With two interns and a newly opened Saudi office, Lara Arbid built an SR100 million business in under three quarters. Today, as CEO of Initiative MENAT and Magna, she leads both agencies across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, having joined MCN in Riyadh in 2014 and led Magna KSA. The lesson from Saudi still defines her approach: make the brave call, commit to the direction and build the structure as you go.
In this exclusive conversation, Arbid makes the case for media measured by business outcomes, for human judgement in an AI-driven industry and for leaders who understand how media, data, technology and creativity connect. The agencies that shape 2027, she argues, will be those investing in those leaders now.
You transformed a newly established Saudi office with just two interns into an SR100 million business in less than three quarters. What did that experience teach you about leadership that you still apply at a regional level?
The most important lesson from Saudi was that opportunity does not wait for perfect conditions.
“The market was moving at remarkable speed, and had we waited for the full team, the structure and every process to be in place, the moment would have passed us by.”
Many leaders hold back because they feel they do not yet tick every box. I believe conviction has to come first. You commit to the direction, surround yourself with the right people and build the structure as the business grows. What anchors that approach is doing what is right for the business, taking brave decisions and managing expectations with clarity, with our clients and our teams alike. As the saying goes, when the will is there, the way always follows.
As the industry moves toward more standardised ways of planning, measuring and optimising media, where should standardisation stop and customisation begin when every client has different business objectives?
Standardisation should never become a one-size-fits-all approach to media planning. Its purpose is to bring rigour, consistency and transparency to how media is planned, measured and optimised, so clients can trust the data behind every decision.
The how should never define the what. Each brand’s objectives, audience and insights shape the strategy and drive creativity in the solutions we build. That is where customization leads. Measurement is where this matters most.
“A three-second viewability benchmark confirms an ad had the opportunity to be seen, yet says little about whether it moved the business.”
Our standard is accountability for outcomes that drive growth, whether footfall, qualified leads or sales. The objective defines the metric, and a consistent framework measures it with integrity.
Across MENAT, markets differ in maturity, regulation, hiring realities and talent competition. What’s the hardest trade-off in building one coherent regional strategy without forcing every market into the same mould?
The real discipline lies in holding one strategy constant while allowing each market to define its own path to growth. Our regional strategy applies to every market, regardless of maturity: to earn client trust and deliver business growth, with passionate teams. Each market’s nuances shape where that growth comes from and how we go to market, while the essence of how we operate never changes.
A dedicated regional team supports every market equally, ensuring our products and services are cascaded consistently across MENAT. In parallel, we draw on the specialisms each market develops and share that learning with our leadership across the region. The result is a continuous exchange of expertise and learning that flows in both directions.
What’s one task people assume AI has already solved in media planning that, in your experience, it genuinely hasn’t yet?
Insight generation for strategic planning. AI gives us access to an almost limitless range of data sources, yet access alone does not produce insight. It takes a sharp strategic mind to probe the data, ask the right questions, challenge the output and push it back until a truly unique insight emerges.
Without that human rigour, the strategy becomes a version of something that has already been done and brings nothing new to the brand.
“AI is a powerful enabler of our thinking. The insight that sets a brand apart still comes from people who know how to interrogate it.”
As brands gain access to increasingly sophisticated data and AI-driven targeting, what line do they still most often cross when trying to make consumer experiences more relevant?
The greatest opportunity for brands lies in the data they already have. Most hold a wealth of first-party data that could enhance the customer journey, yet it often sits in silos across teams and platforms, leaving the experience disjointed. Bringing that data together is what turns a series of touchpoints into a seamless experience for the consumer.
Looking towards 2027, what do you think media leaders in MENAT will need to rethink most urgently about the way agencies, technology and talent work together?
It comes down to how we build our leaders. Technology is accessible to everyone, and any agency can design an operating model or adopt a new system, and the real advantage lies with the people leading it.
As clients increasingly look to their agencies as business partners, we need diverse leaders trained across disciplines who understand how media, data, technology and creativity connect.
“Leaders who integrate, communicate with clarity and think like business consultants add value from any seat, and the agencies that invest in developing them now will shape our industry in 2027 and beyond.”
Read more: Initiative Wins Media Mandate for D360 Bank in Saudi Arabia
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