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Dubai’s advertising market has become the launchpad for a new AI-powered creative intelligence system from Omnicom Advertising and Google, marking the first customised deployment of Google’s ABCD AI detector in the Africa, Middle East and Turkey region and setting up a wider rollout across client markets this year.
The system combines Google’s framework for evaluating effective YouTube video creatives with Omnicom’s proprietary creative AI, giving advertisers a tool to test campaign work before it goes live. Its first pilot is already running with telecommunications provider du, where the platform analysed 10 video assets and identified weaknesses in brand presence, pacing and emotional connection that had not been fully captured through conventional creative reviews.
The launch comes as agencies, technology platforms and major advertisers move more aggressively to apply artificial intelligence to creative development, media planning and performance measurement. For Omnicom Advertising, the Middle East deployment is being positioned as a model for broader use across Africa, the Middle East and Turkey, with global expansion planned after the regional rollout.
At the centre of the system is Google’s ABCD framework, which evaluates whether a video captures attention in the opening seconds, makes the brand memorable, builds emotional connection and gives viewers a clear direction to act. These principles have become central to YouTube-focused creative testing as brands seek to improve campaign effectiveness in a market where short-form video, creator-led formats and platform-specific storytelling are reshaping audience behaviour.
Omnicom has added a second layer through Brave Bot, an AI agent designed to challenge creative work on distinctiveness, innovation, cultural relevance and its ability to break convention. The additional layer is intended to move the system beyond a standard performance checklist, allowing campaign teams to assess whether work is not only technically effective but also memorable, locally relevant and capable of standing apart in crowded media environments.
The combined tool converts subjective feedback into practical edits. A creative review that might previously have described a film as slow or unclear can now generate instructions such as tightening the first five seconds, introducing the brand earlier, strengthening the call to action in audio and on screen, or adjusting emotional cues to fit audience expectations. This approach reflects a wider shift in advertising, where AI is increasingly being used to reduce guesswork while preserving human judgement in the creative process.
The du pilot produced effectiveness scores ranging from 44 per cent, pointing to major structural gaps, to 80 per cent, indicating stronger performance across the four core pillars. The system did not only score the assets; it also provided reasons for each assessment and identified changes that could improve the work before media spend was committed.
Noah Khan, Chief Innovation Officer at Omnicom Advertising CEE and AME, described the platform as a creative partner that works alongside agency teams by bringing audience, culture, innovation and platform insights into the review process in real time. He said the objective was not to automate creative output but to make the work more intentional and better aligned with performance goals.
Aishi Lahiri, Director of Advertising Solutions at Google MENA, said the project showed how Google’s foundational ABCD AI detector could be adapted with regional cultural and creative layers. Her comments underline the commercial significance of localisation, particularly in markets where language, humour, family dynamics, social norms and consumer expectations vary sharply between countries and audience segments.
For du, the system offers a faster route to understanding why creative work succeeds or underperforms. Ibrahim Al Mayahi Al Nuaimi, Vice President for Brand and Marketing Communication at du, said the tool gives marketing teams clarity on what drives performance and shows how weak elements can be fixed, allowing faster turnarounds in a highly competitive communications market.
The timing is significant for the advertising industry. Global agency groups have been under pressure to prove that AI can improve effectiveness rather than simply cut costs. Omnicom has been expanding AI-driven marketing intelligence through its broader Omni platform, which brings together data, identity, creative workflows, media planning, commerce signals and autonomous agents. Its wider technology push has followed the company’s acquisition of Interpublic, a deal that strengthened its data and marketing services capabilities through assets such as Acxiom and Flywheel.
Google’s role also reflects the growing importance of YouTube and AI-enabled search in brand strategy. As consumers increasingly discover products through video, creator content, search prompts and AI summaries, advertisers are looking for tools that can interpret intent signals and optimise content for different stages of the purchase journey. Creative quality is becoming more closely linked to platform performance, with weak opening hooks, delayed branding or unclear calls to action directly affecting paid media efficiency.
