A casual curiosity about Dubai turned Tatum Greig’s career and life around. On a trip to the city last year to visit family, the marketing maven and fitness enthusiast from London noticed something surprising. Despite being one of the most socially connected cities in the world, the UAE’s content creators rarely became a global talking point. At a time when brands everywhere were investing heavily into influencer collaborations, the absence of internationally resonant creator stories seemed at odds with the country’s unquestionable talent pool and its status as one of the world’s top markets for social media penetration.
Ever wired to trends and conversations in her field, Tatum turned to LinkedIn to connect with talent agents, recruiters, digital marketers and other experts to find the missing link. The insights were eye-opening: most agencies, she realised, offered influencer marketing as a drop down on the menu and not as a core service. And few leveraged the actual data effectively, leading to failure in maximising the impact of this marketing channel. As someone who had spent nearly a decade shaping influencer and creative campaigns in London across fashion, beauty, tech, gaming, and travel, Tatum could see the gap as well as the opportunity. Yet, the thought of making that big move never occurred.
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Cut to 2025, and the region called her back — this time with an irresistible offer: to lead Bees&Honey, a creator and influencer-first agency under the Gen Plus Group, the global communications collective spanning 33 markets with bases in London, Riyadh, and Dubai and mobile teams across continents. “I am grateful to have launched Bees&Honey at a time when the creator economy goes from strength to strength in the most digitally connected territory in the world. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.”
Exploring the Dubai flow
It was a move that required deep market immersion, understanding local nuances and crafting strategies that could genuinely disrupt the space. And Tatum dove in headfirst.
Luckily, her Dubai move and the launch of the agency aligned perfectly with the huge investments made by the government in the creative economy. Some time back, the UAE’s Creators HQ initiative was announced, backed by a Dh150-million fund to support content creators and transform the digital-media landscape. Similarly, the third One Billion Followers Summit, an event dedicated to shaping the creator economy, had also created a huge buzz. The aim of these initiatives: to position the country as a global hub for the creator ecosystem.
“Even last year, I had sensed that the UAE was about to witness the next big creative marketing boom,” says Tatum. “These developments just confirmed it. We knew we’d bet on the right horse by launching an influencer-first agency here. The government is doing a lot to build a structured, reliable creator economy but it’s equally important for brands to learn how to collaborate meaningfully with creators.”
It’s all in the data
Over time, Tatum has identified the reason why influencer marketing may not achieve the desired results. “Mismatched expectations, overpromising and choosing the wrong creators are the biggest reasons campaigns fail to deliver,” she explains. “When results don’t meet inflated promises, brands become wary. We’ll never be able to float the creator economy this way.”
Instead of chasing popularity metrics, she advocates for a more strategic approach: finding creators whose storytelling naturally aligns with a brand’s own narrative and who has an engaged and informed audience. “You can’t expect real engagement from someone who’s promoting one shampoo this week and another next week, with the same comments section of ‘wow’, ‘slay’, and heart emojis. But if the creator’s values and tone genuinely match the brand, audiences trust that collaboration.”
This alignment often comes with the smart use of technology. Tatum swears by data-driven strategies to make informed choices. “We use a bespoke platform that gives us detailed insights over and above other ‘conventional’ tools that everyone else has access to. The advantage is that the user gets information on just the demographics, but also interests, buying habits and even preferred content formats which can be segmented by country, city, language and other categories. Thus, we know exactly who we’re speaking to and how likely a campaign is to land,” she says.
In fact, the tech developments in this field, she says, allows a marketer to go deeper. For instance, tools that identify “notable followers” — influential industry insiders who follow a creator — or those that analyse audience sentiment beyond surface-level likes or comments, are game changers. “The most important metric and data should help you identify who you are reaching out to, through a creator,” Tatum explains.
Return on experience v/s return on investment
She also believes marketing success should judge campaigns by the ‘Return on Experience’ (ROX) rather than Return on Investment. “ROX captures the long-term influence of the content; it helps you gauge how audiences interact with a piece of content over time. Do they revisit an Instagram story, share, save and send it to others? Choosing content that sustains for a period of time, also helps an influencer produce better narratives besides being the perfect antidote to ‘creative fatigue’.
Ultimately, it’s the A-word that underpins all success: authenticity. “If a campaign doesn’t feel natural to a creator’s feed, it’s going to fall flat,” she says.
In the future, Tatum believes the UAE’s next chapter in influencer marketing will be defined by emotion and experience. “Emotional marketing works incredibly well here,” she says. “We’re going to see more meaningful collaborations and partnerships that feel real. They will be driven by purposeful brand launches that see creators being involved in the conception, production and launch of limited edition lines of products. This, in effect, will see a merging of both, the creator’s identity and the brand’s own heritage — a match made in heaven. The Gymshark X Leena Deeb’s modest gym wear launch is a fine example.
The discipline behind the drive
Between planning campaigns, decoding algorithms and pouring over data, one thing keeps Tatum grounded — fitness. A committed endurance athlete, she’s currently training for a 100-kilometre ultramarathon in New Zealand early next year. Be it waking up at 4am with structured sessions spanning tempo, interval and endurance training, fitness is her non-negotiable. “I’m new to this country, managing a new office, and sometimes the imposter syndrome creeps in,” she admits. “Training is my reset — the one space where I disconnect from emails, meetings and the digital noise. It helps me approach problems and find solutions with a fresh, positive mindset.”
And the London girl credits Dubai for helping her strike that balance. “This city is incredible. I’m busier than ever, but Dubai allows me to automate my life. I have coaches for running, strength, physiotherapy, and nutrition and everything works like clockwork,” she says.
Drawing parallels between her running and her work, Tatum believes success feels further away when you are close to it. “It’s like running, you can go 20 kilometres easily but the last stretch near the finish line always feels the hardest. Business is the same. There are moments when progress feels stalled or self-doubt sets in, but that’s when you push through,” she says.
Tatum’s journey also brings another comparison to mind — to that of Emily from Emily in Paris — the young, bright-eyed marketing whiz in Netflix’s popular series, discovering a new city’s creative pulse. But that’s where the comparison ends. Unlike Emily, whose Parisian escapades revolve around soirées and selfies, Tatum’s world revolves around spreadsheets, strategy sessions and marathon training schedules. “I came here to start an agency to help actively change the industry here, and try to bring a level playing field to the creator economy. Emily’s experience seems to be led by what was happening to her while mine is led by what I’m doing! Also Emily seems to have time for romance, there is none of that here,” she laughs, amused by the analogy.
Ultimately, it’s the passion for marketing that has been her anchor. “Curiosity led me to Dubai — just wanting to know what was happening in the industry. I am passionate about supporting the creator economy in both the UAE and KSA as it finds its individuality and growth. I try to educate the industry on the best ways to build a sustainable future for everyone which is what makes this journey and chapter so exciting.”
And if her own journey is anything to go by, that mix of purpose, precision and persistence might just be the winning formula.
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