Khaled Rashed AlShehhi has been named Campaign Middle East’s Marketer of the Year for 2025 – the highest recognition within the Marketing Game Changers Awards.
Selected as the top-scoring entrant across all submissions, the title recognises a client-side marketer whose work delivered excellence across six criteria: Leadership & Talent Development, Creativity & Innovation, Performance & Business Impact, Brand Building, Social Impact and Industry Contribution.
The Marketing Game Changers Awards were launched this year to recognise marketers driving meaningful impact for their brands and the wider industry. The programme introduces a structured and transparent approach to spotlighting standout talent, with defined criteria, formal submissions and independent evaluation.
Open to brand-side marketers across MENA and free to enter, the 2025 edition of the awards named ten winners in total with the Marketer of the Year, AlShehhi leading the inaugural cohort.
KHALED ALSHEHHI
Executive Director of Marketing and
Communication, UAE Government Media Office
Years in the company: 11
Years in the region: 21
Khaled AlShehhi believes creativity can move nations, not just markets. A bold voice in public-sector storytelling, he has redefined how governments connect with people worldwide.
As the first government-sector juror in Cannes Lions history, he symbolises the UAE’s growing creative power. Under his leadership, the UAE Government Media Office ranked fourth globally in the 2022 Effie Index.
His work has earned more than 220 awards, including the Effie MENA Honorary Award (2022), Dubai Lynx Advertising Person of the Year (2023), the Loeries Marketing Leadership & Innovation Award (2023),
and the World Media Group’s Content Leadership & Innovation Award (2022).
From systems to stories, he brings an engineer’s precision to the art of emotion. He champions government communication that’s not safe but bold, human, and unforgettable. Through mentoring and industry leadership, he continues to shape a new era of purpose-driven creativity across MENA and beyond.
RAPID FIRE WITH ALSHEHHI
A classic marketing trick that never gets old?
Simplicity.
Most overrated buzzword in marketing?
Storytelling: when it’s said, not lived.
Favourite nostalgic ad from your childhood?
7 Up. The Fido Dido ‘Ya Lazeez Ya Rayiq’ era.
One marketing principle you’ll never compromise on?
Bravery.
Book, podcast or show you recommend to everyone?
The Qur’an.
Biggest lesson you’ve learnt in your career?
Presence beats process.
What you’d be doing if not marketing?
Lawyer.
One thing your colleagues would be surprised to know about you?
I don’t measure risk; I feel it.
The future of marketing in one word?
Trust.
What is the top challenge the marketing and advertising industry needs to address on priority?
AlShehhi: The real challenge is depth over decoration. Too often, our industry chases noise instead of meaning; short-term campaigns that entertain but do not endure. Brands must move beyond vanity metrics and start asking harder questions: Are we genuinely shaping culture? Are we solving problems that matter to people? Are we leaving a legacy of trust, not just impressions? Until we shift from moment marketing to meaningful marketing, we risk losing relevance to the very people we claim to serve.
What do you consider your top achievement over the past 12 months?
AlShehhi: My top achievement has been proving that nation branding can be provocative, creative and globally competitive. With Bring Your Impossible, we placed a government brand on the same creative stage as the world’s boldest advertisers; daring to launch headlines initially rejected in global capitals, negotiating them into approval, and delivering a campaign that earned respect, attention and measurable results. For me, the achievement is not just the campaign’s reach, but the fact that it redefined expectations of what a government can say and how far it can push the boundaries of creativity.
What is your advice to the next generation of marketers?
AlShehhi: Be brave, but also be generous. Don’t just chase campaigns; chase change. Celebrate your agencies, your peers, even your competitors, because true leadership is about lifting an entire ecosystem, not just yourself. The next generation of marketers must see themselves not only as brand guardians but as industry builders; people who will leave behind better standards, bolder work, and stronger talent pipelines than they inherited. That is how respect is earned, and how real legacies are made.
