El Hajj previously was Chief Investment Officer for Publicis Media and succeeds Ravi Rao at the helm of GroupM MENA.
GroupM, WPP’s media investment group, announced that Amer El Hajj has been named MENA CEO. El Hajj, who will serve on GroupM MENA’s Executive Committee, will lead GroupM’s operations in the region, commencing the role at an exact date to be confirmed.
El Hajj will be responsible for strategy and operations across the region for GroupM and its agencies Mindshare, Wavemaker, EssenceMediacom, and mSix&Partners, as well as its cross-channel organization GroupM Nexus. GroupM MENA operates in 13 markets and manages $431 million in media investment billings, with a 23.3% market share and approximately 500 colleagues (according to COMvergence, 2022).
Josh Krichefski, GroupM EMEA and UK CEO, said, “MENA is one of the key areas of focus and opportunity for us across EMEA, a region containing significant individual market nuance. Amer’s proven track record of revenue growth, team upskilling, and business transformation over such an impressive career in [the] market aligns well with our business goals for the MENA region as well as EMEA as a whole. He’ll play a critical role in helping our clients achieve the business growth goals they are looking for and we’re excited to have him join us.”
El Hajj brings deep experience of the MENA region amassed during his 20+ year career. Most recently, he was Chief Investment Officer for Publicis Media, a position he held for over 14 years.
El Hajj added, “When you think of what the next era of media looks like, there’s no better place to help shape that than at GroupM. I’m really looking forward to working with Josh, his team, and our leadership throughout MENA to introduce our business strategies and simplified offerings across our agencies, GroupM Nexus, and Choreograph to our clients to help them achieve the sustained business growth they expect from us.”
