Advertising Creative Digital Editors' Picks Featured Marketing Media Opinion Special Feature

posted on Nov. 03, 2025 at 9:30 amNov 4, 2025

Is strategy more than a slide factory?

posted on Nov. 03, 2025 at 9:30 amNov 4, 2025

Chief Strategy Officers and Heads of Strategy representing some of the most respected agencies in the region speak to Campaign Middle East about the purpose of strategists beyond preparing pointless presentations and decks.

From left, top row, Catherine Bannister, Chief Strategy Officer, TBWARAAD; Alejandro Fischer, Chief Strategy Officer, Havas Middle East; Sanita Sandhu, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, Initiative MENAT; Tahaab Rais, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis Groupe Middle East and Turkey; Frances Bonifacio, Head of Strategy and Director of HR, Serviceplan Arabia; From left, bottom row, Sachin Mendonca, Chief Creative Strategist, YouExperience; Daniel Shepherd, Chief Strategy Officer, Omnicom Media Group – MENA; Alex Jena, Chief Strategy Officer, dentsu MENAT; Sebastian Roland, Group Head of Strategy, Impact BBDO; and Prabhakar Iyer, Head of Strategy and Planning – Middle East, Edelman.

From left, top row, Catherine Bannister, Chief Strategy Officer, TBWARAAD; Alejandro Fischer, Chief Strategy Officer, Havas Middle East; Sanita Sandhu, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, Initiative MENAT; Tahaab Rais, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis Groupe Middle East and Turkey; Frances Bonifacio, Head of Strategy and Director of HR, Serviceplan Group Middle East; From left, bottom row, Sachin Mendonca, Chief Creative Strategist, YouExperience; Daniel Shepherd, Chief Strategy Officer, Omnicom Media Group – MENA; Alex Jena, Chief Strategy Officer, dentsu MENAT; Sebastian Roland, Group Head of Strategy, Impact BBDO; and Prabhakar Iyer, Head of Strategy and Planning – Middle East, Edelman.

Once upon a time, as all good stories start, a strategist’s job used to be scripted in neat lines: find insights, brief the work, set the course, spark the magic, and measure the echo of the strategy. But then, the plot thickened, the stage stretched, the costumes multiplied, and expectations expanded to everything from product and pricing to platforms and performance.
From being the backstage operator, the protagonist was pulled on stage and placed under the spotlight of playback theatre – required to improvise based on real-time demands. The strategist soon played the roles of a creative thinker, trend analyst, tech tinkerer, growth driver, data scientist, coder, the voice of the consume

To continue reading this article you need to be registered with Campaign. Registration is free and only takes a minute. Register Now or sign in below if you already have an account.

Tags:Alejandro Fischer. Havas Middle East Alex Jena analyst brief Catherine Bannister Chief strategy officer coder creative creative thinking Daniel Shepherd data scientist dentsu MENAT Edelman Frances Bonifacio gatekeeper growth growth driver Impact BBDO Initiative MENAT Insights Omnicom Media Group Omnicom Media Group MENA ownership pitches Prabhakar Iyer presentations problem framing Publicis Groupe ME&T Sachin Mendonca Sanita Sandhu Sebastian Roland Serviceplan Arabia slide factory staffing storytelling Strategist Strategy Tahaab Rais TBWA\Raad tech tinkerer thinker trends voice of the consumer Work YouExperience

the authorAnup Oommen

Anup Oommen is the Editor of Campaign Middle East at Motivate Media Group, a well-reputed moderator, and a multiple award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of experience at some of the most reputable and credible global news organisations, including Reuters, CNN, and Motivate Media Group. As the Editor of Campaign Middle East, Anup heads market-leading coverage of advertising, media, marketing, PR, events and experiential, digital, the wider creative industries, and more, through the brand’s digital, print, events, directories, podcast and video verticals. As such he’s a key stakeholder in the Campaign Global brand, the world’s leading authority for the advertising, marketing and media industries, which was first published in the UK in 1968.