Hashtag Agency, has announced the addition of seven new faces to its client services team and sister agency, Starfish. With the new joiners, Hashtag aims to diversify and grow its client servicing team with talent from different backgrounds and experiences. Additionally, Starfish recognizes the rise of influencer co-creation for brands and appoints two new members to its influencer management team.
Rui Quadrado, Social media manager, Hashtag Agency Dubai
Quadrado has more than seven years of experience working, in digital marketing, for brands like RipCurl, NewEra, Segway, Insta360 (Dubai) and a government project (Abu Dhabi).
Additionally, he worked in Angola for six months managing a project. Back in his home country, Portugal, he worked for three main Social Media agencies performing tasks as a community manager, social media manager and account/strategist.
During his time at Hashtag, Quadrado aims to grow his portfolio of brands and make the team’s work easier and smoother according to the brands’ processes and guidelines, says Hashtag.
Thomas Adams, Senior social media executive, Hashtag Agency Dubai
Adams started as an intern at Facebook’s Sydney office and worked with the R/GA agency in Sydney. He then completed his studies at the Queensland University of Technology with a Bach/Advertising degree. After that, he took the leap when COVID-19 hit to move to Dubai in search of a career. He was appointed as an advertising specialist at Talabat for 16 months before deciding to move back to the agency side and pursue his passion for all things social.
Adams plans to identify his speciality professionally. He sums up his goals with the following quote ‘‘find something that looks like work to others, but feels like play to you”.
Mareena Arif, Social media manager, Hashtag Agency Dubai
Having worked in different fields for the past seven years including healthcare, television & media and lastly marketing & advertising at Cheil, Arif landed in social media marketing as it was the perfect mix of creativity, strategy and servicing. Her previous agency work includes 360° campaigns, content strategy, copywriting and design direction for brands such as National Geographic, Discover Networks, Alicafe, and Kellogg’s.
While at Hashtag, Arif aims to strategise and deliver out-of-the-box content, ensure quality service, inspire people, be a mentor where needed, and stay motivated and up to date with social media trends.
Abdullah Alliefan, Senior social media executive, Hashtag Agency Riyadh
Alliefan is a firm believer in self-learning and pursuing personal goals in life. After dropping out of Engineering college with a strong GPA, he decided to follow his dream of becoming a marketeer. He graduated in 2021 with a marketing degree and while working in ALmunjem group as a marketing specialist.
Additionally, he worked as a senior communication specialist in Traccs handling Mawani. While working at Hashtag, Alliefan’s goal is to gain all the knowledge about digital marketing and social media and to become an effective and experienced team member.
Nada Alarifi, Marketing manager, Hashtag Agency Riyadh
Alarifi considers herself very lucky to have gotten the chance to be part of
different work fields in the past 10 years. From a lecturer at Princess Norah University to Aramco where she realised that marketing and media are her passion. She then joined Dr Sulaiman Alhabib Medical Group as a marketing supervisor.
Alarifi is a firm believer that no matter how much a person knows about a certain scope, there’s always a window for extra knowledge to obtain and apply, and that is what she hopes to gain out of working with the Hashtag team.
Ana Gixhari, Influencer marketing manager, Starfish Agency
Gixhari graduated from one of the top universities in Albania with a major in bank management and worked as a banker. Once moving to Dubai, Gixhari soon started working with different companies such as Araby Ads, Etisalat, and Meraas with a qualified track in influencer marketing and sales with more than nine years of experience.
Gixhari sees a bright future for Starfish Agency and wants to be a part of making Starfish become the best micro-influencer agency in the GCC region.
Lucile Renaut, Influencer campaign manager, Starfish Agency
Renaut started her professional journey in the event planning field at Mirage Concept as a booker and a business developer. She then worked at NS Media as an influencer marketing manager where she was in charge of recruiting and coordinating placement with the UK and Middle Eastern influencers. Renaut then worked at Hailey Beauty as a marketing assistant, where she was also in charge of recruiting influencers from all around the world to promote their beauty products. There, she also handled the content creation for the brand’s TikTok and Instagram pages.
Renaut aims to grow her skills further within Starfish Agency and master time management, especially within campaign planning.
