Campaign’s Digital Faces to Watch 2020 – Umar Achraf, Senior account manager, Socialize
Age: 27
Aurelien Fonteneau, group account director, Socialize: Beyond his excellent client servicing skills, Umar is a keen strategist and perfectly embodies the socially-led creative agency positioning of Socialize. And it pays off. Umar’s hunger for creative excellence, coupled with his strong attention to detail, has helped fortify business relationships with Sony MEA and Expo 2020 Volunteers, and has generated a 15-20 per cent growth on his portfolio in 2019 (which includes also Garameesh, Spotify and Singapore Tourism). Umar is not only one of the rising stars in the agency, but within the region.
Career highlights
I was one of the founding members of FP7 McCann Cairo digital department, working with Orange, Unilever and Nestlé, where we won a Gold Dubai Lynx award for Best Use of Social for Orange in 2017.
I then moved to FP7 Bahrain to lead on Batelco’s digital marketing, winning a Bronze at Dubai Lynx.
I was also a member of McCann Global Inspiration Circle, a community of visionaries across all McCann that monitor trends and uncover global truths, finally moving to Socialize in Dubai where I’m lucky enough to be part of the once-in-a-lifetime Expo 2020 project.
Guiding principles
“The minute you feel content with what you’re doing, you’re in danger of becoming stagnant.” David Droga. It pushes me to look for new challenges.
Dream job
Psychotherapist.
I was always interested in seeing things from other people’s perspectives and helping them build on their own culture, ideals, and resources.
Side hustle
My side hustle used to be freelancing as a focus groups moderator. It all started when I attended a focus group back in Cairo because It’s fascinating the amount of insights you can find by just talking to people. We tend to forget that when working in digital.
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