People In The News In 2017

Ad land had its share of high profiled movements in 2017. Memac Ogilvy braced for a big change as Edmond Moutran, the agency’s chief since its launch in the region, decided to step down as part of the agency’s succession plan. In September 2017, Patou Nuytemans took on the CEO role as Mr Moutran shifted his focus to Executive Chairman responsibilities. The agency would just be settling in to the change when the news of its Chief Creative Officer Paul Shearer joining Impact BBDO came in.

UM, MEC and Y&R saw new MENA CEOs. Impact BBDO is preparing for a big transition with Fadi Yaish moving on from the agency. And Dentsu Aegis Network should begin the New Year with some c-suite news too.

Some of the top level shifts in the agency world included:
Edmond Moutran To Step Down As Memac Ogilvy CEO; Will Continue As Exec Chair
Memac Ogilvy’s Paul Shearer Heads To Impact BBDO As Fadi Yaish Moves On
Michael Nederlof To Transition From His Role As CEO Dentsu Aegis Network MENA
UM Names Joe Nicolas As MENA Regional MD; Chris Skinner Dons EMEA Role
MEC Appoints Neil Hardwick As MENA CEO
Georges Barsoum Succeeds Ramzy Abou-Ezzedine As Y&R MENA CEO
Spark Foundry Appoints John Antoniades As MD, Global Business

The year saw agencies augment leadership in important markets in the region. There was also focus on growing specialist functions, influx of talent from other markets and leaders shifting between competing agencies. MCN naming a holding company chief in Egypt, and choosing one of its women leaders for the role, formed some of the noteworthy developments in the year.
Some key appointments in the year included:
Publicis Media Bolsters Ecommerce & Innovation Capabilities
Publicis Media Middle East Promotes Amer El Hajj To Chief Investment Officer
MCN Appoints Sahar El Zoghby As Egypt CEO
Assaad Kassis To Lead UM KSA
UM Dubai Names Antoine Challita As GM
Sasan Saeidi Takes On New Role As JWT CEO For Gulf
FP7/DXB Names Jon Marchant As Managing Director
Grey Takes On Board Kamil Kuran As New Group CEO
Horizon FCB Appoints Bruno Bomediano As ECD
HorizonFCB’s Joao Flores Moves To Dentsu X Singapore
Spark* Adds Nadine Abboud To Leadership Team
Omobono Appoints Helen Rankin As Account Director

Media companies and platforms saw senior talent joining in to assist in what was a tough year for the industry. Google saw a significant change with a new leader on board but other platforms also beefed up teams.
Some key hires included:
Microsoft Names Samer Abu Ltaif As President MEA
Google Hires Lino Cattaruzzi As New MD
CEO Nart Bouran Moves To Advisory Role At Sky News Arabia
Microsoft Gulf Names Sayed Hashish As Regional GM
Google Names Pierric Duthoit As Branding Sector Lead
LinkedIn Appoints Ziad Rahhal As Head Marketing Solutions MENA
Stephanie Terroir To Lead Brand Strategy At Twitter MENA
Anghami Appoints Paul Akiki As New Chief Brand Officer

New mandates on the marketing side of the business:
Emaar’s CMO Steven Taylor Resigns
Mastercard Names New Marketing & Communications Head For MEA
Nissan Appoints Hussein M. Dajani As GM – Digital Mktg, AMI

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