Middle East is about to rewrite the rules of real-world media, turning connected OOH into the operating system of influence

By Ankur Mehra – MENA Lead for Moving Walls

“The next frontier of marketing is the real world, and those who connect it will control the future of influence.”

The media industry is at a tipping point. For decades, out-of-home (OOH) media has been powerful yet disconnected. Billboards, screens in malls, and transit hubs reached millions, but the ability to measure impact, understand audience behavior, and tie campaigns to outcomes remained limited. Today, the Middle East is on the brink of a transformation that will redefine how brands think about OOH. Cities like Dubai, Riyadh, and Doha are becoming programmable canvases where physical spaces behave like digital platforms. You could say the billboards are finally getting smarter than most meetings we sit through.

The UAE is now home to Moving Walls’ Middle East hub, led by me. UAE dreams like a startup and builds like a nation. Saudi Arabia turned retail into theatre and cities into ecosystems. Governments here do not ask why. They ask why not. Unlike markets constrained by legacy systems, the Middle East can leapfrog decades of slow adoption. The region is ready to embrace a connected media ecosystem where data, audience intelligence, and automation converge to make OOH more impactful than ever.

The next chapter of real-world media is not about buying more screens. It is about orchestrating smarter experiences. What if every location could tell you who passes by, why they are there, and what moves them? Connected OOH makes this possible. It allows brands to discover and activate media across formats, automate workflows, measure outcomes, and transform impressions into influence. OOH is no longer just a medium. It is the operating system for real-world influence. Think of it as giving your billboards a personality, a memory, and a sense of responsibility.

The Middle East is uniquely positioned for this transformation because three forces converge: vision without hesitation, infrastructure without bureaucracy, and ambition without apology. Elsewhere, legacy systems defend the past. Here, we are building the future.

I did not join Moving Walls to digitise billboards. I am here because I believe physical spaces can become intelligent, accountable, and alive, reflecting not just messages, but meaning. The Middle East is not just a geography. It is the launchpad of the real-world media revolution. And revolutions do not wait. Moving Walls has also launched Market, an (Online Self-Serve) platform is a digital marketplace where advertisers can independently create, manage, and book DOOH (Digital Out-of-Home) ad campaigns without intermediaries.

Head of Marketplace and MENA Lead, Ankur has over 20 years of experience in the digital and media landscape, with a remarkable track record across global markets and platforms. From building creator ecosystems at Meta to co-founding innovative ventures like MetaCogX and A2V Infosolutions, Ankur has been at the forefront of digital transformation and platform-driven growth. He also led YouTube’s Multi-Channel Network (MCN) operations as Country Manager, India, and is the author of Amazon bestseller, Pixels to Profits.