Dubai, July 31,2024
MCG Talent is a leading recruitment agency with over 14 years of experience in the Middle East and Asia’s creative, marketing, communications and digital sectors. Utilising their network of relationships within the creative industry, ten creative experts were interviewed, and their insights were used to create a written report: Creative in 2024: Trends, Technology & Talent, Middle East.
The report offers a detailed look into what’s happening in the industry, comparing viewpoints from ten experts:
Justin McGuire – CEO & Co-founder of MCG Talent
Charlie Bowsher – Senior Client Director at MCG Talent
Andrej Arsenijevic– Executive Creative Director at Commonwealth // McCann
Zainab Yasseen– Creative Art Director at M&C Saatchi
Eduardo Castello Branco – Head of Creative at Digitas
Julián Hernández – Partner and Executive Creative Director at Consulum
Pablo Dachefsky– Founder of DAF Creative Consultancy
Brenda Kassir– Associate Director of Strategy at Cheil
Alberto Rader – Executive Creative Director at Keko Dubai
David Sanchez – Associate Creative Director at Cheil
To read the full Creative in 2024 report, click here.
MCG Talent sets the scene in the introductory paragraph: “The creative landscape in the Middle East has recently experienced significant transformations. As new trends surface and artificial intelligence becomes increasingly prevalent, we’ve engaged experts to provide their insights into the current state of creativity in the region.”
The report goes on to introduce the contributors and their achievements, before delving into key creative trends, artificial intelligence, and talent.
Creative Trends
A big trend that multiple contributors discuss early in the report is the increasing use of social media and the dominance of TikTok. It’s clear that social media has made a huge impact on the creative industry, but just how big is that impact?
Zainab Yasseen comments that brands are now aiming to make their content ‘TikTokable’, which is a term she says is used in her company, demonstrating TikTok’s importance in today’s industry. Andrej Arsenijevicadds weight to the perspective that TikTok is a trend in itself, explaining that its sheer prominence has produced the need for creative agencies to hire in-house content creators.
Other trends discussed in the report include the rise of the creator economy,the boom of gaming, job trends, and hyper-personalisation.
Artificial Intelligence in the Creative Industry
In the technology section, artificial intelligence is the focus.It begins by analysing the impact AI is having on the creative industry and how it can be integrated as a collaborator, with many of the contributors referring to AI as ‘one of the team members’ or ‘a friend to bounce ideas off’.
However, whilst the report does explore all the positives of AI, it also delves into the negatives, including AI biases andthe concerns over ethics and ownership.Included in this section is a three-page spread exploring what AI means for job security. A key quote from Eduardo Castello Branco begins this sub-section, “Is AI going to take over humans? I don’t think so. You’ll need someone directing it.”
The section ends with a sub-sectionadvising how to stay ahead in the era of AI, including top tips from Justin McGuire, Brenda Kassir, and Julián Hernández, who all agree that learning how to use new technologies will put them ahead of the curve.
Creative Talent
The final section of MCG Talent’s report is centred around talent.It begins with the exploration of what the creative talent landscape looks like in the Middle East, with a specific focus on the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Demand vs. supply is discussed in both countries, whilst also looking at the industry from a candidate perspective with one sub-section titled, ‘What Do Candidates Want?’ Charlie Bowsher makes an interesting point about creatives, saying, “A lot of them want to be out winning awards, creating really good work that is tangibly recognised in the form of rewards.”
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is another topic discussed in this section, which is gaining prominence in the region. The contributors agree that cultural diversity is one of the main aspects of diversity to be seen in the UAE specifically. Alberto explains that with high diversity comes a high differentiation in ideas, and says, “[Dubai is] diverse, it’s dynamic and it reflects a global fusion of cultures, perspectives and styles.”
About MCG Talent
MCG Talent is an experienced recruitment agency, with five offices located in Dubai, Riyadh, Hong Kong, Singapore, and most recently, Colombo. Operating since 2010, we have a wealth of knowledge in our specialised areas: Marketing, Communications, Creative and Digital sectors. As committed professionals, MCG Talent is known for connecting top talent with agency, corporate and government businesses.
To read the full Creative in 2024 report, click here.
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Website: https://www.mcgtalent.io/
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