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

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.