant campaigns will always stem from a genuine connection that no algorithm can manufacture,” he adds.
In the labyrinth of a creator-first economy, agencies are the ones holding the map. As Bequin notes, influence will not disappear, but it will have new layers.
Some influence will grow in tight-knit communities, some will sit closer to commerce, and some will be powered by AI. What will not change is the centrality of trust and human connection, and the growing responsibility agencies carry in guiding both brands and creators through what comes next.
