We asked the region’s CMOs what actually drives growth in the region today: price, experience, or platform-led storytelling? Here is what they had to say.
Hossam Al Saeed, General Manager Marketing, Nissan Middle East
In the GCC retail and mobility landscape, the shift from price-sensitivity to value-perception is complete. While competitive pricing is a baseline, the real growth driver is undoubtedly experience-led storytelling.
Consumers in this region no longer just buy a product; they invest in a narrative that aligns with their lifestyle and aspirations. As you’ve seen at Nissan, the “Brand Experience” serves as the emotional bridge that transforms a transaction into loyalty. Platforms are merely the stage, and price is the entry fee, but immersive, personalized experiences are what capture hearts. In a saturated market, the brands winning are those that “dare beyond” the “what” and “how much” to master the “how it feels”, turning mobility into a premium, shared journey rather than a utility.
Omar Saheb, Regional Vice President of Marketing and Online Business, Samsung Electronics MENA
Samsung is building a more unified, more personal experience across our retail stores and online platforms. With our connected ecosystem, we understand that consumers in our region are sophisticated about how products and services are designed with care, and how they offer more meaningful everyday experiences in their lives. They don’t need to be sold to; they want to feel understood beyond the specs and features. The brands that get this right build the kind of loyalty that sustains growth across cycles.
Rami Rihani, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Alsulaiman Group
Price alone is no longer the sole growth engine in regional retail and e-commerce; it’s the entry ticket and a baseline expectation. Years of relentless discounting have diluted perceived value and conditioned consumers to chase deals. Experience reduced friction, but it is becoming a hygiene factor.
The long-term growth driver is platform- and purpose-led storytelling anchored in a sharp value proposition and brought to life through relevance, meaning, and distinctive value delivery. Winning brands move beyond transactions, building narratives consumers want to belong to. Price still matters, but as a supporting lever, not the headline.
Sustainable growth lies in shifting towards meaning-driven engagement and affinity. It’s not a walk in the park, but a strategic imperative that requires discipline.
Ashley Tovey, Commercial and Marketing Director, Coffee Planet
Platform-led storytelling is the strongest growth driver in today’s GCC retail and e-commerce landscape, as consumer discovery now happens far beyond shelves and marketplaces. Marketing has made virality a powerful force for discovery and conversion. Earlier, trends were made in the West, and consumers here waited for them to arrive. Today, brands from this region are setting their own narratives and influencing audiences globally. At Coffee Planet, our storytelling is centered around being locally roasted, the quality of our products, and making specialty coffee accessible to all. While storytelling drives discoverability, price supports first purchase, and repeat business comes from consistently delivering an experience that customers trust.
Mehak Nanda. Brand Marketing Manager, Namshi
In the Middle East, growth isn’t driven by a single lever; it’s shaped by culture, demographics, and digital behavior. Price remains the gatekeeper amid inflation sensitivity across KSA and the UAE, but it rarely builds loyalty. Experience is now the baseline: fast delivery, seamless returns, Arabic-first communication, and flexible payments (BNPL, COD) are expected, not premium.
While experience enables conversion, platform-led storytelling is what compounds growth over time by building brand preference in a highly competitive, price-compressed market. It builds identity, emotion, and belonging at scale. Campaigns across the region have shown that, when storytelling taps into nostalgia, cultural pride, and lifestyle archetypes, it drives deeper resonance. Ultimately, people support brands that reflect how they want to feel and be seen.
Nada Bader, Founder and Creative Director, Santolina
Most brands today are not struggling with visibility. They are struggling with conversion and repeat behaviour.
Price used to be a lever. Today it is a signal. If you compete on price, you train your customer to expect it. That is not growth. That is dependency.
Customer experience is expected. It is no longer a differentiator. Fast delivery, smooth interfaces, and responsive service are baseline requirements. They do not build a brand; they prevent friction.
Storytelling is where most brands overinvest. There is more content than ever, but less belief. Customers are exposed to constant messaging, so they filter quickly. If the story is not backed by something real, it is ignored.
What is actually driving growth is selectivity. Brands that scale today are not trying to reach everyone. They are clear on who they are for, what they offer, and what they do not do. That clarity sharpens everything else. It sharpens pricing, it sharpens communication, and it sharpens retention.
In the GCC, this shift is more visible. The customer is highly exposed, highly aware, and quick to disengage. If a brand is inconsistent, it shows immediately.
For Santolina, growth comes from being precise about what we are and what we are not. We do not chase volume, and we do not adjust the product to meet short-term demand. That creates a different kind of relationship with the customer. One that is based on expectation, not persuasion.
That is what compounds. Not attention, but behavior. And behavior is what separates brands that are visible from brands that actually scale.
