Regional creative communications network Memac Ogilvy has named Samer Abboud as its new regional managing director for Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Iraq. The promotion of the eight-year Ogilvy employee comes as the agency sharpens its focus on the region’s growth markets and continues to drive its ‘Next Chapter’ evolution forward.
In his new role, Samer Abboud will unite and guide the network’s Jeddah, Riyadh, Beirut and Baghdad offices. The move demonstrates Ogilvy’s ongoing success in creating a bold new industry model for the integrated creative network. The end goal from this evolution is to deliver modern marketing services more effectively and efficiently across the entire network.
Supporting this mission will be the Deputy MD of KSA and the GM of Lebanon who will both report directly to Samer Abboud. Together, they will draw from their depth and breadth of experience to reinforce Ogilvy’s position as the region’s premier communications consultancy, ensuring the network delivers on its unquenchable ambition to ‘Make brands matter’.
“Much has changed during my eight years with Ogilvy, but one constant has been our ability to see opportunities where others can’t,” commented Samer Abboud, Memac Ogilvy’s Regional Managing Director for KSA, Lebanon, and Iraq. “Competition is fierce in our space today, so to remain relevant to clients and retain our hard-earned reputation as trusted consultants, we’ll work effortlessly towards achieving two things: continue to attract the brilliant talents and collaborate across our capabilities. Reaching these goals will be a top priority for our teams in these markets, under my guidance,” added Abboud.
The transition of Samer Abboud within the agency to Regional MD reflects the plan of Memac Ogilvy’s current CEO Patou Nuytemans who assumed her role in September 2017 while retaining her position as Chief Digital Officer of Ogilvy EMEA.
“Ogilvy is nothing without its people and their almost instinctive understanding of what we must do to ‘Make brands matter’,” commented Patou Nuytemans, Memac Ogilvy CEO. “As we expand our influence in growth markets during 2019 and continue to integrate, Samer’s years of experience in the ‘Ogilvy way’ – coupled with his vast expertise – will be invaluable to the agency’s success,” added Nuytemans.
Samer Abboud joined Memac Ogilvy in December 2011, tasked with opening the network’s first office in Doha, Qatar. Under his leadership, Memac Ogilvy Doha became the agency’s fastest-growing office, demonstrating industry-leading advertising, PR and digital capabilities thanks to the formation of a formidable team. Prior to joining Ogilvy, Abboud served as COO of Grey in Qatar for five years, following eight years with Siemens Mobile.
It’s worth to mention that Ogilvy had announced its ‘Next Chapter’ early 2017. The Next Chapter sees the agency integrate its various capabilities under one P&L to simplify and strengthen Ogilvy’s offering.
