Regional Head of Strategy & Planning
Agency 222
Total years of experience :20 years, 3 Months
Regional Head of Strategic Planning, Agency 222, (Qatar’s largest integrated brand & marketing communications agency), Doha, Qatar, July 2012 - Present
Key Qatar Clients: Vodafone, Barwa Bank, Qatar Airways, 2022 Supreme Committee, National Cancer Program, Qatar University, Qatar Museums Authority, Maersk Oil Action on Diabetes, Al Jazeera Media Network
Key KSA Clients: Olayan Group, Saudi Post, Gulf Catering Company
Role & Responsibilities
• Leading marketing communication strategy development for all the agency’s clients in Qatar & KSA
• Driving integration across all marketing communication disciplines: Branding, Advertising (ATL & BTL), Technology & Innovation, Digital, Social, Activations, PR, Media and Research
• In charge of the agency’s awards agenda
• Supervising a team of two strategic planning directors and one planner in Qatar & KSA
• Driving content & branded entertainment initiatives and collaborating with the leading YouTube program creators & presenters
• Reporting to CEO
Select Achievements
• Developed comprehensive brand strategies for Vodafone Qatar that rallied the company behind one purpose and helped turn the brand from avoidance to consideration as demonstrated by multiple researches. Other Vodafone markets adopted the thinking.
• Developed the brand positioning, brand platform, brand architecture, and long term marketing communication plans for Barwa Bank, Qatar’s fastest growing bank. Led brand workshops with the bank’s top executives, created a brand champions program, and advised the bank’s marketing team on all brand & communications related matters. Adapted the brand strategy to all banking segments: retail, corporate, private and investment banking
• Developed a breakthrough strategy to battle the ‘Stigma’ around Cancer in Qatar, effectively reducing the leading misperception that ‘cancer is always fatal’ by 13% in one year
• Entrepreneurial initiative: Created an approach to identify new highly effective communication channels, and turn them into proprietary media channels for the agency
• Shaped the agency’s vision, purpose and brand story
• Won over 10 new business pitches in less than two years leading the agency to become the largest in Qatar
• Championed thought leadership through a collaboration program with Qatar University’s School of Business & Economics
• Lead the new business pitches that enabled the agency’s expansion into KSA
• Won four Dubai Lynx Awards, an Epica, a Transform Award, and four Cannes Lions/Lions Health shortlists in one year
Regional Strategic Planning Director, IMPACT BBDO, Dubai, UAE, May 2011 - July 2012
Key Clients: PepsiCo (LRB’s & Snacks), Daimler Middle East, Mars, Etisalat, MAF Leisure
Select Achievements
• Led the repositioning of Pepsi, 7Up & Lays across the region
• Won 3 new business pitches in one year
• Initiated collaborations with content developers such as Brownbook
• Introduced a new communication model to encourage more digital branded entertainment initiatives
• Developed a marketing communication strategy that boosted a stagnant trend for Mercedes Benz SUV sales in the GCC
• Set a strategy that considerably raised footfall and spend per head for MAF Leisure & Entertainment key outlets in Dubai, such as Ski Dubai & Play Nation
Account Director/Strategic Planner, IMPACT BBDO, Doha, Qatar, Feb 2009 - April 2011
Key Client: Qatar Telecom (Qtel), Qatar’s leading quad play telecom operator
• Led strategy development and campaign management for all Qtel communication (corporate brand, consumer products/services and business solutions)
Select Achievements
• Masterminded marketing communication strategies that led to impressive business results across Qtel’s products portfolio (Shahry, Hala, Broadband and Business Solutions)
• Established Qtel’s network superiority through impactful campaigns (as measured by brand trackers), which laid the foundation for a sustained superiority perception lasting till date
• Minimized the impact of competition’s launch through strategies that effectively supported retention and delivered brand admiration, resulting in one of the most successful cases for incumbent vs. challenger telecom operator in the region
Strategic Planner, JWT, Cairo, Egypt, June 2006 - Jan 2009
Key Clients: Vodafone, HSBC, CI Capital, Orascom Telecom (ARPU+), Nokia, Nestlé Ice Cream, Savola, Cadbury Adams, Unilever (Lux, Sunsilk, Signal), Sodic, Orascom Hotels & Development, Kia, HSBC and Nile & Nogoom FM
Select Achievements
• Developed the strategy to localize HSBC’s global brand platform and launch it in the Egyptian market
• Developed the brand strategy and architecture for the newly created CI Capital, one of Egypt’s leading investment banks
• Worked on the strategies that led the agency to win its two biggest clients to date: Vodafone Egypt & Egyptian Tourism Authority
• Established an innovative BTL behavior monitoring tool for Nokia to scientifically drive the efficiency of their BTL communication, which led the agency to win the Nokia BTL business
• Won 10 new business pitches in three years
Account Manager, JWT, Cairo, Egypt, Sep 2005 - June 2006
• Managed the Nestlé Ice Cream (a portfolio of more than 20 global & local brands) & Savola accounts
• Initiated several tactics that optimized Nestlé Ice Cream BTL communication
Account Executive, JWT, Cairo, Egypt, Feb 2004 - Sep 2005
• Handled Nestlé Ice Cream and Savola, two of the leading and most active FMCG companies in Egypt
Bachelor of Arts, The American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt, February 2003 • Major: Political Science (specialization in Political Economy) • Minor: Economics
Summer Abroad, The American University of Paris, France, Summer 2002
General Certificate of Secondary Education, College Saint-Marc, Alexandria