Member Interview with Alex Malouf, Founder, Narrative Shapers

In Glasgow, on a very rainy morning, my group of enthused marketeers waited to be wowed by the next instalment of trends across our industry.

What a Night in Edinburgh Over 500 of Scotland's marketing community came together at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange on 18 June for The Marketing Society Star Awards 2026.

Highlights and insights from Navigate: Now and Next 2026 Dubai. Building AI capability, not renting it. The discussions centred on listening before creating, with social intelligence, agentic operating systems and brand memory identified as the foundation no tool alone can replace. The emphasis was on personalisation over averaging, premium environments outperforming generic reach, and the traditional funnel giving way to single-moment, creator-led journeys, with marketing success increasingly dependent on judgement and structure rather than the technology itself.

Reflecting on Navigate Now and Next Dubai, Noura Haggag argues AI makes execution easy but scales whatever you give it, including poor positioning. As building gets simpler, judgement and market context matter most.

Reflecting on Navigate Now and Next in Dubai, Neda Lazic argues AI makes access easy but not excellence: trust, judgement and storytelling remain the real differentiators, and marketing has always just been matchmaking.