Elevating Brand Experiences Through Digital Touchpoints in the GCC

Technological enhancements are showing up more regularly — and often inconspicuously — in the consumer experience today. Opportunities here include wearable tech, like smart watches, in-app or in-store gamification, and augmented reality (AR).

But it also means showing up in digital communities, engaging with consumers through comments online and chat functionalities — to sustain touchpoints both online and offline.

These kinds of interactions offer a means of elevating brand touchpoints and enhancing customer engagement to distinguish brand offerings amid an abundance of choice for consumers. And with 70 percent of retail sales now digitally influenced, according to The Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Co.’s The State of Fashion 2025 report, the opportunity to influence sales through digital touchpoints is clear.

Within the GCC, Snapchat remains a critical platform for digital engagement, with a sophisticated range of tools across chat, lenses, geolocation features and sponsored advertising placements. Brand partners have included the likes of regional luxury e-tailer Ounass; luxury brands Tiffany & Co. and Louis Vuitton; and beauty brands MAC, Maybelline, and perfume brand Al Majed for Oud.

BoF’s latest knowledge report, Building Brand Resonance With Gulf Consumers, in partnership with Snap Inc. in MENA, unpacks new digital touchpoints brands and retailers are exploring — and how Snapchat’s product suite unlocks consumer-first opportunities that resonate in the region.

Encouraging Brand Discovery Through Play

• Of Snapchat’s 450 million global daily active users, 70 percent engage with AR programmes on the platform. With more than 12 million lenses (like a virtual sneaker try-on or branded makeup look) shared by Snapchatters, users have amassed 200 million uses of luxury lenses.
• “We’ve bridged the gap between brand storytelling and product trial. It’s no longer just trying on a watch or glasses — it’s about telling the story of the maison; it is craft and making that tangible,“ says Snap Inc.’s global head of luxury, Geoffrey Perez.
• For example, Christian Dior Couture’s AR experience for its B27 sneakers generated over 2.3 million views and a 6.2x return on ad spend.
• The gamification element offered by AR introduces a playfulness and informality typically harder to access with luxury products. Brands that use gamified engagement strategies have seen customer acquisition increase by up to 700 percent, with engagement and loyalty rising by around 30 percent, according to 2022 data from research and analytics firm Aranca.

Catering to Convenience (and Reducing Returns)

• By mimicking real clothes and accessories on consumers, virtual try-on technology allows retailers to virtually fit customers in seconds. Users can see how different sizes of an item will look on them, even playing around with styling options, for more informed purchasing decisions.
• “With Snap’s 3D lenses, someone can open the app, point the camera at their wrist, and instantly see how a bracelet would look on them in real life. It’s a powerful way for brands to help customers visualise products before ever visiting a store, and makes shopping more interactive and personal,” says Snap Inc.’s vice president and general manager of the Middle East, Hussein Freijeh.
• According to Snap Inc., 66 percent of e-tailers report fewer returns after implementing fit-guidance tech.
• “[Even if] there is a changing room, [GCC consumers] might just prefer not to try something on that day, but use the virtual [option],” says Rani Ilmi, founder and managing director of Frame Publicity.
• Virtual try-ons have clear potential in the region — particularly for more conservative consumers who may be reluctant to try on products in public.

Maximising Retail Experiences through Wearable Technologies

• Snap Spectacles — the platform’s wearable tech, layering playful AR onto everyday interactions — are emerging as a new frontier for immersive brand storytelling.
• For luxury, beauty and fashion houses in the GCC, the Spectacles will provide opportunities to offer brand overlays as users move about their day, with Dior and Louis Vuitton having already created “in-spec” experiences.
• Dior’s activation used Tarot-inspired AR animations linked to zodiac signs, while Louis Vuitton turned its “Sun Song” fragrance launch into a shared, interactive 3D experience with multiplayer elements.
• “I cannot wait for people to actually interact in the real world outside with a connected layer of computing. People are going to go out together and create and co-create. […] For luxury, it’s going to be an amazing playground […] creating experiences that can be shared with the people that you love around you,” says Perez.

Other key topics in this section include:

• Sustaining Consumer Dialogues in Digital Spaces
• Advertising Through Snapchat Extends Brand Visibility
• Geolocation Technology Puts Brands on the Map

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Snap Inc. in MENA as part of a BoF partnership.