Publicis Groupe Middle East and Snapchat Launch Youth Studio: a Hub that Replaces Youth Myths with Real Insights Across the GCC

Manal Saleh

Riyadh, 21 October 2025: Publicis Groupe Middle East has launched Youth Studio, a first-of-its-kind hub designed to help brands better understand and engage with Gen Z and Gen Alpha (Gen ZAlpha) across the GCC. Developed in partnership with Snapchat, the exclusive strategic partner to the Youth Studio, the platform helps marketers move beyond stereotypes and uncover the real drivers shaping youth identity, creativity, and influence - backed by data, insights and real voices.  

With more than 65% of Saudi Arabia’s population under 35 and nearly half of the UAE’s under 30, young audiences are not a niche; they are driving the region’s culture and economy. Yet only 15% of youth say they feel represented in advertising today. Youth Studio aims to close that gap by giving marketers the insights, data, and frameworks to engage Gen ZAlpha authentically and effectively, backed with data, insights and real voices.

Jennifer Fischer, Chief Innovation & Growth Officer, Publicis Groupe Middle East said, “Again and again, clients came to us with the same question: how do we reconnect with youth. That is why we built the Youth Studio. It combines data, culture, and creativity to replace myths with truths, and to turn those truths into campaigns and programs that matter. What excites me most is that this is not just for youth, it is built with youth, from our 400 Gen Z colleagues inside Publicis to the young champions we work with across Saudi Arabia and the UAE.”

Unlike traditional research reports, Youth Studio is a living intelligence platform that tracks cultural signals and youth sentiment in real time. It is powered by the Youth Uncliched Series, a comprehensive, ongoing study of Gen ZAlpha in the region, built on hundreds of quantitative and qualitative data points on youth aged 7 to 27. Supported by BEAT, Publicis Groupe Middle East’s proprietary research tool, and strengthened through its partnership with Snapchat, Youth Studio combines social intelligence, platform behaviour, and community insights to reveal how youth connect, create, and shape culture as it happens.

As one of the most engaged youth platforms in the region, Snapchat reaches more than 75 million daily active users in the GCC, including over 90% of 13–34-year-olds in Saudi Arabia and one in three in the UAE, giving brands unprecedented access to real-time cultural and behavioural data.

The collective result is a continuously evolving view of what drives the region’s youth, from identity, creativity, and technology to community, ambition, and social causes, helping brands act fast and stay culturally relevant.

Rasha El-Ghoussaini, Head of Agency at Snap Inc. MENA said, “We are proud to partner with Publicis Groupe Middle East to offer advertisers a unique opportunity through the Youth Studio to decode this fascinating and important generation who hold significant influence and purchasing power. By combining cultural insight with practical guidance, we aim to help brands design campaigns that speak authentically to youth - building deeper connections and driving long-term impact.”

Through its modular go-to-market offering, Youth Studio moves beyond insights into application. Its workshops and live labs translate data into creativity, from Brief Surgery, which helps marketers rebuild brand briefs through a youth lens, to Idea Tuner, where creative concepts are pressure-tested against real audience sentiment, and What’s Hot / What’s Not, which maps fast-emerging trends and fading behaviours. Each module leverages Youth Studio’s proprietary data and platform insights from Snapchat, helping brands design campaigns grounded in evidence, not assumption.

Together, Publicis Groupe Middle East and Snapchat have created Youth Studio as a bridge between brands and the region’s next generation. By combining real-time data, cultural insight, and creative application, Youth Studio enables marketers to move from observation to action, helping them design campaigns that resonate, perform, and build long-term brand relevance with today’s most influential generations: Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

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About Publicis Groupe Middle East & Turkey

Publicis Groupe Middle East & Turkey (ME&T) is a regional leader in marketing, communication, and digital business transformation. Through its world-class brands and the ability to architect, build and orchestrate end-to-end solutions, Publicis Groupe ME&T is uniquely positioned to help clients unlock growth in the platform world through the intersection of data, creativity, media and technology. Headquartered in Dubai, UAE but present across eight markets across the Middle East and North Africa, Publicis Groupe ME&T brings together 3,600 minds with expertise in data, technology, media, strategy, creativity and business transformation. 

For more information, please visit: www.publicisgroupe.com

Contact:

Angela Bak

Director of Corporate Communications

Publicis Groupe Middle East

angela.bak@publicisgroupe.com

About Snap Inc.

Snap is a technology company. We believe the camera presents the greatest opportunity to improve the way people live and communicate. Snap contributes to human progress by empowering people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together. The Company’s three core products are Snapchat, a visual messaging app that enhances your relationships with friends, family, and the world; Lens Studio, an augmented reality platform that powers AR across Snapchat and other services; and it's AR glasses, Spectacles.

For more information, visit snap.com/.

Media Contact:

snap.mena@webershandwick.com

Exclusive media data

What the Data Reveals

The paradox generation: both/and, not either/or

• 52% value a balance between religious teachings and modern life (vs 23% embracing modern lifestyles)
• 57% want to preserve using Arabic in daily conversation (compared to 49% of Millennials)
• 85% of Gen Alpha look up to their parents (vs 49% to friends/siblings and only 21% to media influencers)
• 63% value a mix of expressing themselves through traditional appearance and fashion, filters and avatars (vs 20% who prefer only fashion/avatars)

AI natives who see technology as an unlock, not a threat

• 60% believe they learn the fastest with AI
• 43% believe AI has given them new possibilities they hadn't imagined

What they want their generation remembered for:

1. "The Artificial-Intelligence & tech-innovation generation"
2. "The guardians of Saudi's heritage in a modern world"
3. "The most globally connected & culturally open generation"

Success = legacy + learning + independence, not just salary

What "success" looks like to Saudi youth:

1. Making my family proud and continuing our legacy
2. Continuous learning and self-growth
3. Total independence, being able to live on my own terms
4. Earning a high salary
5. Starting my own business/side hustle

• 42% believe well-being is more important than career (vs 21% who believe career is more important)
• 45% want to balance passion and pay (vs 30% who'd prioritize passion alone)

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