Campaign Middle East’s October 2026 issue is out now, featuring the ninth annual Production House Guide alongside The MENA Power List 2026, which brings together the who’s who of from senior leadership in the industry.
The Production House Guide brings together information on the region’s production houses, including their specialisms, leadership, key clients and capabilities, providing marketers and agencies with a practical reference for production services across the region.
The issue’s cover story takes a closer look at how the region’s production landscape is changing, with industry leaders examining the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), shrinking budgets and growing demand for always-on content. Leaders from the industry discuss how production teams are adapting to demands for greater speed, scale and efficiency – and why those priorities cannot come at the expense of craft, specialist talent, human judgement and trusted partnerships.
Contributors to the conversation include: Carla Klumpenaar, General Manager of Marketing, Communications and Interior Design, Al-Futtaim IKEA UAE, Qatar, Oman and Egypt; Sami Saleh, CEO, Publicis Productions Middle East; Eddy Rizk, CEO, Big Kahuna Films; Daniel Kilalea, Executive Producer and Director, Boomtown Productions; Aasim Shaikh, Managing Director, LPS; and Inas Nagy, Production Lead, BigTime Creative Shop.
The Production House Guide is further supported by opinion pieces from Boomtown Productions’s Nerav Rao , Liwa Content.Driven’s’ Sagar Rege and Film Pudding’s Layal Moukahal.
The second feature of the magazine sheds spotlight on the consumer joourney and buying behaviour. It examines how AI, social media, convenience, trust and changing consumer behaviour are reshaping the MENA consumer journey, from discovery through to purchase. Drawing on research and data from PwC, Checkout.com, Tabby, Visa, Majid Al Futtaim and others, the feature explores what changing behaviours mean for brands, marketers and advertisers operating in an increasingly digital-first market.
Shifting the focus to brands themselves, this month’s brand focus sees Skechers Middle East’s Karuna Loungani look at influencer marketing from the marketer’s perspective, sharing lessons from both sides of the influencer brief and examining where brands can go wrong when working with creators. The section is completed by BYD’s Jose Miranda explains that global consistency should protect a brand’s core while giving markets room to stay culturally relevant.
The third sections turns its attention to Saudi. Maheerah alumna and mentor Laila Essa argues that Saudi Arabia has built the platforms and opportunities for its creative industry, but now needs stronger communities through which knowledge and experience can be passed on. While Saudi Tourism Authority’s Sarah Abumelha explores the role of experience in modern marketing, arguing that audiences need to step inside a brand’s story rather than simply receive a brand message.
Rounding out the regular sections, Industry Forum asks whether brands are getting enough transparency from retail media networks on margins, inventory and data usage, bringing together industry voices to debate one of the key issues shaping the growth of retail media.
Read the complete Production House Guide 2026 here or with the link in bio.