Aurelien Fonteneau, Managing Director, Dubai, We Are SocialWe Are Social, a global socially-led creative agency, has promoted Aurelien Fonteneau to the role of Managing Director of its Dubai office.
In his new remit, Fonteneau will focus on developing the agency’s client base across the Middle East and Africa (MEA), helping brands shift from traditional to social-first marketing models.
He will leverage We Are Social’s global network to bring international insights to regional brands, championing creative excellence backed by technology.
Commenting on the appointment, Jim Coleman, EMEA CEO at We Are Social, said, “Aurelien is an extremely talented and respected leader who I’ve been fortunate to work with for most of his career. His progression from Account Executive to Managing Director is well deserved.”
Coleman added, “In Dubai, we have a team that delivers bold, social-first thinking, and Aurelien will be building on this to deliver a first-class creative and strategic offering to our clients. I’m looking forward to working with him to drive growth in MEA.”
Fonteneau’s promotion comes at a time of significant momentum for the agency, which rebranded from Socialize to We Are Social in Dubai last year as part of a unified global growth strategy.
Recent months have seen the team secure new business from Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) and Mubadala, building on a client roster that includes Sony, Sephora, and Babyshop.
The agency has been awarded a Gold for Creative Effectiveness at the MENA Digital Awards for its work with Pringles and We Are Social became the first advertising agency in the region to sign the National Pledge for Gender Balance.
Fonteneau has spent most of his career at We Are Social, joining the agency in 2010 and spending a decade in its London and Dubai offices. During this time he moved from an Account Executive to Group Account Director, with client experience including Adidas, Jaguar and Danone. He will now manage a team of 60 in Dubai, reporting to We Are Social’s EMEA CEO, Jim Coleman.
Fonteneau said, “Having been part of the We Are Social family since 2010, taking on the role of Managing Director feels like an incredibly rewarding next step. I’ve seen the agency grow from a disruptive newcomer to a global powerhouse, and I am now focused on accelerating that momentum in MEA.
He added, “We’ve already seen a shift across the region; brands no longer see social as a checkbox, but as the heart of their marketing strategy. There is an incredible appetite for creative social expertise that delivers real results, and that is exactly where We Are Social – with our unrivalled network and extensive capabilities – adds value that no others can.”
