Rania Saba

Regional Associate Director - Promotion & Media of Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls in the GCC, Middle East & Levant.
Managing the In-Mall Promotion & Media for Majid Al Futtaim Properties - Shopping Malls Division for the entire region.
Portfolio includes 20 Shopping Malls in 5 Countries.

Key Operating Assets in the region:

UAE
Mall of the Emirates
City Centre Deira
City Centre Mirdif
City Centre Sharjah
City Centre Me'aisem
City Centre Al Shindagha
City Centre Ajman
City Centre Fujairah

Oman
City Centre Muscat
City Centre Qurum
Mall of Oman - opening soon!

Lebanon
City Centre Beirut

Bahrain
City Centre Bahrain

Egypt
City Centre Maadi
City Centre Alexandria
Mall of Egypt

• Sales and Marketing management of a range of magazines including Esquire Middle East Int'l Monthly English Title, Esquire Chinese Style Edition Annual Title, Esquire Watch Book Biannual Title, in addition to a series of annual supplements for Esquire Brand (Esquire Business Supplement, Esquire Best Dressed Men of the Middle East, Esquire London Edition, Esquire Shoes & Accessories Edition & Esquire Wish List - The Christmas Edition), plus Esquire Gentlemen's Evening Quarterly Events and Esquire Man At His Best Annual Awards Ceremony. Middle East Golfer Monthly English Magazine and Boat Owner Middle East Monthly English Magazine and their annual events too.
• Strategic vision, planning and direction
• Direct sales, marketing, events and business development
• Forge high level client and business relationships and partnerships
• Devise sales plans and strategies for 4 sales professionals
• Drive sales to ensure achievement of monthly targets
• Development and implementation of growth strategies
• Accountability and responsibility for sales revenue delivery across the group
• Delivery of year on year revenue and profit growth
• Monitoring sales team to ensure sales targets are delivered
• Development of events associated with magazines
• Development of brand extensions
• Contract negotiations with advertising agencies and clients
• Maintaining relationships with international partners
• Analysis of competitive market space and strategy adaptation

o Managed a team of 5 buying managers/executives.
o Key Accounts: Pepsi Co, Savola, Henkel, El Mokhtabar, HP, Visa, EFG Hermes, Ministry of Investment, Unionaire, Fresh, Peugeot & Mercedes.
o Managed the negotiations with the media suppliers for TV, Radio, Print, Outdoor, Internet, Cinema & any new unconventional media.
o Key suppliers I dealt with; SAQ, Media Line, MEMS, Rotana, Promomedia, MBA, Al Ahram, NRP, Adline & Yahoo.
o Maintained a healthy relationship with all the suppliers & negotiated the best rates, deals & incentives for all OMD clients.
o Worked on maximizing the company’s profitability through multiple revenue streams.

Hot Media is a customer magazine publisher and content agency specialist.
I looked after the entire company's portfolio of magazines and sales team during my tenure at the company, we were publishing the below titles:-
Kanoo World Traveller-Virgin Atlantic In-flight Magazines & TV- Better Homes Property Listings - JUMANA
I was responsible for all print advertising revenue stream, and management of respective client servicing and agency sales teams.

Group Advertisement Manager - Luxury Titles
L’OFFICIEL ME - L’OFFICIEL Hommes ME - The Wedding Guide - The Watch & Jewellery Guide
o Managed a team of 3 sales managers/executives.
o Joined to launch of the 1st International Fashion Arabic Titles for both men & women in the Middle East.
o Started up an awareness campaign aimed at the niche category of readers, clients & agencies. This involved working on the marketing & advertising campaigns. Deciding on the proper distribution channels, working on the launch party & sponsoring the proper events to further promote the magazines and create a unique brand positioning for them.
o Built & maintained strong relationships with the Advertising Agencies, Media Agencies, PR Agencies & Clients.
o Understood clients' needs, media habits, budgets & requirements through working closely with the clients & the media planners.
o Developed tailor-made multimedia packages for the premium fashion, beauty & luxury brands across the Middle East.
o Introduced new sales opportunities besides direct advertising; creative advertorials & exclusive still-life images & photo-shoots.
o Overachieved on personal targets set for the titles, which were in excess of $250, 000 per month/edition.
o Was awarded the Millionaire Trophy by ITP for Best Sales Person in ITP Consumer Department.
o Generated an excess of US$2MILLION in 2006 topping 40 sales people.
*Expert in using CRM System

o Developed unique media properties & creative media buys that assisted in the growth of my clients products & made their campaigns memorable.
o Planned, booked & implemented media plans for T.V., Print, Radio, Outdoor, Internet, Cinema & unusual media buys for all accounts for the entire GCC Market.
o Sent monthly competitive analysis for all media activities done by client & competition, along with an evaluation of performance & next steps recommendation.
o Monitoring: Prepared monthly competitive clippings folder for clients' monthly print & outdoor activities.
o Prepared & presented quarterly reports to evaluate performance against previously set objectives, adspend & sales value to help define & determine the return on investment.
o Handled suppliers’ invoices, clients’ invoices & payment follow-ups.
o Worked on expanding & bettering my media relations resulting in successful negotiations, continuous upgrades for my Ads & lots of added value for my clients.
o Full coordination with the Brand Agencies & PR Agencies to better serve my clients.
o Accounts handled in MediaVest Dubai Office; Oasis Water, Nokia (Corporate), Arla Foods (Lurpak Butter, Lurpak Ghee, 3 Cows Feta Cheese, 3 Cows Mozzarella Cheese, Dano Vita Kids, Power Cow), Jotun Paints, Oracle, Emirates Computers, Standard Chartered Bank, Volkswagen, The One for furniture, Bridgestone & Clipsal.
o Accounts handled in Starcom Cairo Office: Alam AlPhan, Four Seasons Hotel, Citibank & Heinz.