Ending a stint of 11 years, the Executive Vice President for Brand & Communications at du, Hala Badri has resigned from the telecom major. “Quitting a company that’s occupied my mind and my heart for the last 11 years was always going to be a sad occasion for me. But I promised myself that when I leave du, I want to leave on a high note,” Ms Badri states in her LinkedIn post.
She is yet to indicate her destination next. Details of her replacement at du were also not available at the time of filing the report.
Ms Badri states that she has seen the high that she had wanted to leave du on. The recent success that the company’s advertising had seen at the Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity was among the many reasons that made her look at her stint at du as fulfilling.
“The successful launch of our first Public Service Announcement campaign #Postwisely, and its subsequent recognition at the Dubai Lynx Awards. With 16 awards including two Grand Prix statues, we were the most awarded telco in the region. What a send-off by a team that’s never operated at less than 110 percent,” she commented.
From being named among the Most Influential Arab Women to the Leading Businesswoman of the Year in 2015, Ms Badri has written a growth story that is inspiring. She had joined Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) in 1998 as a brand executive, starting right at the bottom. It was a two-person department including her and a manager. By the time she was leaving, it was a 15-member team looking at 31 different brands including corporate and commercial.
In 2005, she had taken some time off for personal reasons but it was not even a month when she got a call from du. The prospect of working for a new telecom was interesting to her then, and Ms Badri was part of the du family from the very beginning, even though she had officially joined only in January 2006. Over the years, she grew in the ranks to gain the top position in the company’s brand and communications function.
Referring to the #PostWisely movement, that has had a remarkable effect throughout the UAE’s online community, recording a behavior change in 44 percent of those who were polled, Ms Badri signs off with, “The word ‘congratulations’ just isn’t large enough to convey my pride and thanks to our chairman, Ahmad Bin Byat for his vision, our Executive management for their support and most importantly my team and our communications partners who have created perhaps the most relevant social movement of our times.”
