MediaCom has announced that Eyad Abdul Khalek will join the group as MENA CEO, effective 1 October 2016.
He replaces Tarek Abdalla who left the agency after just five months to join Emaar Properties as executive director of corporate marketing.
Khalek joins MediaCom MENA from DataMined where as managing director and co-founder he was charged with remodelling the business and leading the development of marketing performance and effectiveness products for advertisers and media agencies.
He has previously held senior leadership roles with MCN and Starcom Mediavest Group in Dubai, working with big clients such as General Motors, Richemont Group and Saudi Telecom.
“I’m thrilled to be leading MediaCom’s excellent team across MENA. The network has grown impressively in recent years and I want to ensure that it maintains that trajectory and continues to provide brilliant insights, superlative content and truly connected communications for its clients,” said Khalek.
Khalek will be the third person in the space of a year to fill the CEO role at MediaCom following the resignation of Nick Barron, who left in unclear circumstances in October last year.
Barron was replaced in January by Google’s Abdalla, who handed in his resignation just five months later to join the Dubai property giant.
“MENA is a crucial part of our global network and one that we have invested heavily in over recent years. I’m confident that Eyad’s leadership will enable us to enhance and develop our services even further, ensuring that our clients continue to create great content that connects with their target audiences,” said Nick Lawson, MediaCom CEO for EMEA
Filip Jabbour, CEO of GroupM MENA added: “Eyad has a history of strategically developing and growing client business and will be an excellent addition to both the MediaCom and GroupM senior leadership teams. We are excited to leverage Eyad’s operational diligence and extensive digital knowledge and look forward to his continued success leading one of the top agencies in the region.”
