Paul Banham is to take over the role of executive creative director at FP7 Dubai following the departure of Fadi Yaish.
Banham will begin in his new position on 9 September, moving from JWT London, where he was digital creative director. The move follows the double departure of Yaish and chief creative officer Daniel Georr, who is understood to have left the industry. The position of chief creative officer will not be resurrected going forward.
Talking of Banham’s appointment, Sasan Saeidi, managing director of FP7 UAE, said: “Paul is one of just a very small handful of strategically minded creative directors that has worked and won awards across multiple channels. He has held senior creative positions at JWT, AIS, Agency.com and WCRS. And over the last 20 years has built his fully integrated credentials working in top five companies across branding, design, direct, ATL, integrated and digital. His unique cross channel experience gives him the ability to deliver truly integrated solutions for any and every marketing challenge across channels.”
At JWT Banham was tasked with improving the agency’s digital credentials and integrated capabilities and was named the agency’s most influential hire in 2009. In 2010 he was invited to join the agency’s Worldwide Creative Council and last year was promoted to global creative director of the Nokia account.
Tarek Miknas, CEO of the FP7 Group, added: “I’m very excited about Paul joining. Not only has he got the talent, but also a positive spirit, a collaborative approach and a truly integrated way to solving client communication needs. He embodies all of our values and will be a perfect fit into the culture of the new FP7 that we have been shaping for the last couple of years.”
In a separate move, Rana Najjar is to join FP7’s Beirut operation as creative director. She joins from Leo Burnett Beirut, where she was associate creative director and worked on campaigns such as ‘Khedé Kasra’. She will begin her new role on 1 October. “Rana has been behind some of Lebanon’s most recognisable work on brands like Bank Audi, Alfa, Liban Post, Bonux and multiple others,” said Miknas. “FP7 is her next great platform.”
