Bayut lets real users tell their own property stories.

Bayut, the UAE property portal, has launched "Real Journeys with Bayut", a film series in which users talk to camera about renting, buying or investing, without scripts or pre-approved answers. The first two films feature Sarah Curtis and Mostafa Mourad.

Campaign Middle East and Communicate both report the launch. Credits list Bayut as client and Born28 as the creative and marketing agency. More films are due, with the remaining participants still to be released. The series covers different stages of the UAE property journey, and Bayut says the users come from different backgrounds and used the platform for different purposes.

Sahar Khan, Bayut's VP of Marketing, said audiences value authenticity and that the stories are not shaped around predetermined messages. In his film, Mourad talks about relying on real-time market data, transaction histories and property estimates, and about working with a TruBrokers agent to close his deal. Those are his own words, not independent verification of the platform's performance.

The thinking is simple: when people see polished advertising all day, an unscripted account from someone who went through the experience can carry more weight, especially where decisions involve large sums of money. The campaign is framed as showing the variety of experiences in the market rather than one ideal story.

Neither source gives a launch date for every film, the channels used, the media budget or any results. Because the participants are Bayut users featuring in Bayut's own campaign, it is brand-chosen content, so it should be read as a testimonial format rather than neutral reviews.

For marketers in the Gulf, it is another example of the user-story format in a high-consideration category. The test will be whether viewers treat unscripted brand-hosted testimonials as more credible than conventional ads.