Marketing budgets are tightening. Agencies now have to show what the money changed.
Balaconah's team argues Saudi communication is moving from big budgets to proof of impact, and that AI is changing what agencies sell.
By Balaconah · Sep 17, 2026
For a few years, Saudi marketing and communications bought more than it needed. Budgets grew because demand was strong, and organisations kept producing content because the money was there. Balaconah's team argues the sector is now moving to a harder question: what did the spending actually change?
Many organisations can count outputs such as posts and views. Fewer can show how their communication shifted what an audience understood or did. That gap makes it harder to defend a budget when other government priorities compete for the same money.
AI changes what agencies sell
AI speeds up writing, design, research and presentations, and it can help read audience response. As delivery gets faster and cheaper, the article says agencies will need to rethink pricing and how work is divided.
It also warns about role blending. Merging a writer, a designer and a planner into one person, without training or review time, usually lowers quality.
The numbers behind the mood
The article cites a PwC 2026 survey of 35 senior leaders in Saudi Arabia. Sixty percent see significant productivity gains from AI, against 46% globally. They also report a lower approximate return on their AI spending: 30%, against 37% globally. The authors note the sample is small and does not represent the whole market.
Balaconah cites a GMedia and Oxford Business Group report that projects the Saudi media and entertainment market growing about 8.2% a year from 2024 to 2029. The article suggests 2026 spending growth may slow. It presents that as a possibility, not a conclusion.
Where the work goes next
Smaller Saudi content platforms, which sit closer to their audiences, may be worth partnering with or buying, the article says. Its closing point is plain: agencies that build AI and data into their work, and measure it properly, will be best placed when budgets follow real value.
Source: Balaconah Team, "ما الأزمة التي يمر بها قطاع التسويق والتواصل؟" Read the original.