 Paul Gostick B.Sc.(Hons), DipM, FCIM, FRSA, MCMI and International Chairman,
The Chartered Institute of Marketing is an a experienced business and marketing professional with significant management and channel experience gained with major US and European high technology multinationals and in not-for-profit organisations. Paul was elected International Chairman of The Chartered Institute of Marketing in May 2004 with responsibility for leading, setting and maintaining the strategic direction of the world’s largest professional body for marketing. He has worked in high technology industries for 29 years, holds an Honours Degree in Electronic Engineering, the Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing, and is a Chartered Marketer. Paul has broad experience of marketing and management in IT and high technology across many vertical markets – finance, telecommunications, retail, manufacturing, energy and public sector. He specialises in services, B2B marketing and branding. He is an accomplished presenter and has spoken at conferences on various business topics in the UK, USA, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Middle East and Africa. Paul gained the Institute's Diploma in Marketing 1989 and became a full member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing in 1990 and was elected Fellow in 1999. He is also a member of the Institute of Management and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. As a keen supporter of Continuing Professional Development he was amongst the first marketers in the world to achieve individual Chartered Status in October 1998. Paul has worked for a number of multinationals - Sun Microsystems, Digital, Tektronix, Bull HN and Brown Broveri Kent in various Technical, Marketing and Managerial positions. |
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 Malcolm Gladwell has an incomparable gift for generating value by interpreting groundbreaking research in psychology, sociology and neurology and applying it to business.In 2005, Time Magazine named Malcolm one of the 100 Most Influential People. He is the author of two New York Times #1 bestsellers, 'The Tipping Point' and 'Blink'. Malcolm’s first book embedded the concept of ‘The Tipping Point’ in our everyday vocabulary and gave organisations new tools for understanding how and why change happens, and how to create positive epidemics of ideas and behaviour. In ‘Blink’ he analyses first impressions - the judgments we make unconsciously and instinctively - and he explores how we can master this important aspect of successful decision-making. He is currently a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine and previously, he was a reporter for the Washington Post. |
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 Katharyn White brings twenty years of international sales and marketing experience to her current mission as Vice President, Marketing, IBM Northeast Europe. Katharyn leads IBM marketing and strategy for hardware, software, and services portfolios. She is also a member of IBM’s global senior leadership team, the integration and values team and the Chair of the Northeast Europe Climate Change Steering Board. Katharyn led the integration and transition of IBM’s innovative partnership with Lenovo, which acquired IBM’s personal computing business. Katharyn was previously Vice President for IBM Market Intelligence, Industry and Solutions Marketing, and prior to that she led Distribution Channels Marketing for IBM Europe Middle East Africa. Katharyn’s first assignment in Europe was Vice President, Marketing for IBM’s PC Division. Before that she was Vice President, Worldwide Sales, focusing on delivering PC solutions across the IBM portfolio, and Sales Director working on global accounts. Prior to joining IBM in 1996, Katharyn held positions in product management, marketing and manufacturing for DuPont. She began her career in sales and marketing positions at Hewlett Packard. Katharyn is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Duke University (Mechanical Engineering and Material Science) and holds a Masters in Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology. |
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 Bassem Berbari is General Manager of marketing at Nakheel. He has led the restructuring of the marketing department into a dynamic matrix-structured organisation where brand management roles are complemented by a series of specialist support functions; with a new structure and enhanced capabilities, the marketing team has successfully driven the repositioning of the Nakheel corporate brand and several of its flagship project brands. More recently, Bassem has focused his efforts on the re-launch of Waterfront, a city twice the size of Hong Kong and built on a sound social, environmental and economic sustainability framework. Prior to joining Nakheel, Bassem worked for Nestle heading up relationship marketing and digital strategy. He holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. |
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 Aubrey Ghose is recognised as one of the world’s leading authorities on retail branding. Holding degrees in Architecture and in Design and Art, Aubrey's professional career has been devoted exclusively to the design industry, focusing on building brands in the minds of consumers through the application of original, innovative, and high-effective retail concepts. He spent 20 years with international London based consultancies such as Fitch, HLS and as Co-Founder of Allen International. Aubrey founded ais BrandLab in 2003, bringing a unique and holistic approach to retail brands from headquarters in Barcelona.Now with support offices in London and Dubai it has become a leading agency in Europe and the Middle East.
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 Jonathan Lawlor has 16+ years marketing experience working on leading FMCG brands. He started his career working for Kraft Foods in Germany and in the UK on leading confectionery brands before moving to Coca-Cola. For Coca-Cola he has worked in Central and Eastern Europe, Italy and most recently North and West Africa where he is currently Marketing Director responsible for 27 countries in North and West Africa operating out of our regional head office based in Cairo. |
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 Tolga Sezer is Aujan Industries' former Executive Vice President and used to be a member of the Executive Committee responsible of marketing, sales and logistics functions. He joined the organisation in 2004 as its Head of Marketing holding overall marketing responsibility for Aujan’s property brands – Rani, Barbican, Vimto and Hani. Tolga looks back at an outstanding record of excellence in youth-focused marketing. A compelling leader with a strong vision, he has been the key driving force behind Aujan's fast growth and achievement in brand development. Tolga played a crucial role in the grand design and implementation of Aujan Industries' "555 Strategy" - a plan to boost the company's annual turnover to $500 million, within five years, through five brands. Combining global best practices, a profound knowledge of the region and an excellent insight into the youth's mindset, he used to lead a team of highly motivated and professional individuals. In January 2008, Tolga left Aujan Industries after three and a half years of service full of great achievements. Tolga has considerable industry experience, having previously worked with Unilever for nine years. In his last designation, he managed Unilever’s marketing operations in Turkey and Central Asia for its beverages category. He gathered extensive experience in beverages marketing throughout his stint at Unilever, working for Lipton from sales all the way to marketing management. Some of his greatest personal achievements during his tenure in Unilever were: successful launch of Lipton Ice Tea brand, establishment of Lipton OOH business and the development of the revolutionary approach to brand activation. |
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 Patrick Jephson was born and raised in Ireland. He has a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Cambridge University. After ten years as an officer in the Royal Navy he was selected to join the Royal Household, serving for eight years as Equerry and as the first and only Private Secretary (Chief of Staff) to Diana, Princess of Wales. He was appointed Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) for personal service to the Sovereign. His work for Princess Diana involved daily working contact with British and foreign officials at all levels up to and including head of state. He also organised Diana’s international visits and journeyed with her to destinations such as the USA, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Argentina, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Some of these experiences are recalled in his book Portraits of a Princess: Travels with Diana. Patrick also managed the Princess’s relations with a wide range of British institutions including Buckingham Palace, Downing Street, Parliament, the City of London, police and security services, the news media and the film and entertainment industries. In addition he controlled the Princess’s links with the voluntary sector and wrote the majority of her speeches, messages, forewords and public correspondence. He then spent eighteen months as a senior consultant at Lowe Bell Communications before writing, on Princess Diana’s death, his account of life in royal service. His first book Shadows of A Princess (a New York Times and Sunday Times of London bestseller) was reviewed as “the most indelible and authentic portrait of the people’s princess.” As writer and presenter of television documentaries, a contributor to current affairs programmes worldwide and a discriminating writer on royal affairs, he has a unique ability to decode the messages hidden in official communiqués and in tabloid gossip. |
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| Hilal Halaoui, Principle - Global Communications & Technology Practice, Booz Allen Hamilton Middle East, UAE |
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 Nick Wiggin has recently joined Ansible as Managing Director EMEA. He brings his 15 years of media experience, with the last 7 years focussed on mobile media, to help advertiser and agency clients maximise the impact of mobile advertising through the Ansible Full Service business. He set up his own mobile specialist company, WhoHow, in early 2003, successfully cultivating strong international relationships with agency groups and mobile operators. Last year Nick helped launch a mobile ad serving business in Asia and the Middle East, cultivating relationships with Etisalat, Du and a number of local UAE based advertising agencies and media companies. WhoHow was instrumental in the launch, acquisition and strategic development of mobile businesses for clients such as WPP, Aeigis, Mitsui and Endemol. Before setting up his own company Nick worked in South East Asia and Europe for the media agency OMD where he was directly responsible for multi-market projects and staff in 3 regional offices. Nick was Chairman of the Mobile Marketing Association for two terms from 2005 to 2007, responsible for developing the mobile advertising standards initiative and re-writing the ‘Code of Conduct’. He has a passion for helping the mobile industry overcome hurdles such as metrics and standards to make mobile advertising happen, hence following his MMA role with a strategic advisory position on mobile advertising at the GSM Association. |
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 Khurram Hamid is a change artist. From a young age he showed leadership in developing new ways of thinking and new strategies to help companies develop new business approaches, linking technology and business objectives to the bottom line with generating over $50M in value. At the same time he was ensuring that business transformation occurred through transforming the culture, which is not just a strategy but a new approach to do business. He is currently leading the interactive marketing for the biggest marketing company in the world for the biggest growing region in the world Central Europe Middle East and Africa. He is constantly changing the industry by looking for new advertising models and to ensure P&G wins in this space. He additionally works with the largest on-line/offline and mobile companies in the world.
He is the global thought leader for mobile marketing globally for the company, and also part of the core group developing the social networking advertising model for the company. His key beliefs are, GROW as the market grows, CHANGE as consumer habit and views change and EVOLVE as technology evolves. He is an innovative, passionate person....a destructive innovator!
Khurram specialties are:
• Leadership in new media and technology
• Managing a global team
• Developing relationships
• Key Note speaking a industry events |
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 Antony Lawrence joined Jumeirah in September 2005 in the capacity of Group Director of Marketing. An art college graduate of St Martin’s School of Art, London, Antony started his career in advertising. He moved on to roles in branding of luxury hotels and then went out to set up his own design and communication company River Design, London. Antony has brought a lot of energy and creativity to Jumeirah. His experience working on both sides of the business gives him a clear idea of what is achievable and how much it needs to cost. His track record and ability to generate fresh ideas have proven to be an asset to his department right from his onset. Antony loves to push himself and cannot resist any challenge that comes his way. This very quality compels him and his team to ‘Stay Different’. |
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 Mazen Hayek is the Group Director of Marketing, PR and Commercial at MBC Group. A multi-year veteran of the Middle East communications industry, Mazen brings wide-ranging expertise across the marketing and communications sectors. Mazen is responsible for streamlining MBC Group’s MarComms, Public Relations and Commercial activities, with the aim to further strengthen relationships with business partners and stakeholders. He’s primarily entrusted with the role of building a strong and trusted MBC Group portfolio of Brands – one that embodies the Middle East region’s leading TV and Radio channels. Today, MBC Group consists of MBC1 (General Family Entertainment), MBC2 (24-hour Movies), MBC3 (Children’s Entertainment), MBC4 (World Entertainment), MBC ACTION (Action Programmes, Series and Movies) and Al Arabiya (the 24-hour Arabic language News Channel). In addition, MBC Group owns two Radio Channels: MBC FM (Gulf Music) & Panorama FM (Contemporary Arabic Hit Music). Prior to joining MBC Group, Mazen was the Managing Director of Manning Selvage & Lee Public Relations (MS&L/Dubai), an entity of the Leo Burnett Group of Companies MENA (part of Publicis Group). During his tenure, he oversaw the Agency's delivery of PR counsel to a wide range of industry-leading and trailblazing clients and led MS&L’s regional office, overseeing a strong team of PR consultants. |
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 Sangeeta Pendurkar, Chief Marketing Officer – Middle East, HSBC Bank has worked across three different industries (pharmaceuticals, FMCG and financial services), Sangeeta has 20 years of marketing experience and currently heads the marketing and product function for HSBC, for the Middle East region. She has held senior marketing roles at Novartis, Unilever and at HSBC India, and moved about 18 months back to Dubai as the Chief Marketing Officer for HSBC – Middle East. During her role at Unilever, based out of India, she launched two key paper products brands – Huggies and Kotex, and subsequently she was responsible for marketing for the skin care business, with a portfolio of 5 large brands. She won the Unilever International Award for Integrated Channels Communication for Fair & Lovely (the largest skin care brand in India) and the Chairman’s Award in India for unprecedented growth in Fair & Lovely. Sangeeta set-up the marketing and product team for HSBC in India and launched several innovations during her three year assignment. The team was recognised as the “Best Marketing Team” in HSBC Asia-Pacific in 2005. At HSBC Middle East, she is responsible for product propositions for the personal banking business, including credit cards and marketing for the personal banking, credit cards and commercial banking business. Sangeeta holds an MBA in marketing and enjoys reading, music and avidly collects art. HSBC has a worldwide presence across 83 countries with 10000 offices. It is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations. |
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 James Duthie is the CEO OgilvyOne Middle East and Group Managing Director Memac Ogilvy, Bahrain, and has gained over 20 years integrated marketing experience in international markets, 17 of them with the Ogilvy Group. Early in 1999 James moved out to Dubai to set up OgilvyOne Middle East. The office in Dubai is now 32 strong, with a further 15 people in OgilvyOne Bahrain. Additional offices in the Middle East are on the cards. OgilvyOne Middle East is responsible for building the customer management loyalty and digital engagement of some of the regions best known and loved brands including Gulf Air, American Express, Jumeirah, Nissan, Royal & Sun Alliance, British Airways, Etisalat. Early in 2007 James took on the additional responsibility of Country Head for Memac Ogilvy Bahrain, where he oversees the advertising, Public Relations and PR functions.James now spends most of his time on a plane over the Arabian Gulf. James has published several papers on CRM and is a regular contributor to a number of marketing publications in the Middle East, the IAA, and the Universal Association of Postal Agencie. He also sits on an advisory board for Emirates Environmental Group, WWF and the Rotary Club. James also provides customer management and communication consulting for a number of regional and global brands. |
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 Steve Anastasiadas is the Managing Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai, a hub office for clients such as Procter & Gamble, Bel Fromagerie, Qatar Airways and Red Bull across the Middle East and beyond. He is a member of the Saatchi & Saatchi EMEA Board. Prior to arriving in Dubai, he was a key member of Saatchi’s global executive team on Toyota, one of the agency's largest clients, having held regional responsibilities across Australasia and Europe. In his over 15 years with Saatchi & Saatchi in offices throughout the global network, he has worked with numerous clients at the local, regional and the global levels and has been an avid and passionate observer as to what motivates and drives consumers the world over. Now firmly placed in the region, Steve sees his key role as being that of a 'connector'. Connecting talent, ideas and best practice from the network to this part of the world. |
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 The Honorable Mary Jo Jacobi has a unique blend of corporate, public and voluntary sector experience in both the United Kingdom and the United States. She was the Chief Reputation Officer of some of the world’s largest corporations, including Royal Dutch Shell, Lehman Brothers and HSBC Holdings, where she devised and executed one of the most successful corporate brand strategies in history. She held senior public affairs positions with 3M, the National Association of Manufacturers and Drexel Burnham Lambert, where she was an Executive Director. She also has been a non-executive director of Tate & Lyle, plc. Mary Jo was a senior adviser to two American Presidents: as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for George H W Bush and as a Special Assistant to Ronald Reagan, who also appointed her to his Advisory Committee on Trade Negotiations. She previously served on the staff of the US Senate Committee on Commerce. Currently she is a UK Civil Service Commissioner, a visiting fellow of the Leeds University Business School, a member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Wilton Park Advisory Council and a US-UK Fulbright Commissioner. She is a trustee of the Sir Heinz Koeppler Trust, the Reform Club Conservation and the Educational Trust for Russia, for which she lectures at the Moscow School of Political Studies. She is a Non-Executive Director of the American Council on Germany. Mary Jo is a member of the advisory boards of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Prosperity, the Association of MBAs and the business schools of Oxford and George Washington universities. She is a fellow of the RSA and the Industry and Parliament Trust and a member of the Institute of Directors, Royal Institution of Great Britain, International Women’s Forum’s UK and New York chapters and three City of London livery companies. She was the first woman to chair the Board of Directors of the Ladies Professional Golf Association and subsequently was a Non-Executive Director of the Ladies European Golf Tour. Mary Jo has an MBA from the George Washington University and a BBA from Loyola University of New Orleans. |
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 Michael Johnston has over 25 years of business experience in high-technology and worked for such firms as AT&T, NCR and the Chicago Tribune Corporation. He is President of I Business Forum, a research and educational firm focused on e-business and online marketing. He recently authored a well received book, “E-business Exposed” offering effective online strategies for businesses. With a MBA in marketing and a MS degree in technology management, Michael has developed and teaches e-business certificate programs for San Diego State University, UCLA and is a lead faculty member for the University of Phoenix. He is a sought after speaker conducting e-business workshops to business organisations. His firm provides e-business consulting services for the U.S. Small Business Administration working with small businesses. He is also a partner in a successful online employment company. |
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 Patrick Crane heads up LinkedIn’s marketing, pr and advertising sales business. He is responsible for growing the LinkedIn audience and the company’s ad sales revenue. Prior to LinkedIn, Patrick served as Vice President of Marketing for the Yahoo! Network Division. At Yahoo! he was responsible for taking Yahoo! Answers to market in 2005 and for marketing the product to its position today as the #1 Q&A site on the web. Patrick also led the marketing of Yahoo! Mail, helping it become the world’s top web mail provider in 2006 as measured by comScore. Prior to Yahoo!, Patrick worked for Vodafone in the UK, Australia and the U.S. and his contributions included the launch of Australia and New Zealand’s first wireless internet portal, extending some of the services into the Japanese market. He attended the University of Huddersfield and Henley Management College, both located in the United Kingdom. |
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 Mohamed Samir is the Vice President of Procter & Gamble operations in the Near East. Procter & Gamble is the Consumer goods world leader, one of the biggest advertisers in the world and winner of advertiser of the year in Cannes 2008. P&G has 23 billion dollar brands. Mohamed started with P&G in 1989 in Egypt. He moved up the ranks in marketing taking him on the way to Western Europe, the Gulf and Beirut. He also spent one year working specifically on advertising for P&G. He is now back to his home town of Cairo after being ten years on the road. He is a big believer in brand building and sees change and new ideas a must for success in the future. |
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 Ahmed Nassef is Vice President of the Maktoob Group and General Manager of Maktoob.com, the Arab world’s leading Web portal and online community. With twelve years of professional experience in marketing management and consulting both in the US and the Arab world, Ahmed has specialised in the implementation of direct marketing, response-based techniques to maximise the profitability of customer relationships, both online and through traditional media. Before joining Maktoob, Ahmed was Senior Consultant with database marketing firm Cross World Network, where he developed marketing programmes for Acxiom Corporation and McCann Relationship Marketing. He also served as Vice President, Marketing at Omnipod, a developer of internet based software based in New York and as Vice President of Marketing for Human-i-Tees, Inc., where he helped grow revenues from $1 Million to $45 Million annually in less than six years, making it the US's leading cause-related cataloguer of products targeting the youth and education markets. Ahmed has also published articles on marketing topics for various U.S. based direct marketing trade publications. |
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 Nassim Ghrayeb, is currently the Co-Founder and CEO at YouGovSiraj in the UAE (further information to follow shortly). |
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 Himanshu Vashishtha is the Managing Director of the The Nielsen Company - UAE. He has a Post Graduate Diploma in Communications from the Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad, India. He has over ten years market research experience in MENAP region and across the Indian Subcontinent. He has closely worked with many brands across industries such as FMCG, finance, automotive, real estate, media, internet and tourism – supervising research plans to help brand teams develop their competitive strategy using actionable consumer insights. He has also been a regular writer in marketing magazines in the Gulf. His special interest is in the area of new brand development and advertising research. |
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 Anita Mehra Homayoun graduated from the American University of Beirut with a BA in Middle Eastern History in 1975 and in 1977 received a Masters Degree in Education from Bank Street College of Education in New York. She started her career in Iran with Time-Life Books in 1978. In 1983 Anita moved to Dubai and started her career in advertising with an agency and handled Dubai Duty Free as a major account. In 1986 she was invited by the Dubai Duty Free team to set up their marketing division. She headed the Dubai Duty Free Marketing and Media Relations department for 10 years and developed their marketing strategy. She pioneered international promotional events such as the Dubai Tennis Open ATP Tour and the very popular Finest Car Surprise Draw. In 1996 Anita set up the Marketing and Corporate Communications Division for the Department of Civil Aviation in Dubai which is the governing body that owns Dubai International Airport and the Cargo Village. Anita is a Board member for Al Noor School for Special Needs and Dubai College. She is married with two teenage sons and is actively involved in Equestrian Endurance Races, Snow Skiing, Mountain Biking, Kite Surfing and Scuba Diving. |
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 Rajeev Budhiraja is Group Managing Director for Promoseven 360. It is an agency that places consumer insight at the centre of a full circle of integrated capabilities to deliver communication solutions in the most relevant media with measurable results. To complete the circle of communication with digital and data offerings, the team also includes MRM Worldwide. Promoseven 360’s clients are leaders in the fields of Finance, Real Estate, Telecoms, Jewelery, Pharmaceuticals and Hospitality. Prior to the Agency, Rajeev worked with Cathay Pacific Airways in the Middle East for 9 years and most recently was Regional Marketing Manager for the Middle East. Rajeev graduated in Economics and Law from Cambridge University in U.K. |
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 Michael Zienkovicz is currently an independent consultant for Endy International based in the USA (further information to follow shortly). |
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 Mohamed El Khoja is currently the CEO and founder of Cornerstone Arabia in Saudi Arabia (further information to follow shortly). |
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 Eddie Maalouf is the Co-Founder at MnM Brandstreet. After quitting his day job as a professional photographer for Sigma Press in the late eighties in Paris, Eddie joined the advertising world with Grey Worldwide in Dubai where he became Client Services Director for the Middle East. Working on clients such as P&G, British American Tobacco and Nokia among others, he developed an affinity for consumer understanding and an aversion to traditional channels of communications. In 2000, Eddie joined the start up of Nokia’s operations in the Middle East as their Head of Marketing, evolving to become the region’s managing director for three years. After realisng his true passion lied in the Nokia brand, he then opted to return to Had of Marketing for the Middle East and Africa region. Eddie has continually been named a key contributor to the success of the Nokia Brand in the region. In December 2007, Eddie decided to escape the status quo and challenge his marketing ideals. True to his belief that brand personality is based on translated theories of human personalities; he co-founded MnM Brandstreet, to lead similar minded (and not so similar minded) clients to marry the relation between brands, consumers in their natural habitats. - www.mnm-brandstreet.com |
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 Hamad Malik leads LG Electronics’ marketing and corporate communications in Middle East and Africa Operations. His career began with market research projects in US. He then moved to Pakistan where he was involved in marketing and PR in defense industry.
In 1995, Hamad joined LG as marketing manager. Two years ago, he was promoted to his present position of Director – Marketing and Corporate Communications. He currently spearheads LG’s regional marketing and corporate communications department and leads a Marcom network that spans 78 countries.Hamad Malik has been involved with the launch of LG brand in the region and is the architect of this strong brand. He is a regular and active speaker on international and regional marketing, PR and CSR conferences and forums. |
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