Dubai, 19th June 2026: Twenty-five chief executives from across the region’s independent marketing sector gathered in Dubai last week for the inaugural CEO Summit of the Alliance of Independent Agencies Middle East, themed “From Request for Proposal to Request for Partnership”. The summit surfaced a clear and consistent view of what is not working, and where the industry must change, if client–agency relationships are to deliver long-term value.
Structured across four pillars covering briefing, expertise, commercial fairness, and long-term partnership, the Summit produced some of the most candid industry findings to emerge from a regional forum of its kind. Most importantly, the results point to an industry that knows precisely where the Alliance can help champion by helping to move from traditional client-agency relationships towards more strategic client-agency partnerships.
The CEO Vote: Three Priorities Define the Agenda
Across all four pillars, findings surfaced a consistent pattern, namely there are challenges on all sides of the relationship, alongside a shared appetite for higher standards.
- On briefing and transparency, CEOs identified clearer objectives and KPIs in RFPs as the single most important improvement. Lack of budget transparency was also cited as a major barrier to productive partnerships.
- On expertise and specialism, CEOs stated difficulty identifying genuine specialists as the dominant challenge in agency selection, pointing to a need for greater clarity across the industry. The message from the room was clear. Agencies that define their expertise more precisely will be better placed to win the right mandates and reduce unnecessary competition that can drive a race to the bottom on fees.
- On commercial fairness, two findings stood out. First, a majority of CEOs agreed that receiving feedback on pitches and the overall process, including if they have or haven’t been awarded the work, would help them better resource their business and forecast. Second, agencies would benefit from being more selective about the processes they enter, based on timeframe, clarity of scope and the requirements of the RFP. Together, these findings reflect a shared desire for a more considered and mutually respectful pitch process.
- On long-term partnership, procurement-led decision making was identified as the primary barrier to durable client relationships. On the agency side, CEOs agreed that agencies must become more proactive in challenging and strengthening briefs, moving beyond delivery and into genuine strategic partnership.
Based on these, when asked to identify the three principles the Alliance should champion publicly, three priorities stood out. Collaboration over competition, long-term value over short-term transactions and expertise over scale. Together, these form the foundation of the Alliance’s agenda.
A Call to Action for the Whole Industry
The Alliance is designed to move beyond discussion into action. For current and prospective members, these findings set the baseline, shared principles on pitching, briefing, and partnership. For clients, whether brand-side or procurement, the Alliance introduces something new. An organised, credible community of independent agencies operating to shared standards, making it simpler to identify the right expertise and build more effective, lower-friction partnerships.
For the wider industry, the message is straightforward. The independent sector has found its voice. No longer fragmented, or reactive, it is aligning around a common set of expectations and beginning to reshape how business gets done in MENA.
Commenting on the summit’s outcomes, Nick Walsh, Founder of Migrate and Alliance Middle East Partner, said: “This data reflects an industry ready to move. The fact that leaders in the room reached such clear consensus on where the problems lie, and what both sides must do differently, is significant. The Alliance was founded on the principle of mutual accountability, and these findings are the basis on which we will build practical, industry-wide standards.
He added, “For decades, independent agencies in the region have delivered strong work, but largely on their own terms and without a collective voice. What has changed now is coordination and collaboration. The Alliance of Independent Agencies Middle east exists to give this sector a platform, and to demonstrate that the independent community is not waiting for the industry to reform around it. It is driving that reform itself.”
The Alliance will use the Summit findings to develop a set of publicly available guidelines for both clients and agencies across the region. These will address briefing practices, pitch processes, specialist selection, and the conditions required for more sustainable, long-term partnerships.
