A NettResults Middle East guide for CMOs entering the UAE & Saudi Arabia
If you’ve ever sat through a marketing meeting where someone chirped, “Can’t we just send a press release?” — congratulations. You’ve experienced the single biggest misunderstanding of PR in modern business.
Public relations in marketing isn’t the intern pressing “publish” on a wire service.
It isn’t a spray-and-pray announcement strategy.
And it definitely isn’t a once-a-quarter box to tick so leadership feels productive.
PR is the strategic engine of marketing.
It shapes your narrative.
It builds trust.
It gives your brand legitimacy that money alone can’t buy.
And when you enter the Middle East — especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia — PR becomes the accelerant that makes every other part of your marketing stack actually work.
Let’s break it down.
1. PR Is the Narrative Powerhouse Marketing Depends On
Marketing is about channels.
PR is about meaning.
Marketing says:
“Here’s our product.”
PR says:
“Here’s why it matters.”
Marketing talks to customers.
PR talks to customers, partners, journalists, analysts, investors, regulators, and the ecosystem that decides whether your brand is worth taking seriously.
In practical terms?
PR defines the story that your marketing then scales.
Because without narrative, marketing is just noise.
With narrative, marketing becomes momentum.
2. PR Builds Trust — the One Thing You Can’t Outspend or Out-A/B-Test
Marketing can boost awareness.
But PR boosts confidence — and confidence converts.
When third-party outlets, journalists, analysts, and influencers validate your product, your marketing gets a multiplier effect:
• Your ads hit harder.
• Your landing pages convert better.
• Your sales team gets inbound attention instead of blank stares.
• Partners suddenly answer their emails.
• Investors treat you like a category player, not a tourist.
Marketing says you’re good.
PR proves it.
3. PR Makes Your Brand Culturally Fluent — Especially When Entering the Middle East
This is where US/EU CMOs often get blindsided.
Your brand story that performs beautifully in New York, London, or Berlin?
It needs recalibration before it lands in Dubai or Riyadh.
Why?
Because regional expectations, government priorities, and cultural signals matter.
A lot.
The Middle East rewards:
• Vision
• Credibility
• Alignment with national innovation agendas
• Respect for cultural nuance
• Intentional presence
It does not reward:
• Generic global messaging
• Overconfident “we’re here to disrupt you” positioning
• Product-first stories with no regional context
• Press releases masquerading as strategy
Marketing can’t fix that.
Only PR can.
4. The Case Studies: What PR Actually Does When It’s Done Right
Let’s talk real outcomes — the ones CMOs care about.
⸻
Intel — Turning Presence Into Influence in Saudi Arabia
Intel didn’t need “more awareness.”
They needed deeper engagement with the voices that shape the Saudi tech landscape.
So we created a high-impact media roundtable in Riyadh with Tier-1 journalists and top tech outlets.
This wasn’t a broadcast. It was a curated conversation —
the kind that builds authority, trust, and narrative alignment with Vision 2030.
The results:
• Strong, accurate, high-quality coverage
• Strengthened long-term journalist relationships
• A narrative reset fully aligned with Saudi’s technology ambitions
This is PR as strategic influence, not press releases.
⸻
Plaud AI — Translating a Global AI Brand for a Middle East Audience
Plaud AI had the product.
They had the innovation.
What they needed was messaging that resonated with UAE/KSA tech journalists and enterprise decision-makers.
Their Western product language didn’t map neatly to regional expectations.
So we:
• Refined their message for clarity and cultural relevance
• Positioned them inside the region’s AI innovation narrative
• Bridged the communication gap between “Silicon Valley cool” and “Middle East strategic value”
This is PR as market entry intelligence, not content polishing.
Because in the Middle East, narrative fit is everything.
5. PR and Marketing Are Not Competing Functions — They Are Multipliers
Marketing without PR is like running ads before you’ve built the brand.
PR without marketing is like having credibility but no amplification.
When the two work together, you get:
• Messaging that feels consistent everywhere
• Marketing campaigns that convert because they’re anchored in trust
• Journalists covering stories your marketing then scales
• Sales teams who finally get inbound momentum
• Executives who stop saying “Why don’t people know who we are?”
PR is the story.
Marketing is the megaphone.
Together, they build brands that outperform their budgets.
6. “PR Is Just Press Releases” — The Myth CMOs Need to Bury Forever
If PR were just press releases, we’d all be out of a job.
Here’s what PR actually does in modern marketing:
• Shapes the master narrative
• Creates messaging architecture
• Generates earned credibility
• Enables reputation management
• Guides brand positioning
• Builds relationships with media, analysts, partners, policymakers
• Who tells your story
• When they tell it
• How they frame it
• And why people should believe it
A press release is a tactic.
PR is a strategy.
If someone on your team doesn’t understand the difference, please buy them a coffee and this article.
7. The Middle East Section: Why PR Matters 10x More in UAE & Saudi Arabia
Here’s the part no one tells CMOs before they land in Dubai wearing corporate optimism and jet lag:
The Middle East doesn’t care what you say about yourself.
It cares what trusted voices say about you.
That means:
• Tier-1 earned media matters
• Government alignment matters
• Credibility matters
• Cultural fluency matters
• Long-term consistency matters
Marketing alone can’t manufacture that.
PR builds it — then marketing accelerates it.
Companies that try to enter the UAE or Saudi Arabia with marketing first almost always plateau.
Companies that enter with PR-first strategy?
They integrate faster, win trust faster, and scale faster.
Pattern repeated.
No exceptions.
8. So… What Is Public Relations in Marketing?
Here’s the truth:
PR is the strategic engine that makes your marketing believable, your brand credible, and your Middle East expansion possible.
It’s not fluff.
It’s not optional.
It’s not a press release.
PR is:
• The narrative behind your campaigns
• The credibility behind your KPIs
• The trust behind your traction
• The positioning behind your pipeline
• The strategy behind your success in UAE & KSA
Marketing amplifies your message.
PR makes sure it’s a message worth amplifying.
Ready to Build the Story That Makes Your Marketing Actually Work in the Middle East?
If your company is entering the UAE or Saudi Arabia and you want a PR strategy that drives real business outcomes — not vanity noise —
Book a call with NettResults Middle East.
Let’s build the narrative, credibility, and traction your marketing team has been dreaming of.