Tarek Abdalla, the short-tenured CEO of MediaCom MENA, has announced he is to re-join Google in his former position as marketing lead in the Dubai office.
Abdalla moved from Google to take over the leadership of the GroupM media agency in January of this year, but quit just five months later to join Emaar as executive director of corporate marketing.
He will resume his former role at Google from November, less than six months after joining Emaar.
Speaking to Campaign, Abdalla said: “I’ve always been a big believer in the power of technology. There’s so much work to be done in the tech and digital space in MENA and I look forward to taking on this exciting challenge, working closely with the greatest minds in the industry to help users and businesses make the most of the web.”
A Google spokesperson said: “We love saying welcome to people; we love even more saying welcome back, especially when it’s someone like Tarek.”
Abdalla’s move coincides with the appointment of Eyad Abdul Khalek as the new CEO of MediaCom MENA.
Joining from DataMined, where he served as managing director, Khalek will be the third person in 12 months to fill the CEO role at MediaCom, following Nick
Barron’s abrupt resignation last October.
“MENA is a crucial part of our global network and one that we have invested heavily in over recent years. I’m confident that Eyad’s leadership will enable us to enhance and develop our services even further, ensuring that our clients continue to create great content that connects with their target audiences,” said Nick Lawson, MediaCom CEO
for EMEA.
Filip Jabbour, CEO of GroupM MENA, added: “Eyad has a history of strategically developing and growing client business and will be an excellent addition to both the MediaCom and GroupM senior leadership teams. We are excited to leverage Eyad’s operational diligence and extensive digital knowledge and look forward to his continued success leading one of the top agencies in the region.”