Komal is driven by creative curiosity, passion, and energy. She loves ideas that are disruptive, entertaining, and thought-provoking.
Her love for travel and cultural curiosity has shaped her career over the last 30 years. She has led creative teams across ASEAN countries, having worked in Singapore, India & Dubai.
Cannes Lions, One Show, D&AD, ADC, Clio, LIA, Epica, New York Festivals, ANDYs, Spikes Asia, Effie, WARC, AMEs, Dubai Lynx, and Goa Fest are major award shows that have recognized her work across diverse categories including: Film, Print, Digital, Ambient, Outdoor, Promo, Media, Design, Direct Marketing and Heath.
It was her pleasure to serve as a jury member at Cannes Lions, ADC, CLIO, Adfest, and New York Festivals.
Nour has over 10 years of experience as a creative in the Middle East region. With a background in Art Direction, her work has been awarded at Cannes, One Show and Lynx. Today, she’s the creative lead on brands like Coca-Cola, Virgin Mobile, Accor Hotels and Tang.
She believes in the power of creative solutions with effective results.
Born Sagittarius, 1977.
Dribbles the ball at Don Bosco High School. Clicks the shutter & acquires BFA from Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art. Wins state & art school awards.
Hopps, skips & jumps as Art Director from Mudra Communications to Leo Burnett to Enterprise Nexus.
Works hard on brands like Times of India, Killer Jeans, McDonald’s, The Economic times & more.
Represents Lowe from Asia as one of the youngest creatives at Cannes Lions on invitation by Adrian Holmes. Drops into Dubai on the way back. Falls in love with the hottest melting pot of culture.
Moves to Dubai. Joins Partnership in 2003. Named Campaign Magazine’s young creative to watch in the region.
Quits Partnership in 2007. Joins Lowe MENA. Moves back after 9 months
Creates Iconic Splash Calendar in 2011. Continues to be Iconic every year.
Wins first One Show Silver Pencil for, Khaild Javed a humble cobbler in Bur Dubai. Wins first Gold & Silver Cannes Lion for Aster Clinics & the UAE in Health.
Starts judging at Cannes Lions in 2018. Continues jury journey at Clio Health, LIA, Adstars, AME Awards, The Global Awards, New York Festivals & KYIV Festival.
Keeps winning. Amassing over 200 awards at Cannes Lions, Dubai Lynx, One Show, D&AD, & more. Named among region’s Top 10 ECDs multiple times.
Creates first-ever global campaign on invitation by SA Federation for Mental Health in 2018.
Speaks on the global stage at Cannes Lions, Dubai Lynx, Mena Cristal. Mentors students at GEMS International School, FAD Fashion Institute & Middle Sex University.
Continues the show as MD & ECD.
“Mommy. Creative Leader. Kinesiologist. Speaker”.
Marie-Claire holds many titles, but the one she believes truly defines her is ‘A Student of Life’.
Two weeks after graduating with honours from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, Marie-Claire, being top of her class, was approached by BBDO for an Art Director position. Her drive and contribution to growing the business and the teams made her a key player in the agency. She currently holds the title of Executive Creative Director.
As ECD, MC, as called by her colleagues, haws contributed substantially in bringing home to the MENA region the most coveted awards of the industry. In 2022, she helped win more than 85 awards, amongst which the only D&AD Yellow Pencil won by MENA this year, one of the two Cannes Lions Grand Prix won by the MENA region as well as the only Grand Lia in Health for MENA.
MC worked on many initiatives that helped make a difference and Pro Bono projects that had effective results, including the "Mutilated Words Campaign" that raises awareness around the dangers of female genital mutilation, the "Toxic Flag", that helped stop the project of building incinerators in the middle of the capital Beirut.
The latest projects she worked on are “Despair No More", which is the Arabic for "Menopause", that worked towards erasing that phrase forever from the Arabic Language,
The “Social Distancing Prayer Mat”, for Dettol, allowing Muslim worshippers in Pakistan to pray safely during the spread of Covid-19.
As well as "The Elections Edition" Act with the Newspaper Annahar that was the first printed edition that never went to print so that the Lebanese elections happen on time by using the ink and paper from the unprinted edition.
Her work has been recognized at The One Show, Caples, Clio Awards, LIA Awards, Dubai Lynx, D&AD, Loeries, MAdStars, Epica, Immortals, Global Cristal Festival, MENA Cristal, The Andys, Effies and Cannes Lions.
Marie-Claire was a Juror in multiple award shows including Cannes Lions, New York Festival, Global Awards, D&AD, The One Show, LisbonAdFestival and Mena Cristals.
Her penchant for injecting positivity into life, has led to a certification in Professional Kinesiology Practice by ICPKP New Zealand and Kinesiocoach Dubai.
She has also done energy studies through the Pranic Healing system. She uses the tenants of what she learned to spread a positive culture through public speaking events, with the people she works with and create a healthy, collaborative environment.
Fouad’s currently serving as Regional Executive Director for FP7 McCann, Dubai, overseeing key clients from the network and working toward building a creative culture to match that of McCann World Group’s global success.
He created his first full-page ad in ‘98 for Heineken while still at Uni. His last 3+ years have been at TBWA as ECD, during which time the agency was awarded unprecedented success. Golds at Cannes, the most GP at Dubai Lynx and other international shows; Agency and Network of the Year 2018 (most awarded Agency of the Region at Cannes). He’s currently ranked number 1 Executive Creative Director in the MENA Region according to the B&W 2019 Report, as well as 8th worldwide (The Big One Rankings). He’s also judged at Cannes, D&AD, Loeries, and other prominent shows.
Before that, he spent a successful 4+ years as ECD of BBDO. Throughout his career, Fouad has led on some of the world’s most sought-after brands like: Nissan, Emirates, SCB, MARS, Pepsico, P&G, Mercedes, GE and more. He’s also been instrumental in key pitch wins that include: du, Louvre Abu Dhabi, KFC, and notable others.
Firas got his career underway as a freelance graphic designer in Iraq. With one foot in the door and the other on the pedal, his career just took off from there on. Flash forward twenty years and he is one of most respected and awarded creative leaders in the advertising industry in the Middle East. He has created and inspired work that has won top honors at every major awards show: Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Clio, LIA, New York Festivals, Dubai Lynx. The list goes on. In just a few years, Firas and his team put DDB Dubai squarely on the advertising map with big wins at every awards show: first Cannes Lion, D&AD, One Show, Clio, LIA and a Dubai Lynx Grand Prix. His love for big bold ideas knows no bounds. And every day he tirelessly works with his colleagues and team to constantly push the boundaries. It’s no small wonder why he has been ranked one of the TOP 50 ECDs in the world and number 11 in the MENA in Big Won rankings.
Kalpesh Patankar is Chief Creative officer of VMLY&R, MENA. In 2018 he was named among the top 10 Global Agency Leaders by Adweek. Patankar has been one of the most effective and awarded creatives in the region. He helped create celebrated work for Coca-Cola, Harvey Nichols, Landrover, Colgate and many others.
Before VMLY&R, he led creative in Asia with Saatchi & Saatchi Mumbai and Ogilvy Singapore. At Saatchi & Saatchi his work for Ariel made him the No.1 Ranked creative in India and helped the agency become the most awarded in 2000. He has been named among “Creatives to Watch” multiple times and has been instrumental in elevating creative work across the MENA region and leading VMLY&R Dubai to the title of most awarded agency in the region. He is also a member of VMLY&R's Global Creative Council.
Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Alex Pineda holds a master’s degree in 'Creativity and Strategic Management of Advertising' from the European Institute of Design in Barcelona, a diploma in Advertising Management and Graphic Design from the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University of Bogotá. His work has been recognized at major global advertising awards competitions, including the New York Festivals, Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, Clio, Dubai Lynx, London International Awards, and many others.
Alex landed in the Emirates in 2014, and has climbed the career ladder with great determination and passion. He was elected 'Associate Creative Director of the Year' for the Middle East and North Africa by the 'Black & White Report' in 2018; and as the number one creative copywriter in the United Arab Emirates by ‘Lürzer's Archive’ Magazine for 5 years in a row since 2017.
Comic book artist and football aficionado in love with creativity, Alex is 100% sure that when things are done with your soul, they have no reason to go wrong.
Mangesh is a Creative Director at The Classic Partnership, Dubai. Having worked with clients in the fashion, branding, packaging, healthcare, and pharma categories for over 15 years, he brings a wealth of experience and offers a holistic approach to design, advertising, and photography.
Mangesh is of the strong belief that there’s a simple solution to any problem. Being a traveler and a biker, he brings his love for different cultures, people, and food to what he does.
This approach has been recognised and awarded at several international festivals such as Dubai Lynx, Cannes Lion, One Show, Lia Awards, New York Festival, Global Awards, Clio, Loeries, AME, Ad Stars, The PHNX and WPPED Cream.
His most recent achievement was when he served as a Grand Jury member on the Global Awards panel for New York Festivals.