Report · In preparation
The State of Marketing, Gulf edition
Our annual read on budgets, talent, tools and what marketing leaders in the region plan next.
What it will cover
Eight chapters, built from the questions leaders are asking.
Most of the data marketing leaders here rely on is global. This report gives them the numbers for this market, read against the global ones.
The budget
How big, how secure, and where it is moving.
- Marketing budget as a share of revenue, and the change on last year
- Where money is being cut, and where it is being added
- Whether the budget is enough to deliver the strategy
The team
How marketing departments are built and staffed.
- Team size, structure and reporting line
- What is done in-house and what is bought outside
- The roles hardest to hire and keep
AI in practice
Where AI is used, and where leaders draw the line.
- Share of marketing work using generative AI today, and in a year
- The use cases that pay back, and the ones that did not
- Written AI rules, and what will never be handed to a machine
Systems
Whether marketing runs as a system or a calendar.
- How much of the martech stack is actually used
- One source of truth, or many
- How often the team reviews results and changes course
Attention
Which channels and formats still earn attention here.
- Channel and format mix, and planned shifts
- Arabic and English content, and how each performs
- Whether attention is measured, or only reach
Rooms
The role of events and experiences in the plan.
- Share of budget going to events and experiences
- What rooms are used for: launch, trust, relationships
- How their impact is measured
Proof
How leaders prove marketing worked.
- Whether marketing can prove its value and get credit
- The metrics leadership actually asks for
- Who in the C-suite is most sceptical, and why
Partners and the year ahead
Agencies, priorities and risks for the next 12 months.
- Roster size, consolidation plans and what is still bought outside
- Whether AI has reduced reliance on agencies
- Top three priorities and the biggest risk
The global numbers we will compare against.
Source: Gartner, 2025 CMO Spend Survey. Global figures.
7.7%
Average marketing budget as a share of company revenue.
59%
of CMOs say their budget is not enough to deliver their strategy.
39%
of CMOs plan to cut agency spend.
22%
say generative AI has already reduced their reliance on external agencies.
How it is made
Rigorous enough to quote, honest about its limits.
Who
Heads of marketing and communications across the GCC, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia at the core. Brands, institutions and businesses, at director level and above.
How
A confidential online survey of about 30 questions, around 12 minutes, followed by in-depth interviews with a dozen leaders and a MarComms Majlis to test what we find.
How many
We aim for at least 150 senior respondents. We publish the sample size for every chart, and never report a group smaller than 20.
Read against
Global benchmarks from Gartner and The CMO Survey, so every Gulf number sits next to the global one.
Published as
A web report, a downloadable PDF and a launch Majlis for those who took part. Every participant gets the results first.
Get it first
Be the first to read it.
We will send the report when it is published. Nothing else unless you ask.
Take part
Lead marketing or communications in the region?
Add your view. Responses are confidential and reported only in aggregate.