Saudi Arabia’s Most Ambitious Rebrand: From Ronaldo to Vision 2034
Saudi Unreal Calendar Campaign featuring Cristiano Ronaldo
When Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Al-Nassr in late 2022, it marked more than the biggest contract in football history—it signaled Saudi Arabia’s serious entry onto the global sporting stage. By 2025, as part of the Kingdom’s new tourism and cultural campaigns, Ronaldo became the star face of the rebrand. His now-iconic line, “I came for football, I stayed for more,” captures Saudi Arabia’s pivot from a nation defined by oil and pilgrimage to a hub of sports, culture, and tourism.
The Kingdom’s Vision 2030/2034 transformation is unprecedented in scope and cost—estimated at $3 trillion. But the question remains: can Saudi Arabia expand its global image while safeguarding its role as custodian of Islam’s holiest sites?
The Legacy Brand: Oil, Religion, and Conservatism
For decades, Saudi Arabia’s identity rested on three pillars.
Oil dependency defined the economy, with petroleum revenues comprising up to 88% of government income. “Saudi” became synonymous with OPEC leadership and petrodollar diplomacy, creating perceptions of a petrostate whose power stemmed from geology, not strategy.
Religious stewardship of Mecca and Medina gave the Kingdom unrivaled authority across the Muslim world. Hajj drew millions annually, and Umrah attracted 8 million visitors by 2016. This legitimacy brought soft power but narrowed perceptions to pilgrimage and piety.
Social conservatism reinforced the image: women barred from driving, stadiums segregated, cinemas banned for 35 years. Religious police patrolled daily life. A 2018 report by Presciant Research described Saudi as “closed, backward and stale.”
After the September 11 attacks, Saudi’s global reputation was scarred, with 15 of the 19 hijackers traced back to the Kingdom, reducing its identity to extremism and petro-politics. The 2010s brought limited reforms under King Abdullah, but the country remained viewed as a conservative stronghold during the Arab Spring. Mohammed bin Salman’s rapid rise in 2015 shifted the narrative with Vision 2030 reforms—women driving, cinemas reopening, entertainment—yet the 2018 Khashoggi murder reignited global skepticism just as Saudi sought to project modernity.
Vision 2030/2034: The Master Rebrand
Launched in 2016 by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Vision 2030 was as much an identity overhaul as it was an economic plan. Its three pillars were deliberately designed to counter the Kingdom’s legacy brand:
Vibrant Society — to break from social conservatism.
Thriving Economy — to move beyond petrostate dependency.
Ambitious Nation — to project leadership rather than regional isolation.
Together, they function like brand positioning statements: simple, memorable, and crafted to shift international perceptions of Saudi Arabia from closed and oil-dependent to modern, diversified, and globally ambitious.
Football as the Frontline
Sports became Saudi’s Trojan horse for global brand transformation.
Ronaldo’s $200M contract transcended sport, making him a global spokesperson whose slogan appeared on billboards from London to Beijing. The Saudi Pro League signed Karim Benzema, Neymar, Sadio Mané, N’Golo Kanté and others—systematic sports diplomacy rather than celebrity collecting.
The crown jewel: FIFA World Cup 2034, secured under the slogan “Growing. Together.” With a projected $16.5B GDP contribution, it validates Saudi’s strategy and positions the Kingdom as a global events destination.
Football creates the first emotional connection. The strategy then pivots visitors toward heritage, entertainment, and luxury tourism—a graduated exposure that broadens the Saudi brand.
Tourism Beyond Hajj: From Pilgrimage to Leisure
Tourism once meant only Hajj and Umrah. By 2024, religious tourism accounted for 55% of spending, leisure 45%. Visitors tripled from 10M in 2016 to 30M in 2024, with inbound revenue hitting $41B.
Visit Saudi Campaign: روح السعودية
Launched in 2019, روح السعودية anchors the new brand. The word روح means both “spirit” and “go”—a dual message: the spirit of Saudi, and “Go to Saudi.” Campaigns highlight:
Adventure: Red Sea diving, Asir hiking
Heritage: Diriyah, AlUla
Modern entertainment: Riyadh and Jeddah Seasons
This balances futuristic projects like NEOM with tangible, bookable experiences today.
AlUla & National Geographic Campaign
AlUla, an ancient city in northwestern Saudi Arabia, has become the cultural flagship of the Kingdom’s rebrand. Home to the Nabataean city of Hegra — Saudi’s first UNESCO World Heritage site with more than 100 rock-cut tombs — it showcases the Kingdom as a crossroads of ancient civilizations.
A three-year partnership with National Geographic produced documentaries and the “Postcards from Saudi Arabia” series, reframing the Kingdom as a land of archaeology and storytelling. By combining heritage with cinematic narratives, AlUla provides both cultural authenticity and international credibility to Saudi Arabia’s wider tourism brand.
Comparative Case: Turkey's "Go Türkiye" Campaign
Saudi’s pivot echoes Turkey’s “Go Türkiye” rebrand, launched in 2019 through the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency. The campaign positioned Istanbul as both historic and cosmopolitan, while promoting Cappadocia, Antalya, and Anatolia to showcase cultural depth and lifestyle variety. By doing so, Turkey sought to shift international perception from a country often associated with political volatility into a diverse tourism destination bridging East and West.
The parallels are striking: both nations use tourism to soften complex political narratives and project cultural sophistication. But Saudi holds an advantage Turkey cannot replicate: a religious brand moat through Mecca and Medina, which anchors its legitimacy far beyond tourism.
The comparison also highlights a warning. Turkey’s tourism sector thrived, but ongoing political controversies—press freedom, economic instability, democratic backsliding—continue to surface in international media, often undermining the brand message. The lesson for Saudi Arabia is clear: tourism can broaden identity and drive growth, but contradictions between domestic politics and global brand promises will always test credibility.
Internal Reforms: Brand Infrastructure
Nation branding must be lived at home before it can be projected abroad. Saudi reforms provide the foundation:
Women Driving (2018): lifted ban, unlocked $90B potential, and generated global headlines.
Cinemas Reintroduced: Black Panther’s 2018 screening after 35 years symbolized cultural opening.
General Entertainment Authority: institutionalized concerts and festivals through permanent structures.
For Saudi youth—over 60% of the population—these are daily realities, not slogans. The legacy of the King Abdullah Scholarship Program also created a constituency for modernization, easing cultural integration.
Saudi vs UAE: The Battle for Regional Leadership
Saudi and the UAE represent the Gulf’s most fascinating brand rivalry.
UAE has three decades of consistency: Dubai’s “Global Arab City,” Abu Dhabi’s cultural institutions, Emirates airline’s global network.
Saudi answers with scale 25x larger, sovereign wealth resources dwarfing Dubai’s, authentic heritage, and religious legitimacy.
Unlike Dubai’s neutrality, Saudi positions itself as the authentic center of Arab modernity—a more ambitious claim. Projects like Jeddah Tower, set to surpass Burj Khalifa, exemplify direct competition, while Formula 1 in Jeddah complements Abu Dhabi’s Grand Prix.
Saudi’s combination of Islamic authority, capital, and geography positions it to lead regional development in ways smaller states cannot.
Risks and Contradictions
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on March 7, 2018, in London. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Sportswashing: Critics argue Saudi uses sports to distract from human rights issues. MBS’s blunt reply: “I don’t care… so long as GDP grows.”
NEOM’s credibility: Pitched as a $500B utopia, now scaled back with delays and workforce cuts. Risk: turning ambition into evidence of overreach.
Authenticity dilemma: Can Saudi guard Islam’s holiest sites while marketing resorts and concerts? Messaging must frame change as Islamic renewal, not imitation.
Economic sustainability: Projects remain oil-funded. Low prices could derail diversification momentum.
Internal resistance: Rapid reforms may alienate conservatives, creating brand contradictions between domestic and global narratives.
Early Success
Results show traction:
Visitors tripled to 30M in 2024; tourism spending reached $41B.
Sports diplomacy gained sustained media attention; FIFA 2034 win validated the strategy.
Cultural partnerships with UNESCO and NatGeo boosted credibility.
Megaprojects remain under construction despite scale challenges.
Foreign investment flows expanded beyond energy sectors.
Implications for the Arab World
Saudi’s transformation resonates regionally. As Islam’s birthplace and the Arab world’s largest economy, its reforms set precedents for conservative societies balancing tradition with modernity.
This differs from regional peers: not cosmopolitan like the UAE, not event-focused like Qatar, but authentically rooted and globally ambitious. Saudi seeks leadership, not niche positioning.
If successful, it could redefine how Islamic societies modernize without sacrificing spiritual authenticity.
The Verdict: A Holy Brand at a Crossroads
Nation branding is identity work. Saudi has always been both petro-state and religious guardian. Now it seeks a third role: global cultural leader.
Early evidence—Ronaldo’s slogan, AlUla’s recognition, tourism growth, FIFA 2034—suggests progress. But credibility depends on execution. NEOM’s fate, reform sustainability, and internal acceptance will determine if this is genuine transformation or glossy ambition. The 2034 World Cup will be the ultimate test. Visitors will see not just stadiums but a Kingdom balancing holiness, heritage, and modernity.
If successful, Saudi will offer more than a rebrand—it will create a model for how traditional societies can embrace global culture while preserving authentic identity.
The stakes extend beyond Saudi to the wider Arab and Muslim worlds. As Ronaldo’s billboard declares, “I came for football, I stayed for more.” The world now waits to see if it too will stay for the new Saudi identity.
Disclosure: I have used AI tools to assist in copywriting and formatting
