Judges 2010

Hubert Boulos is the regional managing director of MAC DDB headquartered in Qatar, one of the fastest growing agencies in the region. Launched in 2008 the agency now boasts a list of blue chip regional and global clients such Qatari Diar, QNB and Moov (Etisalat in West Africa). Before that, Hubert was the head of planning and research at Impact BBDO. Prior to coming to the Middle East, Hubert held key positions , including managing director, in major global networks in France (Saatchi & Saatchi, Lintas now Lowe, McCann, Publicis) and worked on major multinational clients (Reckitt Benckiser, P&G, Unilever, Nestle, Johnson & Johnson, MasterCard, Renault). No stranger to the International Effies Boulos helped two brands to Effie success, MasterCard Europe in 2000 and Johnson & Johnson France in 1998.A frequent contributor to business titles Boulos is well known for his thought leadership and publications which most recently included Turning the point of sale into an image and sales accelerator at ESOMAR?s Automotive conference in Lausanne.

Kenneth Lingan, who joined Unilever is 1998, has held his current position since 2009. Before moving to Dubai he was based in Singapore where he was regional Brand Director for Rexona Asia. Prior to this Singapore in he as was based in his native Manila where he began work on Rexona as brand manager in 2001, initially responsible for Rexona Philippines, before becoming regional brand manager where he developed Rexona Innovations across the various Rexona segments in Asia as part of the Global Innovations Team. He also led the team that launched the Rexona brand into China and which achieved market leadership in just three months. Lingan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Engineering.

Sevil Ermin has headed The Nielsen Company?s UAE operations since January 2009. Prior to this she headed the Retailer Services Department across MENAP. Prior to joining Nielsen UAE in 2007 she worked for Nielsen Turkey for 12 years spending the last five years as retail measurement services director where her focus was on providing information and insights to more than 100 FMCG firms together with a large client service team. Sevil also worked in Italy as international client service director with Nielsen BASES, a leader in simulated test markets in testing innovations and renovations. In the last ten years Sevil has spoken at various Retailing, Food & Beverages, Consumer Insights and Marketing meetings and seminars in Turkey and in UAE. She holds a MBA degree from Bogazici University in Istanbul, and is married and with one daughter. She speaks Turkish, English and Italian fluently. She also speaks German and French.

In his current role Canadian Lebanese Hrayki leads the commercial and marketing team operation the Dior jewellery brand setting the commercial and marketing budgets for the region. As part of his remit he is creating a highly selective network for the range, changing almost 75 per cent of previous network for a more image-oriented and higher productivity per door/ retail networks. Prior to Dior was regional director managing 11 countries for Creation Alexandre Miya Paris where worked for eight years. Before this he spent two years at National Food Products Company (NFPC), Trading Division, UAE as sales manager in charge of the Arla ranges. Having worked in both in both the USA and Lebanon he is fluent in English, French and Arabic and holds a Masters in Business Admininstration from the University of Saint Thomas, Houston, Texas and Dual Degree in International Business & Marketing.

Singaporean Kelly Kaur?s career spans marketing communications professional, teaching, modeling and art. In her current role her responsibilities include overseeing the global advertising and marketing communications activities of one of the fastest growing airlines in the world- Qatar Airways. If there?s one thing she would like to change in her life, it would be to add more hours to her days. Between balancing the pragmatism of achieving strategic marketing objectives with the unconventionality that drives creative advertising ideas, interacting with and understanding the work cultures from the four corners of the world and pursuing her MBA studies her professional life with little room for anything else she says. But in her spare time she focuses on issues ?close to her heart such as protecting and preserving the environment or giving creative expression to the artist within her.?

As head of the Central Marketing Department, Ziyad?s responsibilities include but are not limited to: establishing and implementing The National Commercial Bank?s (NCB) marketing strategies, operating plans and marketing budget. He is also responsible for managing retail marketing corporate marketing , internal marketing and an in-house advertising agency. He began his career in Procter & Gamble, where he worked for five years eventually becoming group manager for Marketing Services. Later, he joined NCB as product marketing manager before going on to become retail marketing manager, and then corporate marketing manage. Last year he was named until the head of NCB Central Marketing Department. A frequent speaker at business conferences he holds an M.S. Degree in Computer Engineering.

After graduating with a degree in Advertising and Marketing Hisham began with career with Ipsos in Lebanon 13 years ago before moving to Dubai where he held various positions within the region?s leading media agencies including: ) MindShare, MediaEdge:CIA and BrandConnection. For the past six years he has worked at OMD and OMG (OmnicomMediaGroup). Clients he has worked with include Unilever, GSK, Ford Motor Company, LG, Colgate/Palmolive, Samsung, SCJhonson, Pepsi, du and Etihad. He was deputy general manager at OMD for almost three years before assuming hiscurrent role at OMG as a regional executive director responsible for the group development and the network expansion in the MENA region.