How to choose a creative agency in Iraq

Sagerlabs

19 hours ago

6 min read

If you are a global marketing director deciding how to hire in Iraq, start with how people there actually live, speak, watch and regulate media, not with a regional template written for another market.

The questions this guide answers are practical: what should you look for in an Iraq agency, and how is marketing in Iraq different from a GCC rollout? It does not publish a ranking of firms.

Start with the audience, not a regional template

Iraq's population stood at 47.3 million in October 2025, based on United Nations data published in DataReportal, Digital 2026: Iraq (October 2025 data; Digital 2026 reports published at the end of 2025).

The same report shows the population increased by 984 thousand (+2.1 percent) between the end of 2024 and the end of 2025.

In late 2025, 72.2 percent of the population lived in urban centres and 27.8 percent in rural areas.

At the end of 2025, the median age was 20.8 years, in the report section on Iraq's population by age.

United Nations age bands in that report are 12.0 percent aged 0-4, 19.2 percent aged 5-12, 11.3 percent aged 13-17, and 13.2 percent aged 18-24. Together, those four bands come to 55.7 percent aged 0-24. DataReportal says percentages may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

Ask any agency how it would talk to people under 35 in Baghdad, Basra, Mosul and Erbil, not how it would adapt last year's Dubai cutdown.

Digital reach is large, and the platform numbers need care

There were 39.6 million internet users in Iraq at the end of 2025, an internet penetration of 83.8 percent, according to DataReportal, Digital 2026: Iraq (October 2025 data). DataReportal presents these internet figures as a Kepios analysis informed by sources that include the ITU, GSMA Intelligence, national authorities and platform planning tools.

Internet users increased by 1.8 million (+4.7 percent) between October 2024 and October 2025.

7.66 million people (16.2 percent) did not use the internet at the end of 2025, according to that analysis.

There were 50.8 million cellular mobile connections in late 2025, equal to 108 percent of the population (GSMA Intelligence via DataReportal). DataReportal says some connections may be voice or SMS only.

There were 40.1 million social media user identities in October 2025, equal to 84.9 percent of the population. DataReportal warns these identities may not be unique people and can exceed the internet-user count.

Social media user identities increased by 5.8 million (+17.0 percent) between late 2024 and the end of 2025.

Among those identities, 37.9 percent were reported female and 62.1 percent male. That split is platform-reported binary data only.

Platform ad-reach figures for late 2025, from each platform's advertising tools as published by DataReportal, were: YouTube 24.7 million; Facebook 20.8 million; Instagram 21.5 million; TikTok 40.1 million users aged 18+; Snapchat 19.3 million; Messenger 14.9 million; LinkedIn 2.70 million members; X 2.74 million.

DataReportal states that advertising reach is not the same as monthly active users, and it flags TikTok and some other rates above 100 percent of adults or of internet users as figures republished "as is."

Ask an agency which platforms it would actually use for the brief, and whether it is quoting ad-reach, unique people, or campaign-specific measurement.

Language is not one translated Arabic file

Article 4 of Iraq's Constitution of 2005 states: "The Arabic language and the Kurdish language are the two official languages of Iraq" (Constitute Project, Constitution of Iraq (2005); Council of Representatives of Iraq, Constitution of the Republic of Iraq (2005)). The constitution was approved by referendum on 15 December 2005 (UNESCO compilation for Iraq's Universal Periodic Review).

The same article guarantees the right of Iraqis to educate their children in their mother tongue, "such as Turkmen, Assyrian, and Armenian" (wording as in the Constitute Project English text).

Article 4 Third: "The federal and official institutions and agencies in the Kurdistan region shall use both languages."

Article 4 Fourth states that Turkomen and Syriac are official languages in administrative units where they constitute a density of population. Article 4 Fifth allows a region or governorate to adopt an additional local language by referendum.

Ask any agency, including us, who writes the Arabic, who checks the dialect, and whether Kurdish is required for the cities in the plan.

Know who regulates media, platforms and paid creators

The Communications and Media Commission of Iraq is Iraq's regulator for media, telecommunications and related digital services, operating under Law No. 65 of 2004 (CMC, Framework Regulations for Digital Platforms and Services (English, March 2025)). That document states the Commission acts pursuant to Law No. 65 of 2004.

Those Framework Regulations say they apply to digital platforms and service providers that operate or provide access to digital services or content for users in Iraq, including platforms with no physical presence if they provide services to users in Iraq or generate revenue from users in Iraq (section 4.1).

The regulations define "Online Advertising Platforms" as platforms that distribute advertisements across digital channels such as websites, mobile applications and social networks (definition 2.18).

On 15 October 2026 the CMC Board of Commissioners held a seminar presenting a regulation on the work of celebrities, digital content creators and influencers in Iraq. The CMC news page of 15 October 2026 says the regulation aims to organise advertising and promotional activity on digital platforms, including registration with the Commission, rules for advertisements and paid content, and account-holder responsibility for published content. It also lists prohibited promotional themes (including drugs, crime, extortion, fraud, hacking, incitement to violence or hatred, and privacy violations) and discusses promotion of brands, products and services, registration data, fees, and appeal routes.

This guide does not treat that news summary as a substitute for the full legal text. Counsel, not this article, should read the full Arabic bylaw before a brand relies on it.

Ask an agency how it vets creators for paid-content disclosure and how it stays current with CMC rules. Do not assume a regional legal memo written for another market covers Iraq.

Plan for federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region

The 2005 Constitution refers to the Kurdistan region and requires federal and official institutions and agencies there to use both Arabic and Kurdish (Article 4 Third).

Arabic and Kurdish are the two official languages of Iraq as a whole (Article 4 First).

Write the brief with cities named, not "Iraq" as a single creative territory. Ask the agency where the team that will do the work actually sits, and how it handles Kurdish-language needs when the brief includes the Kurdistan Region.

A fair checklist

These are questions for you to ask any agency, including Sagerlabs.

Ask who will do the work, by name and city, not only who appears at the pitch.
Ask for in-market language skill: Arabic dialect for the cities in the brief, and Kurdish when those cities require it. Ask to see samples, not slogans.
Ask how the agency gathers local insight (in-country conversations, store checks, creator feedback) versus recycling a GCC, Levant or Cairo idea.
Ask which platforms it would use, and whether the numbers it quotes are ad-reach, unique users, or campaign results.
Ask how it handles paid-creator disclosure and CMC promotional rules, and who checks that before something goes live.
Ask to see work the agency is allowed to show, with the client's permission.
Ask how success will be measured before the work starts, in words you can audit later.
Treat directory profiles and star ratings as one input, not the decision. They are not a substitute for references you can speak to.
Separate the office on the business card from the team that will run the Iraq work.
If you need production, influencers, social and brand work together, ask how those parts are actually staffed. A long services list is not proof of depth.

If you want to talk to Sagerlabs

Sagerlabs is a comprehensive creative agency, with operations in Baghdad, Iraq, and Dubai, UAE, offering brand development, strategic marketing planning, social media management and film production, and developing influencer brands.

You can read the service pages and selected work, or write to the office addresses already published on the site.

Services
360 Campaigns
Influencer Management
Content Creation
Film Production
Social Media & Digital Marketing
Event/Activation - Design & Management
Design & Brand Development
Portfolio
Contact (info@sagerlabs.com, +9647711132925, +971 52 669 3767)

On the Services page, Sager Studio is labelled "Our creative partner."

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