Campaign recently profiled 22 of the most promising and talented individuals aged 30 or under in the advertising industry. Now it’s the turn of 22 young professionals working in the region’s media agencies. Busy mining data, planning and formulating strategy, all have a unique angle on what media means today
Sandra Essa 28, Digital planning manager PHD
When PHD is Campaign’s media agency of the year, it’s hard to pick one star. Yet here she is. A manager in digital planning, Essa took to marketing straight after graduating with a degree in advertising and PR from Stockholm University. Born and raised in Sweden to Syrian parents, she spent her entire childhood obsessed with all things audio-visual and – following a short stint in PR – moved to media and joined PHD in Dubai in 2013.
It didn’t take long for her to shine. The following year she was awarded the title of ‘PHDer of the Year’ and hasn’t looked back since. “Sandra continuously demonstrates a huge amount of passion and enthusiasm for both her role on her accounts and for the company as a whole,” says Elda Choucair, managing director of PHD UAE. “She always seeks new approaches to problems and challenges, and is relentless in her search for the best possible outcomes and results.”
The creativity she applies to her work has contributed to the team winning several awards at the Effies and Festival of Media MENA, including a gold for Unilever, while she has also been instrumental in delivering innovative, creative and technology-led campaigns that in many cases have re-calibrated planners’ expectations of what is possible in media.
Leila Gaafar 24, Media executive, strategic research and insights Havas Media
Moving from Portland, Oregon to join Havas in 2015 and take up her first position in the media industry, Gaafar never imagined she would experience as much or as fast as she did. Since joining she has created and won pitches for entertainment-focused clients such as Disney (Star Wars) and realised the passion she has for strategic planning and creative work. “My need/love for order and organisation (some call it obsessive) has helped me achieve a lot and grow quickly, but I always find myself looking for new information and bigger challenges,” she says. “The biggest fear I have in my work is stagnancy and routine activities.”
“At the start of her professional career, Leila already has the most valuable qualities a strategist can have, an insatiable curiosity combined with an unyielding sense of advocacy for the consumer,” says Alejandro Fischer, strategy director at Havas Media ME. “Her ability to master information combined with a personal POV has made her an invaluable contributor to Havas Media’s clients, diving into the data to identify meaningful insights that address complex business challenges.”
Sarosh Waiz 30 Heba Attallah 30 Joud Boksmati 25, Senior manager digital, senior manager exchange and digital exchange executive Mindshare UAE
This trio of Mindshare achievers has plenty to smile about. Boksmati for one has been amongst the core drivers of originality and innovation at the agency and within less than a year has managed to win more than half a dozen awards. The most notable of these was a gold Effie for the Rani Egypt campaign ‘Kees Gawafa’, which he led on campaign planning and execution. Almost a year and a half since joining the agency, Boksmati is one of the strongest digital media resources at Mindshare, leading and supporting on a wide variety of accounts.
Waiz meanwhile is a solid marketing resource who has worked across mainstream media, digital marketing, ideation, social media, experiential marketing, integrated strategy, content integration and PR. Currently leading digital strategy for several clients, his contributions on insights, strategy and ideas have led to several Effie, Cristal and Festival of Media awards.
And then there’s Atallah. Known for her dedication and commitment, she joined Mindshare three years ago as one of the main leads on HSBC, Rolex and Lenovo and has proved popular ever since. She contributed to last year’s Effies haul for HSBC Commercial Banking and constantly challenges herself to ensure her deliverables are outstanding and award winning.
Zadi Hobeika 30 Melissa Moubarak 28 Salma Shedid 29 Tony Sarkis Obeidat 25
Digital director, strategy manager, media manager and media supervisor UM MENA
UM’s four young achievers are scattered across the region and yet are connected by entrepreneurialism and a desire to do good. A storyteller at heart and an evangelist for the importance of data in marketing, Moubarak, for example, has five years’ experience operating in start-ups across London and Beirut and has been with UM since 2014. With a skill set and background in marketing research and financial analysis, her contribution to all the brand teams has been a crucial element in their campaigns’ successes.
Moubarak also volunteers and fundraises for charitable organisations, as does Shedid, media manager at UM’s Cairo office. A co-founder of the Ibrahim A Badran Charitable Foundation for underprivileged communities, she is actively involved in their marketing, recruitment and social activities and has participated in medical convoys, supporting the team with healthcare and medical aid. At work Shedid leads on the Coca-Cola business in Egypt across all product and media verticals. With only six years’ work experience, she leads a team of 15 and has already won a grand prix, a gold and silver award for Coca-Cola’s ‘Crazy for Good’ and ‘Trophy Tour’ campaigns at the MENA Digital Awards.
Hobeika, meanwhile, is based out of Lebanon and is responsible for leading the network’s digital business for the Levant and Egypt. A basketball player, his directive as digital director was to set up and expand the online business and within the space of a year he has already increased the agency’s client portfolio by 30 per cent.
Finally there is Obeidat. Based in the Dubai office, he is a innovation specialist and media supervisor on the Coca-Cola business and was chosen to represent UM MENA at the UAE Young Lynx after scoring the highest points in an internal talent competition. Go Obeidat!
Nitika Bhandari 29, Client services lead at Amnet Dentsu Aegis Network
In short Bhandari is a technology and data whiz who switched from a career in financial services to media just three years ago. She is one of the founding members of Amnet MENA, Dentsu Aegis Network’s programmatic media buying platform, and leads client management for the business, overseeing all digital campaigns. She is also far beyond her years in terms of experience, with an excellent academic record to match. At just 29 she holds both a bachelor’s degree and master’s of science, while her passion for all things digital drives the adoption of programmatic and in turn creates more value for the agency’s clients.
Mohamed Sabaa 29, Associate director Starcom Egypt
Sabaa has been in the communication business since he graduated with a degree in commerce in 2007. Landing at Starcom as a media manager four years ago, he headed the Samsung business before taking over the entire Starcom portfolio of clients in Egypt, including Mondelēz, Dubizzle and Souq.com. He leads a team fired by new business acquisitions and regional and global recognition, including the winning of a gold Effie for his work on Mondelēz.
Hoda Nejem 27 Karim Refaat 27, Performance media manager and group account manager social MEC Dubai
MEC’s two bright young things are whirlwinds in their own right. Refaat is a tech enthusiast and gadget collector who represented MEC MENA at the GroupM EMEA conference held in Italy in April; Nejem is one of the agency’s top six thrivers thanks to her passion and entrepreneurial drive.
As a graduate of the American University of Sharjah, Nejem was hired for an internship role at MEC. Six months into the job she was selected by the agency’s management to put together a business plan that included the vision and growth of the social performance department. That business plan was developed, presented and approved and became a huge success. She is now spearheading MEC’s initiative to expand the agency’s programmatic and SEO offerings, whilst simultaneously training social media champions across the agency.
“She is invaluable to MEC and a rising star in her department,” said Marc Ghosn, general manager at MEC UAE, of Nejem. “Her passion and determination was so intensely noticeable that I felt confident enough to challenge her with the launch of the paid social media offering at MEC. It brings me great pride to have such talent, especially at such a young age.”
When MEC as named ‘Agency of the Year’ at the Festival of Media MENA in April, Refaat no doubt felt a sense of achievement as he held gold and a bronze trophies for ‘Best use of YouTube’ and ‘Best use of communication’ for Kit Kat Arabia’s ‘Celebrate the Breakers’. He had led the social element of the campaign and is now even keener to turn challenges into success stories.
