Diogo may your soul rest in peace. I’m absolutely heartbroken, we had a chat 48hours ago, and today I find out this is the last time we will speak. May god be with you and your beautiful family through this horrible time. I still cannot believe this. 😞😞😞
Reflections of a CMO in Dubai #3: Creators Are the New Media. They Just Don’t Know It Yet
Influencers aren’t just influencers anymore. They’re media companies in disguise.
But here’s the problem in our region (Middle East): they don’t act like it. Instead of building empires, they’re stuck playing middlemen in their own businesses. Signing deals with agencies that take a cut, working with managers who dictate their worth, and chasing one-off brand collaborations that keep them dependent on someone else.
They should be the ones in control.
But today’s creators? They’re doing it backward. Instead of surrounding themselves with CEOs, directors, strategists, and creatives. people who can help them build real businesses, they’re surrounding themselves with agents who take a cut for introducing them to another brand deal.
That’s not ownership. That’s a sales job.
Which means, the region is still quite far from achieving a true creator economy.
Reflections of a CMO in Dubai #2: Virality VS Frequency.
Marketing used to be simple. You bought frequency. Run the same TV ad enough times, plaster your brand across enough billboards, repeat the jingle until it’s stuck in people’s heads. Repetition bred recognition, and recognition led to sales.
That worked, because people had no choice. You watched TV, you saw ads. You drove to work, you heard the radio. The only way to avoid marketing was to shut your eyes & ears.
Not anymore.
Today, attention is a currency controlled by the user, not the advertiser. The power dynamic flipped. People curate feeds, block ads, skip commercials, and mute what doesn’t interest them.
Virality has replaced frequency.
•Before: You paid for attention.
•Now: You earn it, or you don’t get it at all.
#Marketing #Dubai
Reflections of a CMO in Dubai #1: Attention isn’t won, it’s orchestrated.
Media today is about traction.
Every headline you see, every viral story, every sudden trend… it’s not random. It’s engineered. The media isn’t broken, and it’s not even biased the way most people think, it just runs on a simple formula: whatever gets the most clicks, wins.
You see this play out constantly.
•Influencers “discover” products they were paid to promote.
•Headlines aren’t about reporting news, they’re about driving traffic.
The game is simple: shape the story before it shapes you.
4600 children dead, I grew up reading titles like these. Lived in Beirut in the 90s & 00s, but the impact it had on me, compared to now, after becoming a father, is different. It reached a point where I physically flinch as I uncontrollably imagine for a micro second, what if this was my son? Those people who are voting against ceasefire, who are ordering soldiers to kill, those who are pulling the trigger, funding this war, do they not have children? Or is it just me that feels this way?
Gearing up for Next World Forum 2023 in Riyadh. Excited to come face to face with the new world order for gaming. Reach out if you are around so we can connect. Got plenty to talk about in the world of Gaming, Sports & Creator Economy. @nextwrldsa @GalaxyRacer@GalaxyRacerDxb
I mean Gold has always been a thing for Libya… Can also see how happy @EdrisTareq was for a fellow arab to win! #MrBeastOlympics 10/10 content is changing forever, and if you remember @FortBoyardFr you will realise they are not reinventing the wheel!