Gen Z is changing not just how brands communicate, but what makes a brand desirable in the GCC. From self-investment and participation to cultural proximity, the generation is reshaping the region’s ideas of aspiration and consumption. Mona Hassanie, Head of Strategy at VML UAE, outlines the three shifts brands need to understand — and where many are getting their Gen Z strategies wrong.
Which GCC brands would you point to as having genuinely reworked their marketing for Gen Z, and how would you rate the results so far, good or bad?
Across the GCC, Gen Z is changing more than how brands communicate. They are changing what makes a brand desirable in the first place.
This is a generation growing up in one of the world’s most connected regions, with internet penetration at roughly 99-100% in the UAE and KSA. They are globally exposed yet increasingly proud of what is local. They are willing to spend significantly on what they value. And while previous generations often expressed aspiration through what they owned, Gen Z increasingly expresses it through how they live, what they experience and who they are becoming.
Three shifts are particularly important.
SHIFT 1: From possessions to self-investment
The new status symbol is the self.
Luxury in the GCC has traditionally been highly visible: the car, the watch, the handbag, the label.
These symbols haven’t disappeared. But for Gen Z, they are increasingly competing with another form of aspiration: investment in the self.
Beauty, skincare, fitness, nutrition, travel and experiences are becoming meaningful areas of spending. The common thread isn’t simply “wellness.” It is the belief that money spent improving how you feel, look, perform or experience life can be as valuable as money spent acquiring another possession.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are among the world’s fastest-growing wellness economies, ranking first (UAE) and second (KSA) globally for annual growth, with their wellness markets expanding by 95% and 78% respectively since 2019.
This helps explain the rise of premium gyms, increasingly sophisticated skincare routines, wearables and wellness-led travel across the region among Gen Z. Adoption of healthcare apps and wearable technology is significantly higher in the Middle East than globally. According to PwC’s Voice of the Consumer 2025: Middle East Findings, only 12% of consumers in the region say they don’t use any form of healthcare app or wearable technology, compared with 30% globally.
Health & wellness now ranks among the top three spending priorities for Gen Z in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. According to Chalhoub Group’s latest research, fashion (49%), beauty (40%) and health & wellness (37%) lead Gen Z’s expenditure priorities across the two markets.
Looking good, feeling good and becoming better are increasingly part of the same aspiration.
For brands, that changes the equation. Value isn’t only functional value or status value anymore. It is self-investment value — what a brand can contribute to who I am, how I feel and who I want to become.
SHIFT 2: From aspiration to participation
Gen Z doesn’t just want to watch culture. They want to participate in it.
They still want aspiration, but they also want a role in it. They want to experience brands, interact with them, share them and, increasingly, help shape what they mean.
Sephora Middle East has become more of a beauty community than a beauty store. Experiences such as SEPHORiA bring together products, creators, education, experimentation and entertainment, giving younger consumers a reason to participate in the brand beyond simply shopping it.
The Giving Movement is another interesting regional example. It made purpose part of the product, not a campaign. From the beginning, giving was embedded into the purchase itself, while its combination of streetwear, wellness and a strong UAE identity helped turn the brand into something younger consumers could identify with and participate in.
Asteri Beauty — the first Saudi premium makeup brand — offers another version of participation: representation. Its “desert-proof” proposition builds beauty around Arab women, their environment, identities and realities, giving younger consumers the opportunity to see themselves not simply as consumers of beauty culture, but as part of defining it.
These brands are succeeding because they aren’t simply asking Gen Z to consume their brand world. They are giving them a place within it.
What media and channels are actually driving engagement with Gen Z in this region right now, versus what brands assume is working?
The bigger point is that Gen Z doesn’t just want to watch culture. They want to participate in it. They want to experience brands, interact with them, share them and, increasingly, help shape what they mean.
That means brands need to think beyond individual channels and consider whether the experience they create gives Gen Z a meaningful role within the brand world. Experiences, creators, education, experimentation and entertainment can all become part of that participation.
What’s the most common misstep you’re seeing when regional brands attempt a “Gen Z makeover”?
SHIFT 3: From global relevance to cultural proximity
Being globally famous is no longer enough.
One of the most interesting contradictions within GCC Gen Z is that this is an exceptionally globally connected generation — and simultaneously one of its most culturally confident.
The implication for brands is significant:
The GCC cannot be treated as one youth culture.
Localization cannot simply mean translating a global TikTok into Arabic. Too often, brands confuse Gen Z’s language with Gen Z’s mindset, adopting the aesthetics without changing what sits underneath.
The result is the thing Gen Z is quickest to reject: trying too hard.
The brands getting it right aren’t necessarily behaving youngest. They are behaving closest — understanding what matters to Gen Z, rather than simply trying to be like them.
