29 May 2026
AI is a powerful tool, but without deep adaptation to local cultural context — including Islamic marketing and Silk Road heritage — it reproduces Western templates that do not work in the Uzbek market.
Timur Bakiev — CEO of Social Active & ClickMe.
Due to our geographic specifics and developmental characteristics, the local marketing and advertising industry lags behind global trends to a certain extent. In some techniques and methods, this gap is approximately five years. Nevertheless, with the advent of the digital era, new trends, tools, and approaches are penetrating our market significantly faster than before.
For me, marketing is not just about developing interesting isolated schemes — it is, first and foremost, systematic engagement with end users, from whom you cannot afford to be disconnected. Drawing on my 10 years of experience working with large-scale reach and mass audiences, I notice that the local mass consumer is still fairly "democratic" and conservative in their perception. Because of this, I have to introduce any new methods carefully and incrementally, as the audience may not immediately understand or accept everything.
At this point, I do not see full-fledged systemic marketing even among most large companies. While marketing departments not long ago often consisted of random employees who had little understanding of core business processes and focused exclusively on superficial PR, commissioning articles, or print materials, the situation has improved. However, companies are still far from true systemic marketing: most organizations still do not maintain detailed end-to-end analytics, do not measure the long-term impact of campaigns, and virtually no one calculates return on investment (ROI).
The only sector demonstrating clear and dynamic progress, in my view, is Fintech. Fintech companies are at the cutting edge of technological advancement and are doing everything possible to transition marketing to a fully systematic, measurable, and digital foundation.
Social responsibility plays a fundamental role in doing business. I have felt this responsibility acutely throughout my many years of working in the Digital space. Unlike those market participants for whom "money doesn't smell," I make it a principle to refuse working with toxic, dubious projects that could cause direct financial or moral harm to people. I am convinced that business must be grounded in the internal moral values of its leader.
Our society exhibits a weak level of awareness when it comes to information and digital security. As a result, devices are regularly infected with viruses, and phishing and theft of funds from bank cards are common occurrences.
The phenomenon of pseudo-experts ("info-gurus"), which has already peaked and virtually disappeared in the Russian and Kazakh markets thanks to regulation, is currently thriving here. The older generation — which I define as people aged 30 and above who have not developed digital immunity — is particularly vulnerable to such tactics, promises of easy earnings, and fraud.
I firmly believe that all advertising activities must be licensed and strictly regulated. Despite oversight from the state regulator, there are still numerous cases of unfair practices and attempted fraud in the information space. At the same time, owning an independent business gives me an important advantage — I can choose my clients and decline unethical ones.
Our local market is absolutely capable of adopting and mastering the most advanced global technologies, but for me it is critically important to keep local specifics in mind. No international tool can be deployed here as a carbon copy without deep adaptation to the particularities of the local mentality. As an expert, I must have thorough knowledge of the ethno-cultural specifics of the market I work in.
I see enormous and largely untapped potential in the realm of so-called "Islamic marketing" (which in substance is not directly related to Islamic banking). This field sits at the intersection of cultural traditions, values, and religion. It opens opportunities for creating a unique, nuanced marketing toolkit that deeply accounts for national identity and local ethical values.
Consumer behavior patterns, trust levels, informal communication channels, and information dissemination patterns in our region differ significantly from classical Western models. Accounting for religious and family-cultural factors allows me to build far more effective and lasting communications with audiences.
Our country has historically — since the days of the Great Silk Road — stood at the crossroads of various civilizations, cultures, and trade routes, always remaining at the center of key geo-economic events. Translating this historical experience into a modern context — through a thoughtful combination of international innovative practices with the local cultural and religious code — will enable our market to produce entirely new, authentic, and breakthrough products. However, this is achievable only with the parallel and systematic development of the country's entire intellectual sphere.
I assess the intellectual potential of our marketing industry as enormous, especially given the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI). AI is fundamentally changing the rules of the game for the better, automating routine tasks and radically transforming not only content generation but also my overall approaches to analytics and solving complex business challenges.
Our country has the greatest growth potential thanks to two key factors: demographics (a very young country with a predominantly youthful population) and strong economic motivation (many young people want to break through, improve their quality of life, are driven to develop, and are ready to work hard for their future). Furthermore, the widespread availability of information on the internet opens enormous opportunities for meaningful self-realization.
The country currently has virtually no professional marketing schools or academic institutions providing a strong classical foundation. The market is developing primarily on sheer enthusiasm, which is why talented self-taught individuals ("dark horses") regularly emerge from nowhere, creating unique, unconventional, and interesting work thanks to their fresh perspectives.
Local businesses have not yet learned to value others' ideas and intellectual property. Companies readily listen to innovative proposals during meetings, call them excellent, but refuse to pay for them — then attempt to copy and implement them on their own.
The Marketing Association is already doing quite a lot for the industry by creating specialized platforms and conditions for the exchange of opinions. The simple idea of "organizing more abstract events" is obvious, but I believe the market requires deeper and more meaningful changes.
One of the most promising, practical, and currently missing mechanisms in our market is marketing hackathons. A format where teams of young professionals come together, receive real crisis-level business assignments, and rapidly find solutions within a limited timeframe — especially leveraging AI capabilities — could become a highly engaging, applied, and fast-acting tool.
We need narrowly focused, tightly structured, and genuinely useful conferences. Many current events suffer from speakers simply showcasing their new products, targeting potential clients (outward-facing) rather than educating the professional audience within. I believe it is important to emphasize case studies of practical failures, real value, and invitations to strong international experts.
Rather than excessively expanding topics within an insular market, it makes sense to build clearer structures and develop joint collaborations with universities. Active market practitioners, including myself, could visit universities to present and thoroughly analyze real, live case studies for students, establishing the right practical foundation for future professionals.