The over-arching theme that sits at the heart of all 10 Trends identified for 2015 is betterment.  Mena consumers are redefining all their priorities, perspectives and affiliations, expecting brands to step up with more responsibility than ever before.

Benevolent Brands

Betterment is a huge driver in 2015.  Brands must take action and glean relevant insights that support their businesses in creating future-ready initiatives.

As corporate distrust and contempt levels rise, Arabs are opting for brands and companies that show them empathy, social conscience, generosity – or simply put – a more virtuous side.

Caring Tech

The proliferation of data - as consumers obsessively quantify everything from footsteps to dollars spent - is leaving people paralyzed for choice. However, with information architecture becoming all the more sophisticated, brands can now prescribe personally crafted solutions that inform a better, stronger, faster now.

Generation B-Old

As the Middle East population grows older than it’s ever been, the Arab World is on the cusp of a demographic transition. Watch for a proliferation of products and services catering to this tenacious demographic as they strive to live independently in a lifestyle landscape that has changed beyond their recognition.

Retail Rivalry

The crowd economy is gearing up, disrupting retail, as we know it. Better-informed shoppers and better tech are allowing small businesses to grow in unexpected ways. As everyone (and everything) becomes a retailer and the channel wars kick in, brands must become increasingly imaginative as to where, how and when they sell their goods.

Mashing Up Tradition

Arab Millennials are ushering in new social norms with an ‘anything goes’ attitude and a new mindset that is open to alternative ideas. People are now mashing-up long held traditions with a mix of new flavours, creating their own recipe of what feels right to them.

Bil 3arabi

We’ve entered an era where Arabic has officially regained its ‘cool’ factor. New language systems, words and methods of communication are emerging, as people hunger for content in their mother tongue; visual and aural denotations of cultural relevance that can only be polished off in Arabic - ‘Bil 3arabi’.

Nifty Naturals

Evermore aware of toxic lifestyles, the ‘worried well’ are turning to natural alternatives as they attempt to preserve (or restore) their health, wellness and balance. As consumers single out ‘Mother Nature’ for ingredients, remedies and superfoods, brands and retailers must rethink their position and ingredient funnels in the new natural marketplace.

Rise of the Incognito

Forget FOMO! If there’s anything our increasingly connected world has taught us, it’s that there is an unlimited amount of ‘cool’ or meaningful things we are not doing. And with this realization – that it’s not really that ‘cool’ if everyone else is already doing it – a growing segment of people are reclaiming their privacy and shrouding themselves in anonymity, revelling in the curiosity they’re evoking by evading the masses.

Everyday Extreme

Bogged down by mediocrity in a world where everything feels so déjà vu, people are increasingly walking ‘on the wild side’ to jolt the momentum of life. ‘Risky business’ is taking on a positive meaning, as the ‘extreme’ version of anything is now widely assumed to be an improvement on the original, motivating more young Arabs to take on experiences of unconventional, daring and even unknown outcomes to put a ‘kick’ back into everyday life.

Buying Betterment

Plagued by a constant battle between their consumerist impulses and moral intent, Arabs are trading in ‘mindless indulgences’ for a more considered approach to living. Gravitating towards choices that draw on what’s ‘better for me’ as opposed to what’s ‘gratifying’ and seeking out purchases of a less negative impact or of a more sustainable effect, on both themselves and on their societies. – TradeArabia News Service