Assistant General Manager - Group Marketing
Al Mulla and Behbehani Motor Company
Total years of experience :30 years, 10 Months
• In charge of all marketing activity for the Group with the task of modernizing and revamping the marketing strategy of both the company and its brands each with its own identity, with immediate focus on solutions in a very challenging market situation.
• Developing a new organizational behavior philosophy based on objectives placed by the board to address customer satisfaction and how to guarantee such satisfaction. The Promise 101 was launched internally in August 2017 with great impact on customer satisfaction levels.
• Developed the aftersales strategy and executions from scratch. Al Mulla and Behbehani is the only dealership in Kuwait and the GCC that has all the technology and knowhow to be able to launch a direct marketing campaign from thought to execution (including creative artwork, system programing, database preparation, landing page development, immediate response to customer inquiry, database collection and analysis) within 2 days only and all at zero cost.
• Restructured the media spend at the company from what was an 80% to 20% split in advertising policy (Newspapers to everything else) to a more now a days compatible split considering the change in demographics and trends to become 30% newspapers, 55% online & digital and 15% other media.
• Aided in developing, what was previously nonexistent, the CRM department with the objective of having a full setup operational before the end of 2017 including any system upgrades or revamping.
• Ongoing development of training to the marketing team and the staff on key core company values and the implementation of such values in the daily job of all employees.
• Negotiations with all media to reach discounts and offers that were outside the capabilities of the agencies and that were previously presented to the company. Such differences reached more than 15% in some cases.
• Restructuring the marketing department taking in consideration the separate identities and uniqueness of each manufacturer to insure that all marketing managers and staff adhered to the requirements of their manufacturers while simultaneously all being focused and aligned to the best interests of Al-Zayani without compromising at any level the demands of the brands they represent. Directing the team into a coherent and highly effective force that used the power of its brands and strength of its knowledge to dictate Al-Zayani terms on any negotiation or deal.
• Establishing a reliable CRM program that could service the Marketing, Sales and after sales departments in planning. The CRM program also verifies all data on a daily basis to insure high KPI values of 98%-100% are constantly meet.
• Planning, budgeting and execution of launches and the keys to success of such events.
• Major elements of focus: A 3 year Marketing Strategy, Calendar, Budget, Marketing campaigns, Online marketing, Branding, Advertising policies, BTL policies, Local store marketing, Competitive analysis, Marketing research & intelligence, Communication, Technology, Reporting & monitoring, CRM, CSR, Events, Cultural awareness & sensitivity, PR, Accessories, merchandising and service center marketing (Indirect income generation)
• Upon joining KUFM in September of 2009 I was faced with the challenge of developing both the marketing work flow and the individuals involved. An immediate 3 months action plan was developed to internally increase efficiency and maximize performance, while simultaneously a 1 year plan was introduced (effective Jan 2010) based mainly on addressing income generation and as part of a 3 year strategic plan. The first year involved adopting updated operating methodologies and computerized solutions in all aspects of the job. Databases where setup and used for analysis, planning and decision making. Objectives where placed and methods of achieving those goals were introduced to the team and put in effect. Policies and procedures where then developed and formulated into manuals containing flow charts, authority levels, approval matrix and the like.
• KUFM changed its name to UFM to go in line with its regional expansion ambitions and accordingly the removal of Kuwait from the name was inevitable. In due course I was now purely in charge of developing the business and marketing in its new context. With projects in Jordan and Oman, it was now of pinnacle importance to evolve and reposition the company to serve its new role in the region. I placed a strategy that was developed and followed to reflect UFM as an authoritative figure in the FM world and a reference to a multiple of stakeholders both in Kuwait and in the region. It was at this stage that I had UFM become a founding member of MEFMA (The Middle East Facilities Management Association) followed by a more solid step of placing the CEO of UFM as a board member on MEFMA. This was followed byanother major step of having UFM join IFMA (the International Facilities Management Association) and induct a large number of our senior employees in the CFM & SPF certification programs. Further development included managing the ISO 9001, 14001 and OHSAS18001 and developing a new corporate Identity for UFM that included the formulation of a new mission, vision and value proposition. UFM participated in several conferences and seminars in Kuwait and the region with major involvement in sponsorships and participation. The corporate marketing & business development plan was evolved by combining 3 plans (PR, Marketing and Business Development plans) into a single streamlined department plan that produced a unified vision on all platforms and resulted in projecting a consistent image of UFM that reflected its core values in every effort and initiative it undertook.
• In 2014 I was given the responsibility by the board to develop UFM corporate philosophy and the placement of the mission and vision statements with clear identifications of the company goals. These were adopted by UFM immediately after they were presented.
• In 2015 I was requested to place UFM corporate strategy for the next 3-5 years through a huge exercise that is to involve all the company key personnel. The strategy involved placing corporate goals, strategic plan, tactical plans and departmental objectives including alignment of all these departments.
• Furthermore I was given the responsibility of being in charge of all tenders that UFM would be involved in. These tenders ranged from local private and public sector tenders to regional tenders in Qatar, UAE and other locations in the Gulf area.
• Placing detailed Strategic 3 year marketing plan and executable 1 year Marketing Plan including all related research and market intelligence
• A full marketing calendar, Budgets & Media Plans
• Presentations to the Board of Directors
• In charge of setting up the new Corporate Identity for the company via supervising the work of the contracted company GSfitch.
• Placing the standards & requirements including monitoring, for the Corporate identity project.
• Handling Public Relations
• Participated in the setup stages (Marketing related) of several Amwal and other sister company projects such as Sahara Kingdom, AlOula International, AmPower, Burj Al Oula, AlShamel.
• Spear headed our team in Cityscape 2007 exhibition - Dubai, for the Sahara Kingdom Project.
• Coordinated All branding efforts for the Sahara Kingdom project with the designated branding agency CATO-Prunell.
QATAR
• Appointed at this position to begin pre-opening marketing activities and prepare for the launch. Managed to setup extremely important communication channels with major corporations in the country such as Qatar Airways, Qtel, IBQ Bank and DOHA 15th Asian Games.
EGYPT
• Assigned the task of the launch event in Egypt 2005 that included media, In store, launch event, Post launch stars event, specialized deals, staff training, general branding and marketing requirements. The Virgin Megastore Media campaign won the prestigious Best Media Plan in the Middle East Award.
KUWAIT
• In charge of setting up and executing the opening of the brand
• Grand protector of the brand and image of Virgin Megastore
• Public Relations efforts and activities
• Establishing extensive partnerships with major establishments in the country such as Wataniya Telecom, Burgan Bank, Panasonic, Nissan Al Babtain etc. Arabian Motors Group (Ford)
• Expand business potential for Virgin Megastore and always on the search for projects that would yield substantial amounts of revenues (Revenues not related to sales) such as placing the Nissan Gallery inside Virgin Megastore. Partnering Burgan Bank with Virgin Megastore and help in establishing the VIP credit card hence transferring a simple loyalty program into a full functioning credit card with huge financial rewards for both parties.
• Establish the marketing department at Virgin Megastore as an income generating department not a spending one.
• 12 promotions in the year 2004 and minimum of 6 a year
• Partnering with an extensive amount of Kuwait’s media in order to present to the Kuwaiti market media plans for our promotions valued at approx. 120, 000KD but with an actual cost of 9, 000KD only. This media involved satellite TV, the best selling magazines in Kuwait, Internet companies, local newspapers, Outdoors and other media.
• Always establishing a win - win situation with all those parties involved with Virgin Megastore. It is extremely important to always take care of those who assist Virgin Megastore in anyway. Their best interests must always be a primary objective.
• Placing the budget and the marketing plan for the coming year 6 months ahead of time always.
• Establishing promotions on the basis of wining a dream. It was never important to us what the prize value was. What was important was the manner we presented this prize. That was the reason all our promotions where greatly received by the public.