With 19 years of experience and a strong track record at top multinational agencies like Ogilvy and Leo Burnett, I am dedicated to advancing marketing strategies and achieving excellence in leadership. My portfolio showcases high-concept, award-winning projects, meticulously crafted from concept through to delivery. Explore my core skills and see how they can drive both personal and organizational success.

Core Skills

▪ Cross-channel marketing communications: TV/Print/Social/Digital/Interactive/POS

▪ Team leading, team mentoring, and team building

▪. Well-versed in Mac OS, Adobe Creative Suite & MS Office Suite

▪ Industry-aware and technically up to speed with current communication trends

▪ Effective interpersonal communication & team/client relationship building

▪ Multi-level task handling - from small ads/digital to 360 thematic campaigns

▪ Strategically and creatively driven, logically minded, KPI and data-oriented

Awards

▪ Dubai Lynx: Healthcare in danger, Film Craft – Short List, ICRC

▪ MENA Effie: Stand and live, Electronics – Short List, Samsung

▪ Pikasso: Unlimited Data – Supersize Gold, Asiacell

▪ Pikasso: Hala – Airport Gold, Asiacell

▪ Pikasso: Facebook Flex – Supersize Silver, Asiacell

▪ Dubai Lynx: Anyone but Wael, Promo and Activation – Bronze, Coca-Cola

▪ Dubai Lynx: Anyone but Wael, Film Craft – Short List, Coca-Cola

▪ Dubai Lynx: Sprite Girl – Film Craft – Short List, Coca-Cola

▪ MENA Effie: Share a Coke, F&B FMCG – Gold, Coca-Cola

▪ Dubai Lynx: Doritos Collisions online game, Media – Short List, Doritos

▪ OMA: The Three Lions - Best Outdoor Campaign - Amsterdam, EgyptAir

Employment History

Creative Director – Pyxis, Abu Dhabi, UAE (Aug 2023 – Present)

Leading a dynamic creative team of communication specialists and architects, primarily catering to government sector clients. Overseeing the development and implementation of innovative design and communication strategies. My role involves orchestrating collaborative efforts to deliver high-impact solutions across various mediums, ensuring client satisfaction and project success.

Senior Communications Marketing Manager – Landmark Group, Dubai, UAE (July 2020 – July 2023)

Filling in a new role in the group. Leading the e-commerce content team of art directors, designers, copywriters, and UX merchandisers. Working closely with CRM, SEO, UX/UI, and the Technology teams to develop relevant functionalities to boost the teams’ efficiency and productivity levels while improving the user’s experience in parallel. As well as collaborating with the studio team to enhance the content quality and the eCommerce and Marketing HODs to streamline business performance while boosting the creative output and maintaining consistency across various consumer touchpoints for all territories with the GCC and SEA. Liaising with individual brands on setting the communication strategy and corporate brand guidelines. Leading brainstorming sessions to maximize the creative flow, briefing outsourced vendors (including agencies and directors) on corporate and brand-specific campaigns.

Key achievements

▪ Maintaining a track record of improving the CTR by a minimum of 5% annually while reducing the bounce rate, and increasing conversions

▪ Developed new user journeys and funnels that have proven successful and increased revenue by 18% from February 2023

▪ Reducing the cross-function TAT by 20% as a result of improved internal processes and better strategic planning

▪ Improving the function’s productivity by 16% while taking on added responsibilities achieved by mentoring and developing the current team(s) without increasing the headcount

▪ Integrating an AI platform in the daily content creation process

▪ Setting the function’s annual budget of 6.5M AED and saving worth of 1.4M AED over the past 36 months from developing strategic tech. functionalities, revisiting processes, and taking on two extensive team(s) restructures

Creative Director – Ogilvy/WPP, Cairo, Egypt (July 2018 – June 2020)

Leading, mentoring, and building the Creative Department. Working on a variety of clients to deliver creative solutions to meet and exceed clients’ briefs across all communication mediums. Liaising with outsourced vendors and leading creative brainstorming sessions.

Key achievements

▪ Onboarding USAID, Cadbury, Johnson & Johnson, Hyundai, FlyEgypt, and IKEA

▪ Talent recruitment, team mentoring, department development

▪ Created out-of-the-box, solid and relevant communications for potential new business

Associate Creative Director – Leo Burnett/Publicis, Amman, Jordan (Jan 2016 – Feb 2018)

Leading the creative team reporting to the ECD based in Beirut. Largely working on the telecom and electronics sectors. Leading brainstorming sessions to deliver creative solutions to meet and exceed clients’ briefs across all communication mediums.

Key achievements

▪ Winning three Pikasso awards, one MENA Effie shortlist and one Dubai Lynx shortlist

▪ Built solid relationships with clients, internal teams, vendors, and management

▪ Secured business, selling out-of-the-box solid and relevant communications materials

Founder/CEO – Ultra Chunky Universe, Cairo, Egypt & Geneva, Switzerland. (September 2015 – January 2022)

Established a 360-degree creative boutique from the ground up, managed and executed strategy, creative, account management, business development, finance, and production. Worked with clients between Cairo and Geneva to meet KPIs, delivering creative-led ATL, BTL, and digital solutions varying from branding, packaging, UX, and video production. Clients include the Coca-Cola Company, Mountain View, Assurconseil Insurance, The Commercial International Bank, Baraka Fashion, STEPS, Edge, MI-Properties, Jumeirah Real Estate Investment Co., AO Fashion, Ilori Textiles, Wiggles, and TGS.

Senior Art Director – FP7/McCann, (January 2014 – January 2016)

Creating and managing all artwork for the Coca-Cola Company for multiple markets while skillfully managing and mentoring a team of Designers to successfully execute design projects for multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns. Attending all client meetings and leading all photo shoots for the Coca-Cola Company. Largely working in the FMCG sector.

Key achievements

▪ Winning one Dubai Lynx, one MENA Effie, and shortlisted two Dubai Lynx awards

▪ Becoming the Coca-Cola Company brand guardian across various markets

▪ Creating campaign artwork for Sprite that has been adopted globally

▪ Working closely with the Coca-Cola Company marketing team to achieve set objectives

Senior Art Director – Y&R/WPP, (September 2012 – December 2013)

Served as the agency’s primary Senior Art Director, working closely with the Senior Copywriter, Creative Director, and Regional Creative Director on maintaining high-quality design work for existing clients while extensively pitching and winning new business that exceeded set targets. Attending client meetings, briefing directors and photographers, and directing all photo shoots.

Art Director – BBDO/Omnicom, (May 2010 – September 2012)

Served as the primary Creative to EFG Hermes, CIB, Beano’s, Mercedes Benz, Doritos, and Nestle. Provided innovative communication concepts, initiatives, complete and complex corporate identities, and identity facelifts for various brands across various sectors. Seamlessly coordinated and directed photo shoots, director, and photographer briefings, and ran multiple studios at the same time.

Key achievements

▪ Developed a solid reputation for doing whatever it takes to deliver superior concepts

▪ Supported in the increased retainer fees on the primary client (EFG Hermes) by 33%

▪ Increase business by effectively managing large, multi-faceted campaigns from concept

to project completion

▪ Developed solid relationships with key accounts marketers

▪ Was a primary team member in the IKEA pitch won in 2011

▪ Supported in the recruiting of creative, effective, and reliable talents.

Art Director – Synergy Advertising, (May 2007 – May 2010)

Senior Graphic Designer – Van Gogh Advertising, (April 2006 – May 2007)

Junior Creative – FP7/McCann, (March 2005 – April 2006)

Education

Master of Marketing, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

Education in progress

Bachelor of Design (BA), Monash University, Melbourne, Australia (2005)

Communication design - Collaborative design - Industrial design

Strategic Management, University of Copenhagen, Business School (2020)

Certified Strategic Management Course