Middle East Brand Summit 2020, a Transform magazine online conference

Erdem Aksakal is the Marketing Director for SAP Middle East South. After working in technology companies like Vestel and Ericsson, he joined SAP as the marketing director Turkey in 2010. Since 2017 he is a marketing director in Middle East.

In addition he has been writing on various magazines, books and academic publications.

His book about business life was published in Turkish in 2016 and reached to 8th edition. 

He has a BSc Degree in Electronics Engineering and an MBA degree. He has been studying as PhD student on digital marketing. He is a lecturer and keynote speaker.

Ash leads the CEEMEA strategy practice, serves on the EMEA leadership team, and advises our clients’ C-suites. He led the brand function for 8 years at two major telcos (and won Transform MENA Grands Prix at both), and was a senior partner at Lippincott earlier. Over the last 3 decades he’s worked in Bombay, New York, Bucharest, London, Milan, Dubai, and extensively across the MEA region. He’s also an author, poet, musician, and awards juror.

Rania Biltagi is the Head of Communications and Partnerships at Ithra with over two decades of experience in marketing and communications. Over the span of Rania’s career with Saudi Aramco, she has held multiple positions from heading Corporate Brand Management and Advertising, to initiating and leading the development of Saudi Aramco’s corporate brand strategy and brand refresh that was launched in 2015. In her tenure at Ithra, Rania has overseen communications for several key initiatives such as: the 29^th Arab League Summit, Tanween Creativity Season, the 5^th Saudi Film Festival and the FIKR17 conference.

A true multi-disciplinary digital pioneer and innovation evangelist, Alex has a 20 years experience in the advertising industry, with a long string of successful case histories. His career begun in JWT Italy and continued as ECD in MRM Italy and McCann Worldgroup Italy, and in Publicis ME, in Dubai, as Regional CCO. His work has won the most important industry awards, from the Cannes Lions, to the MENA Effies, to the Dubai Lynx and he has served as jury member in all the major global advertising contests. In August 2015 he has joined Google as the first ever Creative Impact Lead for Middle East and North Africa, a role that allows him - collaborating closely with the best clients and creative partners in the Region - to keep innovating the way brands communicate.

MT is the Executive Creative Director of Consumer at FutureBrand. She joined the London team in 2014. Geordie by birth, French by name and Scottish by training, the Glasgow School of Art graduate landed in London over  20 years ago to pursue her passion for building an emotional connection with consumers through exceptional creative thinking and beautiful craft. Today she permeates borders and disciplines throughout the FutureBrand global network collaborating with multiple teams around the world.

During her career, MT has established a track record for success and built an impressive design portfolio, working with some of the world’s leading brands for companies including Unilever, Diageo, PepsiCo, P&G, Mondelez, AB InBev & Coca Cola. At FutureBrand she leads many of the firm’s most prestigious projects, recently working on Nepresso, Nestle Skin Health, NatWest, Godiva and ABInbev.

Mariagrazia De Angelis is the General Manager for the Dubai office of Landor Associates, responsible for the company’s operations in the Middle East. She has been with Landor and in the region for the last 12 years, leading complex rebranding program for high-profile brands across countries and industries, and gaining an extensive experience in financial services, telco, FMCG and government programs.

Over the course of her career at Landor, she has played a pivotal role in the rebranding programs for Dubai Airports/ DXB, MBC Shahid, Alawwal Bank, Almarai, Olayan Financing, Alinma, Daman, Qatar Museum Authority’s MIA (Museum of Islamic Art) and TeliaSonera.

Before joining Landor, Mariagrazia spent 12 years in International Marketing positions in Europe, developing communication strategies for companies in the FMCG, fashion and lifestyle sectors.

Mariagrazia holds a BA in marketing and communication from Publitalia '80 in Milan and is an honours graduate in economics from LUISS (Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali) Guido Carli in Rome.

Hasan is a Serial Entrepreneur – Founder & CEO of Brand Lounge, the region’s leading award–winning branding consultancy whose role is to Our mission is to uncover your point of differentiation and weave it into every touch point of your organization to maximize your brand value and business performance.

He is also the Co-Founder of Fullmoon Experiments, a socially driven incubator that develops and grows purposeful startups in the region. Embodying the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to improve the Arab world through empowering communities, spreading knowledge and nurturing entrepreneurship and innovation.

In 2006 he partnered with Jack Trout – the father of the concept of Positioning Differentiation – to set up Brand Lounge and offer branding solutions to the MENA region.

Equipped with over 20 years of professional consulting experience, today he advises businesses throughout the Gulf and Africa on brand image and experience and in 2014 was recognized by the World Brand Congress who awarded him the prestigious Brand Leadership award in Brand Excellence.

Alan is the Head of Digital at The National in the UAE. He is an award-winning digital leader who has worked in senior roles across Time, Forbes, Reuters, FT and AOL around the world. He thrives in building and modernising brands to establish global impact through innovating across products, content and social platforms. 

Louis Houdart is the founder of Creative Capital a leading branding agency with offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Jakarta and New York.

In 2018 Creative Capital merged with Altavia Group, the first independent worldwide communication group specialized in retail. Louis today hold the role of CEO of Creative Capital group as well as Chief Strategy Officer of Altavia Asia.

Louis is a regular guest speaker at a handful of prestigious events and universities and seats of the board of different companies.

Louis speaks fluent Chinese, English and French, and is conversational in Spanish and Italian.

He is French Foreign Trade Advisor (CCE), appointed by decree by the French Prime Minister as well as Vice President and Executive Board Member of the French Chamber of Commerce in China. He was nominated “Young Leader by the French China Foundation for their 2019 cohort.

Louis is not only a creative entrepreneur but also a retail entrepreneur. He created and launched in China a flower retail chain that he sold in 2010.

Before coming to Asia in 2000, he studied and worked in London, Barcelona, Singapore and New York. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and London Business School, and a Master Degree in branding from the prestigious Italian school SDA Bocconi. He is originally from France, Paris.

Thomas manages Landor’s global strategy practice and leads key client projects. He began his branding career at Siegel + Gale, after which he held senior roles at global brand consultancies, owned his own agency, and worked client side heading brand management. Thomas writes and comments frequently on the challenges facing today’s brands and has been featured in the New York Times, the Financial Times, and on NBC’s Today show.

Rawan is the Deputy Head of Advertising and Brand management at NBK. Having been at the bank for more than 12 years she has been pivotal in transforming the teams. By harnessing the power of organization, she has driven the teams to deliver unprecedented outcomes.

Rawan has been instrumental in repositioning the bank through a holistic 3-year brand program to rejuvenate its image and reconnect with an ever-changing customer.

Rawan studied Mass Communication but enjoys being an entrepreneur. She co-founded the first etiquette school in Kuwait and runs a Chinese restaurant on the side.

As a co-founder of Living, Duncan has over 20 years' brand and marketing experience for clients such as EY, Citi, HSBC, GE Capital, Morgan Stanley, Russell Investments, Harneys, Kasowitz, State Street and Nomura. During this time, Duncan has gained great insight into many of the current communication challenges within the financial, professional services and technology sectors.

Duncan is also responsible for the development of new accounts and continued client relationships, strategic planning on large client projects, as well as the day-to-day management of our fast-paced businesses in London, Hong Kong and New York.

Adam has more than 18 years of experience in marketing and communications and is a thought leader on storytelling in the digital age. His founded an independent content and digital agency in Australia, and established award-winning blog AdamVincenzini.com. He is currently the managing editor of the PMI Content Studio which has been established to help Philip Morris International achieve its vision for a smoke-free future.

With over seven years of regional experience, Amer has a successful track record in the e-commerce and marketing field of the GCC and MENA. He has successfully launched transformational projects ranging from e-commerce launches, application builds, market penetration launches, store openings, and integrated marketing campaigns. Amer currently leads the marketing communication department for IKEA in 4 markets. Amer enjoys reading, cycling, and public speaking.