Two of the region’s most connected players in intelligence and communications are joining forces. EMIR, the boutique advisory and research firm, has struck a strategic partnership with Omnicom Media MENA to help GCC organizations turn regional expertise into thought leadership that actually travels, reaching investors, policymakers and business audiences well beyond the Gulf.
The pairing is a logical one. EMIR brings the intelligence layer: a senior GCC network, direct lines into CEOs, ministers and boards, and executive engagement formats like insight reports, roundtables and filmed interviews. Omnicom Media MENA brings the amplification layer, strategic communications, media planning and campaign execution across regional and international markets. Put together, the idea is to help organizations move past being talked about in headlines and start shaping the actual conversation around AI, energy transition, infrastructure, tourism, advanced manufacturing and new trade corridors.
It’s a bet on timing as much as capability. The GCC has spent the past few years attracting global capital and attention; the partnership is a wager that the region’s next phase of influence will be won through credible, well-placed ideas rather than press mentions alone.
Trevor McFarlane, CEO and Founder of EMIR, framed the opportunity in terms of access: “EMIR works directly with the CEOs, ministers, boards, investors and operators shaping the next phase of the Gulf’s growth. That gives us access to real-time intelligence and insight that is grounded in the region, not observed from a distance.” He added that the partnership lets EMIR “take those insights further” by helping organizations turn regional intelligence into thought leadership that “reaches the right audiences globally.”
Elda Choucair, CEO, Omnicom Media MENA, said: “Today, organizations aren’t competing on products and services alone. They’re competing on ideas, expertise and their ability to shape conversations. The GCC is no longer a market the world is watching; it’s a market the world is learning from. As organizations across the region drive innovation and economic transformation, there’s a real opportunity to ensure those experiences reach the audiences who can act on them. By bringing together EMIR’s deep understanding of the region with Omnicom Media MENA’s communications expertise, we’re helping organizations build credibility through ideas that have the potential to influence conversations well beyond the Gulf.”
The first programs under the partnership are expected to draw on EMIR’s existing formats, executive insight reports, CEO roundtables and bespoke leadership platforms, with Omnicom Media MENA handling the media strategy and distribution needed to get them in front of international business audiences.
