Zainab Talati and Hannah Khan launch The Narrative Global for MENA market entry.
Zainab Talati and Hannah Khan have founded The Narrative Global, an independent strategy and creative consultancy for brands entering or growing in MENA. It has already signed a talent roster, with individual announcements promised.
The consultancy says it was built around gaps the founders kept meeting while working with global and regional brands. Its offer covers market positioning, strategic communications, media relations, culturally relevant campaigns and activations, partnerships, stakeholder engagement and on-the-ground advisory, organised in six connected areas. The founders say they stay close to delivery rather than handing a market-entry plan to a separate team. It will also represent talent for brand partnerships, ambassador appointments, content collaborations and appearances.
Talati has more than 20 years in luxury publishing, brand strategy, media and destination marketing in London and Abu Dhabi, including marketing roles at Gulf Related, The Galleria Al Maryah Island and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, and work at Abu Dhabi Media. Khan has more than a decade across luxury, international publishing and communications. She was part of the core team that launched GQ Middle East and has built a portfolio of more than 150 events and activations, among them GQ Middle East's Men of the Year Awards, Harper's Bazaar Arabia's Best Dressed and Condé Nast Traveller's Arabian Travel Market event, plus projects for Prada, Graff and Vacheron Constantin.
The pitch on measurement is that each brief will name its most relevant outcome at the start, such as qualified introductions, customer engagement, event attendance or market-entry support, and shape the commercial structure around it, rather than counting reach or production quality.
The announcement does not name clients, talent, a base city or pricing, and it comes from a single source built on the founders' own account. Their track record is in the UAE, and Saudi Arabia is not mentioned, so any Saudi reach is untested. For brands planning a Gulf launch, it adds another small consultancy to compare.
Why it matters
A new two-founder consultancy pitches market entry plus delivery for brands coming to MENA. Single-source launch; no clients named.
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