The Cookieless CMO

CEO TL;DR (for Media CEOs scaling $10M–$100M in MENA & APAC)Save this if you’re responsible for Revenue, not just Reach.* If your growth plan is still reach-first, you are likely over-investing in people who will never convert and under-investing in the only segment that can still move your top line.* The highest-leverage growth segment in 2026 is the Movable Middle: switchers, fence-sitters, and neutrals who decide based on trust, context, and relevance.* Social is no longer a distribution channel. It is an intent and consideration layer, where decisions happen privately through saves, forwards, DMs, and closed groups.* Creators now function as revenue accelerators, not just audience drivers, especially in fragmented MENA and APAC markets where trust travels peer-to-peer.* The strategic mistake most mid-market media businesses make is spreading budgets thin instead of committing to 2–3 creator-led formats that compound trust over 6–12 months.* One line to anchor your 2026 plan:The job of social and creators this year is to convert undecided demand into repeatable revenue.Most brands say they want growth.Then they sign off on media plans designed for a simpler era, where:* reach was the main story, and* social was the main stageBut 2026 does not reward “BIGGER.”It rewards More Movable.The real opportunity now sits at the intersection of two shifts happening at once:* the Movable Middle (the buyers you can actually change), and* the creator economy (the distribution format that actually changes people).This shift is especially pronounced in MENA and APAC, where social behaviour is evolving fast and intent signals are increasingly private.The growth segment most plans ignore: the Movable MiddleThe Movable Middle is the group that:* sometimes chooses you,* sometimes chooses a competitor,* sometimes is neutral, but open.They are not your loyalists.They are not your rejectors.They are your swing voters.And the reason they matter is brutally practical.They are the part of the market that can still be moved at scale, without wasting spend shouting at people who already love you or will never choose you.This is what “efficient growth” actually means.Not smaller budgets, but smarter precision about who can still be shifted.If you work in MENA or APAC, you have seen this pattern play out:* dashboards plateau,* CAC rises,* conversion gets harder,* yet briefs still default to “broad awareness.”That is not a media problem.That is a targeting problem.It is the plan you write when you do not know who you are trying to move.Social in 2026: from main stage to intent layerHere is the second shift.Social has changed.People no longer live on platforms the way they used to.They visit them.Identity now comes from work, hobbies, niche communities, and creators who actually teach, explain, or entertain. Social has become a companion layer, not the centre of life.And the most important detail:Engagement did not die.It moved into places brands can barely see:* DMs* saves* WhatsApp and private shares* closed groups* story repliesPublic likes and comments are increasingly weak signals.Private actions are where consideration is happening.For the Movable Middle, this is exactly where decisions get negotiated.The forwarded Reel.The creator review sent to the family group.The message that says, “You should try this?”Social is also quietly functioning like search.In Riyadh, Jakarta, Mumbai, and Dubai, people search TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and even LinkedIn for practical answers long before they search Google.They want demonstrations, explanations, and proof from real people.That is not brand-film territory.That is creator territory.Why creators move the middle better than brands doIf your audience is undecided, they do not need a slogan.They need three things.* Social proof from someone who feels like meNot celebrity distance. Familiar proximity.* Context and coachingNot “buy this,” but “here is when this is actually right for you.”* Consistency and familiarityOne-off influencer drops do not compound. Recurring formats do.Creators live where the Movable Middle lives.In the messy middle of curiosity, comparison, and social validation.What “Movable Middle + Creators” looks like in practiceMost companies say they want this.Then they do “always-on social” and call it strategy.Here is a cleaner spine you can adapt.1. Define your Movable Middle signalsMap mid-probability audiences using:* occasional buyers and lapsed users in your CRM,* category browsers who have not converted,* competitor engagers,* “neutral but open” survey or tracker segments.The point is not more data.The point is a specific definition of who you are trying to move.2. Brief creators for switchers, not fansThe most effective creator briefs sound like:* “If you usually buy X, here is when Y makes more sense.”* “I tried three options so you don’t have to.”* “Here is what I wish I knew before spending money in this category.”That is how real people decide.3. Optimise for private actions, not public vanityIf engagement has moved, KPIs need to follow.Track what actually signals consideration:* saves,* shares,* profile taps,* DM replies,* search lift,* creator-driven click-through to deeper content.4. Treat social as search, creators as your best answersBuild around the questions your market is already typing:* “Is this safe for fasting?”* “Which option works in Dubai heat?”* “Best choice for freelancers in Manila?”* “How do I cancel this subscription?”Win the question.Win the consideration.5. Scale winners like an easy buttonWhen you find the creator formats and segments that reliably shift mid-probability audiences:* build cohorts,* replicate formats,* refresh creative faster than media,* expand distribution through paid.Creators are the narrative engine.Paid is the amplifier.The brief you need for 2026This is the line I keep coming back to:The main job of social in 2026 is to move the middle.Not to “be present.”Not to “go viral.”Not to collect engagement confetti.To move a specific segment that can actually change outcomes.If you are rewriting your 2026 plan this quarter and want a sharp working session on Movable Middle strategy across MENA and APAC, I am open to a private exchange.No deck.No pitch.Just operator-to-operator notes. Get full access to That CEO Operator at thatceooperator.substack.com/subscribe

For decades, marketers measured success by impressions, by reach, by “top funnel buzz.” That era is over.In 2026, the creator economy is no longer a channel or tactic. It is a structural pillar of global commerce, culture and trust, shaping preferences, community norms and consumer behaviour in ways that even category leaders still underestimate.This isn’t marketing trend talk. This is market reality.The Why: A Structural Shift in How Trust and Influence WorkThe creator economy’s moment isn’t about “doing more influencer campaigns.”It is about recognising where authority now lives.Creators are now the default interpreters of culture and context. Audiences look to them for their worldview first, and to brands second. LinkedIn creator Monica Khan recently pointed out that creators are trusted voices not only in commerce but in broader societal conversations- so much so that they’re being treated like political infrastructure in the U.S., shaping narratives and engagement in ways traditional institutions no longer can.That is not noise. That is influence refracted through authenticity.Research shows that a huge proportion of global consumers say they trust creators more than brand ads- and that trust now matters as much as reach.Traditional channels are no longer default marketplaces of credibility. They are now one of many inputs. Brands that fail to understand the trust economy inherent in creator ecosystems risk becoming background noise.The New Creator Paradigm: From Influence to EnterpriseCreators are no longer simply amplifiers of brand messages.They are business operators.The creator economy has evolved into an ecosystem where creators build real businesses- diverse revenue streams, multiple touchpoints with audiences, and real economic impact. Nearly one in three creators now launches products, agencies or SaaS tools, blurring lines between creator, entrepreneur and media company.This is why the binary “influencer vs brand” frame is antiquated.Today, creators:* operate like distributed media companies* own highly engaged communities* publish across owned and rented platforms* monetise with subscriptions, products, services, events and commerce* shape purchasing decisions in real time across marketsThat is a commercial ecosystem, not a campaign channel.As one recent analysis framed it: the creator economy is part of a broader economic re-architecture where content, commerce, AI tools and communities intersect — and where creators act as trust anchors in consumer journeys, not just nodes in a distribution graph.The Global Blueprint: Unique Markets, Unique PlaybooksThis economy isn’t uniform across regions. Each global hub has its own dynamics.Middle East – Dubai & Riyadh: Here creators are linked to sovereign strategy. Initiatives like the 1 Billion Followers Summit and creator residency programs signal that content is now soft economic infrastructure, not tourism decoration. Creators help attract audiences and tourists, driving billions back into local economies.APAC – Mumbai & Singapore: These markets exemplify commerce-driven creator growth. In India, creator influence now meaningfully shifts consumer behaviour at scale. In Singapore, live and video commerce is tightly integrated with payment and platform ecosystems- creators aren’t just telling stories, they are moving transactions.EU – London: London’s creator economy isn’t about massive scale numbers. It’s about professional part-timers who juggle careers and content, bringing deep domain expertise and business audiences -especially on platforms like LinkedIn, which itself is rapidly evolving into a serious home for creators and brand budgets alike.North America – New York & Silicon Valley: The centre of capital and platform innovation, where creator infrastructure, tools and deal structures are being invented.This diversity demands that global CMOs build localized portfolio strategies, not one-size-fits-all briefs.Architecting Modern Brand-Creator PartnershipsTransactional campaigns belong in the past.Today the most successful brands flip three strategic levers:1. Partnership Over Transaction:Creators evaluate partnerships like business deals. Long-term alignment outweighs one-off fees. Brands that offer structured roles, ongoing collaborations, and co-ownership of outcomes win relevance and depth.2. Monetization Alignment:Creators already operate with multiple revenue streams -ad income, affiliates, direct sales, IP and subscriptions. Brands that tap into ecosystem value rather than pay for airtime win both loyalty and ROI.3. Authentic Co-Creation:Audiences can smell inauthenticity from miles away. Effective briefs respect a creator’s voice, audience sensitivities, and creative authority. Successful partnerships feel native, not interruptive.This shift echoes industry voices observing that the old “get big then monetize” creator model is gone. The modern creator economy rewards strategy, sustainability, and business discipline.Technology, AI and the Measurement ImperativeAI is woven into the fabric of creator workflows and brand strategies alike.A recent survey shows that over 90% of creators are using AI tools in their processes.Brands are already using AI for discovery, brief generation, content personalisation, and performance prediction. But the real competitive advantage -the one that earns CFO trust -comes from rigorous attribution.Legacy measurement (vanity metrics and spreadsheets) can’t validate enterprise impact. The real opportunity is building tech stacks that connect creator activities directly to business outcomes -whether that’s revenue, retention, or brand equity lift.This is the true bridge from reach to revenue.Lessons from Legacy Brands & Modern OperatorsUnilever and L’Oréal are two names worth watching.Unilever has publicly signalled that a significant portion of its social investment is moving toward creator-driven activations. L’Oréal treats creators as co-creators, educators, and culture connectors, not just spokespeople.Mastercard embeds creators not just in campaigns, but in narratives around modern commerce and financial empowerment — reaching younger audiences in authentic, context-rich ways.This isn’t “influencer marketing 2.0.”This is enterprise partnership.The Strategic Mandate for 2026For CMOs, the creator economy is no longer side channel.It is a business strategy.Here are your core mandates:1. Reframe Creator Investment as Growth Capital:Creators are channels of trust. Treat that trust as an asset class with measurable business impact.2. Integrate Brand and Demand:The old silo between awareness and conversion no longer holds. Creator programs must fuel both simultaneously.3. Invest in Creator Equity:Long-term, strategic partnerships yield exponential returns that short campaigns never will.4. Build a Modern Measurement Stack:Attribution that ties creator activity to real business outcomes is the foundational enabler of continued investment.Closing ThoughtThe creator economy is not a passing trend. It is the economic architecture of influence in a post-institutional world.For CMOs, the question isn’t whether to invest in creators.It is whether your organisation is ready to lead with them.Because in 2026, brands that don’t rethink influence around creators will be left behind by those that do.If this piece resonates, it’s likely because you’re already feeling the tension between how your organisation is structured and how culture now moves.That gap is where opportunity sits.I explore this further on The Cookieless CMO podcast, where I speak with global operators navigating these shifts in real time. And if you’re quietly rethinking your creator, media, or growth strategy for the year ahead, I’m always open to a thoughtful exchange.No decks.No theatre.Just operator-level conversation. Get full access to That CEO Operator at thatceooperator.substack.com/subscribe

When you’ve worked across both MENA and Asia long enough, a pattern becomes hard to ignore.Ramadan and Chinese New Year look culturally different on the surface.Different faiths. Different rituals. Different aesthetics.But operationally, they behave in remarkably similar ways.They are not festive moments.They are ritual-led economic systems.And most organisations still treat them like campaigns.Rituals don’t start on the calendarOne of the biggest mistakes leadership teams make is assuming these periods begin on a date.They don’t.In Ramadan, intent starts shifting weeks before the crescent. People plan, prepare, recalibrate their routines.In Chinese New Year, the same thing happens across Asia. Gifting, home preparation, budgeting, and travel decisions all move early.By the time many campaigns go live, behaviour has already moved on.This is where value is quietly lost. Teams plan to the calendar. People plan to their lives.These periods unfold as journeys, not burstsRamadan moves through anticipation, reflection, generosity, and celebration.Chinese New Year follows its own arc: reset, reunion, gifting, hosting, then release.Yet I still see teams trying to compress all of this into one hero asset or one promotional push.It rarely works.Cultural seasons don’t reward volume.They reward sequencing.Why interruption backfires hereDuring ritual periods, the margin for interruption narrows.In Ramadan, overt commercial messaging often feels intrusive.During Chinese New Year, the same is true. Content rooted in family, usefulness, and shared experience consistently performs better than hard-sell tactics.This isn’t about being “softer.”It’s about understanding the role brands are allowed to play.During rituals, people aren’t looking to be persuaded. They’re looking to be supported.Attention isn’t bought louder in these moments.It’s earned quietly.The home is the real centre of gravityAcross both regions, these periods recentre daily life around the home.Meals. Hosting. Preparation. Gifting. Togetherness.That’s why categories tied to food, décor, wellness, and practical utility tend to outperform abstract brand storytelling.The best strategies don’t fight this.They align with it.Trust shifts away from brandsAnother consistent pattern: trust moves.During both Ramadan and Chinese New Year, creators, community voices, and peer recommendations play a disproportionate role.Not as amplification channels.As trust carriers.When decisions involve family, money, and shared experiences, brand authority matters less than human credibility.In these moments, who delivers the message often matters more than what’s being said.Where the mechanics divergeThe principles are shared. The execution is not.Ramadan is governed by daily rhythm. Engagement peaks after iftar and stretches into late night. Timing within the day matters.Chinese New Year is governed by momentum. Intent builds over weeks, peaking before the holiday itself. Timing across weeks matters more.Different mechanics. Same conclusion.Timing isn’t a media detail.It’s the strategy.The real leadership questionFor leaders running media, platform, or creator-led businesses, the question isn’t whether to show up during these periods.It’s whether they’re being treated as isolated spikes or as systems that can be planned, priced, sequenced, and repeated every year.The organisations that perform best here don’t shout louder.They plan earlier.They sequence deliberately.They show restraint.They operate with cultural fluency.Ritual-led seasons don’t reward visibility.They reward understanding.If you’re responsible for growth across markets, this isn’t an abstract idea. It’s an operating choice.Some teams will treat Ramadan and Chinese New Year as seasonal spikes.Others will design around them as systems and compound advantage year after year.If you’re in the second camp, I’m always open to exchanging notes with leaders who are building, not just marketing. Get full access to That CEO Operator at thatceooperator.substack.com/subscribe

The Age of the Inbox: Why Newsletters Will Define Media and Marketing in 2026Introduction: The Trust Deficit and the Rise of the Owned AudienceThe media landscape of 2026 is defined by a profound strategic vacuum. A historic collapse in public trust has seen faith in traditional news plummet to just 26% in the United States, an all-time low. Simultaneously, the opaque and unpredictable nature of social media algorithms has rendered organic discovery a game of chance. In this new environment, the single most durable and valuable asset for any brand, creator, or journalist is a direct, permission-based relationship with their audience. The email newsletter, once considered a relic of a bygone digital era, has reemerged not merely as a marketing tool but as the central vehicle for building the trust and ownership that will anchor success in 2026. This quiet revolution is the inevitable outcome of a set of powerful, interconnected forces that are systematically dismantling the old media order.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. The Great Unbundling: Why the World is Migrating to the InboxThe mass migration of creators and consumers to the newsletter format is not a fleeting trend but a calculated response to a broken information ecosystem. It is the result of powerful "push" and "pull" factors that are simultaneously dismantling the old gatekeepers of media and empowering a new generation of independent voices. This section deconstructs the key forces driving both creators and consumers toward the direct, trusted, and sovereign environment of the personal inbox.1.1. The "Push" from a Broken SystemThe exodus from traditional and social platforms is not driven by a single grievance, but by a perfect storm of systemic failures. The collapse of institutional trust, the death of organic reach, the hollowing out of local news, and pervasive consumer fatigue are not isolated problems; they are interconnected forces creating the strategic vacuum that newsletters are now filling.* Collapse of Institutional Trust: Public trust in traditional news media has hit a historic low of 26%. This erosion of faith is compounded by a global rise in authoritarianism and escalating attacks on press freedom, forcing audiences to seek out voices they can personally vet and believe in.* The End of Organic Reach: AI-driven "intelligent gatekeepers" at major platforms like Google have made organic discovery increasingly unpredictable. With AI summaries now resolving user queries directly on the search page, an estimated 60% of Google searches end without a single click through to a publisher's website, severing a critical artery for traffic and discovery.* The Proliferation of News Deserts: The business model for local news has collapsed. In the last two decades, nearly 40% of local U.S. newspapers have vanished. This has left approximately 50 million Americans living in "news deserts" with little to no access to reliable local information, creating a critical need for new, direct-to-community information sources.* Subscription and Algorithm Fatigue: The average consumer now spends $273 per month on 12 different subscriptions, leading to "subscription fatigue"—a mental and emotional exhaustion from managing countless recurring payments. This is coupled with frustration over social media algorithms that increasingly reward provocative "rage bait" over substantive content, pushing users to seek more controlled and meaningful information environments.1.2. The "Pull" Towards Digital SovereigntyWhile a broken system pushes users away, the promise of digital ownership and direct connection is a powerful magnet pulling them toward the newsletter model. This shift is not about abandoning platforms entirely but about ending the strategic dependency on them. As one analysis notes, "Newsletters will not replace social platforms. They will replace dependency on them." This new model is built on three core tenets of digital sovereignty:* Ownership of the Relationship: The central strategic insight of 2026 is the distinction between owned and rented audiences. The email list is an asset that a creator or brand controls directly. As the mantra goes, you must own the "inbox, the relationship, and the trust," framing everything else as "rented."* Direct Access and Control: Unlike the filtered, algorithmically-mediated experience of a social media feed or the filtered perspective of an editorial desk, email offers a direct and permission-based line of communication. The message arrives because the recipient explicitly asked for it, creating a powerful foundation of consent and engagement.* Economic Empowerment for Creators: A new generation of media companies has emerged where top-tier journalists are treated as equity partners. Business models like that of Puck empower writers with ownership stakes and performance-based bonuses tied to subscriber growth, aligning the interests of the talent with the parent company and creating sustainable, journalist-led media brands.This strategic migration toward ownership has been met with resounding economic validation, proving that a direct, engaged audience is the most valuable currency in the new media economy.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------2. The New Media Empires are Built on EmailThe strategic pivot to newsletter-first business models is no longer a theoretical concept; it has triggered a fundamental re-pricing of media assets. A wave of nine-figure acquisitions has sent a clear market signal: the new premium is not on mass, anonymous traffic, but on verifiable, owned relationships. These deals represent a profound rewiring of media valuation, where a direct, engaged, and paying audience is now the most prized asset in the digital kingdom.2.1. Market Validation: The Nine-Figure NewsletterThe following acquisitions showcase the immense market value now placed on media brands built around a core newsletter offering.Media Brand Acquisition & Key DataAxios Sold for $525 million.The Free Press Acquired by Paramount for 150 million**. Grew from a Substack newsletter to 750,000+ subscribers and an estimated **10M–$15M in annual revenue.Morning Brew Sold a majority stake for $75 million.Puck Acquired Air Mail for an estimated $16 million, consolidating two premium, subscription-first media brands.The Hustle Reportedly sold for around $27 million.2.2. The Journalist-as-Franchise ModelThe strategic genius of pioneers like Puck lies in a revolutionary "journalist-as-franchise" model. Here, star journalists are positioned as the face of distinct newsletter franchises, transforming their personal brand into the company's core asset. This structure solves two critical, simultaneous problems for modern media. First, it mitigates the "talent flight risk" of star writers leaving to launch their own ventures by granting them equity and performance-based bonuses. Second, it transforms the organization from a monolithic brand into a resilient "portfolio of personal brands," decentralizing risk and multiplying audience entry points. By treating journalists as business partners, this model creates an alignment of interests that is both powerful and sustainable.But nine-figure valuations are the outcome, not the blueprint. The empires of 2026 are not built on strategy alone; they are constructed with a new set of technological tools and tactical disciplines designed for an intelligent, automated, and deeply skeptical digital landscape.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------3. The 2026 Newsletter Playbook: Technology and TacticsWhile the strategy of direct audience ownership is paramount, its execution in 2026 hinges on mastering a new set of technological and tactical fundamentals. The modern inbox is an intelligent, AI-driven environment, and reaching it consistently requires more than just good content. This section breaks down the essential components of a high-performance newsletter program that can cut through the noise and deliver durable value.3.1. The Foundation: Deliverability as a Trust SignalIn 2026, deliverability is no longer a technical chore; it is the digital equivalent of a firm handshake—the first and most critical signal of trustworthiness in an AI-filtered world. Before a single word of your content is read, your technical authentication tells the recipient's inbox whether you are a credible guest or an uninvited intruder. This is achieved through a layered defense system of three core protocols:* SPF (Sender Policy Framework): This protocol answers the first question: "Is this sender authorized to send email on behalf of this domain?" It acts as a public list of approved servers.* DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): This digital signature answers the second question: "Has this message been forged or tampered with in transit?" It is a digital letter seal that guarantees authenticity.* DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance): This provides the crucial instruction, telling a receiving server: "What should I do if the answer to either of the first two questions is no?" It sets the policy for handling unauthenticated mail.Without this bedrock of technical trust, even the most brilliant content is destined for the spam folder.3.2. The Engine: AI as Co-Pilot, Not StrategistArtificial Intelligence presents the central challenge for marketers in 2026: you must use AI to become hyper-efficient in a world where you must also persuade a different AI to even notice you exist. Mastering this duality is non-negotiable.* AI for Execution: Generative AI has become an indispensable co-pilot for enhancing productivity. Marketing teams now use AI for copywriting, generating subject line variations, personalizing content at scale, and defining complex audience segments. This has had a dramatic impact on efficiency, with the time required to produce a single email falling f

This week in Dubai, 30,000 creators, platforms, policymakers, and investors are gathering under the banner of “Content for Good.”It’s an accurate phrase.It’s also incomplete.What is really assembling in Dubai is soft power infrastructure.Not in the diplomatic sense. In the operational one. The kind built quietly by creators, community platforms, and cultural products that travel faster than regulation and settle deeper than campaigns.If you run a community-led media platform, you are not attending the 1 Billion Followers Summit as an observer- you’re playing an active role in policy creation.Soft power didn’t arrive with social media. Social Media simply made it visible.For years, soft power was treated as a government concern. Something exercised through embassies, broadcasters, and cultural institutions.That framing no longer holds.Soft power today is built through creator economies, community norms, and product culture. It shows up in what people choose to follow, trust, buy, and belong to. It accumulates through repetition, not proclamation.Which is why this moment matters for CEOs.If you are building a community page, a creator platform, or a media brand, you are already shaping perception at scale. The only question is whether you are doing it intentionally.The signal most people underestimatedLast year, one of the most interesting shifts in global perception didn’t come from a policy announcement. It came from culture.Take Labubu, for instance. It isn’t my personal aesthetic, but its influence as a cultural export is unmistakable. A designer toy became globally desirable, not through official messaging, but through creators, fandom, resale culture, and emotional attachment.At the same time, creators documented Chinese cities in an observational tone. Night economies. Infrastructure. Density. Lived modernity. The unspoken refrain was simple: this is not what I expected.That is soft power.Not persuasion.Not admiration.But reduced resistance.For leaders building platforms in the creator economy, this distinction matters. Perception today is shaped closer to commerce and community than to diplomacy.Why “Content for Good” is a governance question, not a sloganThe 1 Billion Followers Summit is rightly focused on social impact, mental health, regulation, and responsibility. But there’s a harder question underneath the optimism.When platforms and community pages set the default story, whose version of “good” prevails?Who defines it?Who enforces it?And through which rules?Recent digital research reinforces what many operators already sense instinctively.* Communities behave like political actors. Fan networks and creator collectives now coordinate across borders, mobilise capital and attention, and redirect influence toward social causes. This is the creator economy as soft power in motion.* Stricter rules often increase engagement. Well-governed communities outperform chaotic ones. Clear boundaries create trust. Trust enables depth. Depth creates loyalty. Growth comes from design, not disorder.* Platforms are optimised for outcomes, not dialogue. Algorithms reward predictability. Autonomy is scarce. Communities that respect agency stand out.* Digital spaces are fragmenting along political lines. Data rules, content norms, and platform governance differ radically by region. Cultural literacy is no longer optional for scale.* Most institutional communication fails because it broadcasts. Influence requires listening. Participation. Credible intermediaries. This is where community platforms consistently outperform official channels.This is the terrain CEOs are actually operating in, whether they acknowledge it or not.Why this matters specifically to CEOs building community pagesMost community CEOs still frame their platforms as media assets.Reach. Engagement. Revenue.All important. All insufficient.Community pages quietly function as:* cultural translators* trust filters* agenda setters* and social infrastructureThey don’t announce progress. They normalise it.That’s why cities and states increasingly invest in mega events like the 1 Billion Followers Summit. These events are not neutral. They are policy instruments. Ways for governments to convene platforms, creators, capital, and regulation in one place and hard-wire themselves into the future of the content economy.Community platforms sit at the centre of that equation.If you are building one, you are not “just” running content. You are shaping how markets, cultures, and cities are understood.That is power. And power without strategy eventually becomes liability.The quiet architecture of influenceWhat’s striking, when you’ve spent time inside community-led media and creator ecosystems, is how rarely soft power is discussed explicitly, even as it is exercised daily.Editorial choices compound. Governance decisions signal values. Creator incentives shape culture long before regulation catches up. By the time leaders realise they are influencing perception at scale, the narrative architecture is already in place.The platforms that endure are not the ones that grow fastest, but the ones that understand the responsibility embedded in reach, and design for it early.A final note, from DubaiIf you’re in Dubai this week to talk about the future of the creator economy, the more urgent question is not reach or monetisation.It’s this:How will your platform wield soft power?Who will it quietly shape?And what kind of ecosystem will it leave behind?The most influential platforms of the next decade will not be the loudest. They will be the ones communities trust to narrate reality, responsibly and consistently.If you’re building one of those, this is the conversation worth having.If you’re building a platform where trust, culture, and scale intersect, this isn’t commentary. It’s operating context. Get full access to That CEO Operator at thatceooperator.substack.com/subscribe

As global markets enter 2026, two dominant cultural forces are shaping consumer behaviour: Escapism and Nonconformity. In most regions, these impulses are being explored digitally through content, aesthetics, and online identity-building.The Middle East is taking a fundamentally different approach.Rather than simulating escape or individuality online, the region is engineering it in the physical world. Across the GCC, governments, tourism boards, and national entities are no longer positioning themselves as destinations to visit. They are positioning themselves as systems to experience.This report argues that the Middle East is emerging as the world’s first true Real-World Upgrade. A region where ancient landscapes, cultural heritage, wellness infrastructure, advanced technology, and the creator economy converge to deliver what global consumers are only beginning to search for.For brands, creators, platforms, and policymakers, this shift represents both opportunity and risk. Success in 2026 will not come from copying global trends, but from understanding how the Middle East is redefining them at scale.The Daily Sales WIP is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a subscriber.From Digital Escapism to Physical ExperienceGlobally, escapism has become a response to fatigue. Audiences are overwhelmed by economic uncertainty, algorithmic sameness, and cultural noise. The result is a desire to disconnect, reset, and rediscover meaning.In most markets, this manifests digitally: fantasy aesthetics, nostalgic content, immersive storytelling, and curated online identities.In the Middle East, escapism is being materialised.The region is uniquely positioned to convert abstract digital desires into lived experiences due to three structural advantages:* State-backed investment at scale* Access to diverse, ancient natural landscapes* A mandate to diversify economies beyond oilThis has enabled a shift from “destination marketing” to experience engineering, where leisure, culture, wellness, and technology are intentionally fused.The Middle East is not competing for attention in feeds.It is competing for time, presence, and emotional transformation.Tourism Boards as Experience ArchitectsTourism boards across Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman are converging on a shared strategic narrative: health, longevity, and quality of life as economic drivers.National frameworks such as Saudi Vision 2030, UAE Vision 2030, and Oman Vision 2040 explicitly prioritise:* Preventive and AI-enhanced healthcare* Cultural capital as soft power* Tourism as a tool for perception-shaping, not just revenueThis marks a departure from traditional tourism models focused on volume and price competitiveness.Instead, GCC states are competing on:* Experiential depth* Cultural differentiation* Long-term emotional resonanceTourism is no longer a sector. It is national experience design, where infrastructure, storytelling, and regulation work in alignment.For brands entering the region, this means partnerships must align with national intent, not just consumer demand.Wellness as Economic InfrastructureGlobally, wellness has shifted from aspiration to necessity. Consumers are prioritising emotional regulation, physical resilience, and mental clarity. What makes the Middle East distinct is the institutionalisation of wellness.Wellness tourism in the Middle East and Africa is projected to reach nearly USD 39 billion by 2030, with usage of wellness services during travel increasing by over 250 percent in recent years.Mega-developments such as Red Sea Global and AMAALA are not building spas. They are building end-to-end ecosystems that integrate:* Nature-based healing* Medical-grade wellness* Ritual and cultural practice* Luxury hospitalityA new travel archetype is emerging. One that combines intensity with restoration. Adventure with recovery. Effort with surrender.Desert endurance followed by biohacking.Exploration followed by deep regulation.This duality positions the Middle East at the centre of the global self-preservation economy.The Evolution of LuxuryLuxury in the Middle East has historically been associated with scale, spectacle, and abundance. That definition is quietly changing.For High-Net-Worth Individuals, the new currency of luxury is curated precision:* Seamless, tech-enabled itineraries* Hyper-personalisation without friction* Emotional and sensory richnessStatus consumption is being replaced by soulful indulgence.One of the strongest signals of this shift is scent.What global markets now frame as “scent stacking” has long been embedded in Middle Eastern culture. Oud, oils, and bespoke blends are being reimagined as immersive cultural experiences rather than transactional retail.This represents a broader pattern: heritage being transformed into experiential innovation, rather than diluted for mass appeal.Culture as Strategic Soft PowerAs global consumers gravitate toward nonconformity, the Middle East is deploying culture as a strategic differentiator.Indigenous healing practices, hammams, local botanicals, and traditional rituals are being revived to counter homogenised global wellness templates. These practices offer authenticity at a time when consumers are increasingly sceptical of imported, generic experiences.At the same time, futuristic urbanism from The Line to Dubai’s skyline projects a vision of radical modernity.The result is a rare cultural paradox:Ancient heritage meets speculative future.This is not aesthetic branding. It is long-term perception engineering.The Creator Economy as Cultural InfrastructureThe GCC is home to one of the fastest-growing creator economies globally, with growth of approximately 75 percent in two years and more than 260,000 creators across lifestyle, travel, fashion, and beauty.The most important shift is not scale, but role.Tourism boards and national brands are moving away from one-off influencer activations toward long-term creator partnerships. Creators are increasingly positioned as:* Cultural translators* Narrative carriers* Digital diplomatsTheir value lies not in reach, but in meaning-making. They humanise national visions and make large-scale ambitions relatable.For brands and platforms, creators in the Middle East are not a media channel. They are strategic partners in narrative building.The Futuristic Spa FrameworkTo understand the Middle East’s positioning in 2026, a new mental model is required.Not a museum of static heritage.Not a mall of pure consumption.But a futuristic spa.Ancient landscapes function as hardware.AI, wellness systems, creators, and cultural storytelling operate as software.The experience is hyper-personalised, restorative, and immersive.The world is only beginning to search for what the Middle East has already built.Strategic ImplicationsFor BrandsSuccess requires cultural fluency, long-term partnership thinking, and alignment with national narratives. Entry without understanding will be expensive.For CreatorsLongevity will outperform virality. Creators who position themselves as translators of culture, not just lifestyle broadcasters, will build durable relevance.For Platforms and MediaSelling inventory will not be enough. The future belongs to those who sell context, credibility, and connection.For Tourism and National EntitiesThe next phase of growth will be driven by coherence. Infrastructure, creators, and culture must move in sync.To conclude, the Middle East is not reacting to global trends.It is redesigning the conditions in which those trends succeed or fail.For leaders who understand the region’s culture, policy, and pace, 2026 is a rare window to build relevance, trust, and durable advantage. For those who don’t, the learning curve will be expensive.If you’re responsible for growth, brand, or long-term strategy in this region, now is the moment to move from observation to intention.Subscribe to stay ahead of what’s being built, not just what’s being predicted.Please Restack & Share to show some love! Get full access to That CEO Operator at thatceooperator.substack.com/subscribe