Human-centered insights

for the Middle East & Africa.

Senior-led, in-market research and cultural intelligence guiding global brands through one of the world’s most dynamic regions.

Why MEA now?

The Middle East & Africa region is experiencing profound cultural, economic, and digital transformation—creating new opportunities for global brands seeking long-term relevance.

Connect with our MEA team.

Key dynamics shaping MEA today:

  • Rapid digital acceleration and AI adoption

  • Youth-driven cultural influence (60%+ under age 30)

  • Rising middle class and expanding consumer power

  • Boom in retail, financial services, travel, entertainment, and tech

  • Highly diverse subregions (GCC, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa) with unique behaviors and expectations

  • With over 470 million Arabic speakers worldwide, the timing is now to better understand this market

Why Segment for MEA?


Senior, In-Market Practitioners
Our MEA practice is led by senior researchers, strategists, and cultural experts based across the UAE, KSA, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.

Global Collective, Regional Depth
Our collective spans 40+ countries—ensuring local nuance and global alignment.

Client-Designed Model
Flexible, hybrid approaches tailored to brand maturity, speed, and category.

Market Entry & Expansion Expertise
We help brands understand cultural context, de-risk expansion, uncover opportunities to fully localize for Arabic markets, and scale sustainably.

What global brands ask us in MEA:

  1. “What are ‘must-have’ localization requirements and broader localization opportunities?”

  2. “What cultural nuances should shape our messaging and UX?”

  3. “What are best practices to consider for Right-to-Left languages?”

  4. “What commonalities can we extend from our current capabilities?”

  5. “Who are our competitors? And what are they doing well?”

  6. “Where are the pockets of growth for our category?”

  7. “How do we build a phased MEA expansion roadmap?”

  8. “How do MEA consumers define trust, quality, and value?”

  9. “How is AI shifting MEA behavioral expectations—and what does it mean for adoption?”

Learn how we can help.

How we help global brands in the Middle East & Africa.

  • MEA New Market Entry

    Market Entry & Market Expansion

    Country readiness, competitive intelligence, cultural immersion, channel insights, pricing, and portfolio localization.

  • Apple expands to Middle East

    Audience Insights & Experience Design

    Retail & service expectations, messaging resonance, category drivers, UX optimization, and journey mapping.

  • Middle East & Africa Expansion

    Tech & AI Innovation

    Future-of-tech cultural insights, AI readiness & adoption insights, a global testbed for digital transformation.

Our MEA market entry solutions:

Cross-Cultural Value Map

Our flagship framework to help brands understand what to keep global, what to localize, and what to transform.

Cultural Immersion – A Day in the Life

A live, facilitated session to help understand the cultural, competitive, and behavioral realities shaping consumer behaviors.

Human Choices in Context

Our in-market practitioners conduct real-world immersions to understand how consumers behave, shop, decide, trust, compare, and adopt new products and brands.

Formative Usability Testing

We partner with product and software teams to co-develop safer, more effective designs through iterative testing with real users.

Path-to-Purchase Insights

A proprietary approach that fuses quantitative journey data and qualitative depth to uncover real buyer paths across channels and competitors.

Learn more.