Abu Dhabi, UAE, Quill, one of the GCC’s leading fully integrated marketing and communications agencies, has delivered the digital, social media and real-time content campaign for Make it in the Emirates 2026, as the UAE’s flagship industrial platform returned for its biggest edition yet.

For the second consecutive year, Quill was entrusted with shaping and amplifying the digital presence of Make it in the Emirates, following its work on the 2025 edition, which had set a new benchmark for the event. This year, the mandate carried even greater strategic weight. Held from 4 to 7 May at ADNEC Abu Dhabi, Make it in the Emirates 2026 became a strong statement of business continuity, national confidence and the UAE’s ability to bring government, industry, investors and innovators together at scale.

With the evolving global scenario placing renewed focus on economic resilience, supply chain security and investor confidence, the event reflected the UAE’s continued strength as a stable, ambitious and future-ready nation. Quill’s core KPIs remained focused on driving exhibitor participation and visitor registration, building on the mandate first delivered for Make it in the Emirates 2025. This year, however, those objectives carried wider strategic responsibility. The campaign needed to convert interest into participation while also reinforcing confidence in the UAE as a safe, stable and active destination for business, investment and industrial growth.

Make it in the Emirates 2026 expanded across 88,000 square metres in 13 halls at ADNEC Abu Dhabi and brought together more than 1,200 exhibiting companies in 12 industrial sectors. The fifth edition also sealed AED 372 billion in industrial deals, investments, commitments while more than 200 agreements were signed across offtakes, investments, projects, financing and enablement programmes. SMEs accounted for 61 per cent of total participants, while the event attracted more than 145,000 visitors, up 19% from the previous year.

The national importance of the event was further reflected in the visits of the UAE leadership, including H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE; H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court; H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence of the UAE, Crown Prince of Dubai; H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. The event also saw the participation and attendance of several UAE ministers, including H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology; H.E. Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade; and H.E. Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Tourism, reinforcing Make it in the Emirates as a central platform for advancing the UAE’s industrial competitiveness and economic diversification.

Throughout the campaign, Quill positioned Make it in the Emirates not simply as a showcase of what is manufactured in the UAE, but as proof of why the country continues to attract investors, industries and innovators looking to build long-term.

"Make it in the Emirates is one of the most consequential platforms the country has built around its industrial vision, and our role needed to reflect that," said Maan Bou Dargham, CEO, Quill. "We approached the campaign with the understanding that our work was contributing to how the UAE is being read globally as a place to invest, create and manufacture. That perspective shaped how we worked across every team. The work was an exercise in articulating a national position through every piece of content we built."

Months ahead of the event, Quill launched a mobilisation campaign focused on exhibitor participation, visitor registrations and investor engagement. The communications strategy targeted manufacturers, SMEs, suppliers, entrepreneurs and industry leaders across local and international markets, helping drive strong participation and commercial momentum leading into the event.

The agency led the full digital and social media scope, including strategy, creative development, content planning, social media management, real-time production, programmatic activation and digital performance. This integrated approach helped build momentum in the lead-up to the event and ensured that MIITE’s digital channels reflected the scale and ambition of the platform.

During the four days of Make it in the Emirates 2026, more than 60 team members were embedded across ADNEC Abu Dhabi, as they captured the pace of the event across the show floor, leadership visits, ministerial moments, exhibitor stories, partnership signings, product launches, panel discussions and major announcements.

Across the campaign window, Quill’s work delivered more than 140 million impressions, 32 million in reach and over 20,000 new followers across the official Make it in the Emirates channels. These results strengthened the event’s digital presence and expanded its visibility among investors, manufacturers, decision-makers and wider audiences following the UAE’s industrial growth story.

A key element of the campaign was Off the Record, a podcast produced by Quill exclusively for Make it in the Emirates 2026. Recorded live from the show floor, the podcast brought C-suite leaders, founders and senior executives into focused conversations on why the UAE has become a preferred destination for investment, manufacturing, advanced industries and innovation.

Across 40 episodes, the series featured senior voices from sectors including manufacturing, space, technology, energy, food production, retail and advanced industries. The podcast gave the campaign greater editorial depth, extending the conversation beyond live event coverage and into the strategic discussions shaping where companies choose to invest, build and grow.

Through its work on Make it in the Emirates 2026, Quill supported one of the UAE’s most important national platforms with a campaign that combined live storytelling, digital performance and strategic communications. The result was a social and digital presence that helped communicate the UAE’s confidence, industrial ambition and readiness to lead the next phase of manufacturing and advanced industry.