Juries named for The WARC Awards Middle East & Africa 2024

The juries are announced for the WARC Awards for Middle East & Africa 2024 in association with LIONS.

Celebrating marketing with strategic brilliance and effective impact, this regional competition will be judged rigorously by top industry experts from leading agencies and renowned global and local brands.

John Bizzell, Awards Lead, WARC, said: “To judge the very best strategic and effective marketing campaigns in the Middle East & Africa, we have convened a stellar group of extremely knowledgeable and highly respected professionals from across the region to bring expertise and cultural insight to the judging process.”

The WARC Awards Middle East & Africa juries are:

Brand Purpose, Business-to-Business, Cultural Impact, Customer Experience, Instant Impact, Long-term Growth categories

• Gugu Mthembu, Chief Marketing Officer, Telkom, South Africa – jury chair
• Deepankar Rustagi, CEO, OmniRetail Technology Limited, Nigeria
• Dina El-Dessouky, Head of Strategy & Insights, Leo Burnett MENA, Middle East and Africa
• Juman Sleiman, Senior Strategist, Consultancy, Imagination Middle East, United Arab Emirates
• Neema Masinde, Regional Lead Marketing Communications & Integrated Media, Beiersdorf, Kenya
• Rawad El Dahouk, Head of Strategy and Planning, Wunderman Thompson, Saudi Arabia
• Souheil Badaa, Chief Marketing Officer, Riaya Industries, Morocco
• Walid Kanaan, Chief Creative Officer, TBWA RAAD, Lebanon

Channel Integration, Channel Pioneer, Partnerships & Sponsorships, Path to Purchase, Use of Data categories

• Khaled AlShehhi, Executive Director of Marketing and Communication, UAE Government Media Office, United Arab Emirates – jury chair
• Babar Rahman, Vice President Marketing, Qatar Airways, Qatar
• Christine Amisi-Bwire, Media Director, Starcom East Africa/ALB, Kenya
• Dawn Rowlands, CEO, Dentsu, Sub Saharan Africa
• Elda Choucair, CEO, Omnicom Media Group, United Arab Emirates
• Mosala Phillips, Chief Marketing Officer, Old Mutual, South Africa
• Yssem Saadi, General Manager, Mindshare, Tunisia
• Yvonne Gyefour, Chief Marketing Officer & Co-Head of Brand, Jumia Group NYSE: JMIA, Africa

Strategic Thinking category (new)

• Carolyne Kendi, Chief Marketing Officer, Absa Kenya PLC, Kenya – jury chair
• Anastasia Kim, Creative Strategy Lead, Google, United Arab Emirates
• Angela Vic Kyerematen-Jimoh, National Digital Transformation Lead, Microsoft, Africa
• Anton Reyniers, Head of Strategy, Impact BBDO, United Arab Emirates
• Bogosi Motshegwa, Chief Strategy Officer & Founder, Thinkerneur, South Africa
• Fred Akinmuyisitan, Head of Portfolio Strategy, CMI and Marketing Capabilities, Nigerian Breweries Plc (Heineken Nigeria), Nigeria
• Maria Parsons, Head of Strategy, Grey Group, Qatar
• Tahaab Rais, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis Groupe, Middle East, North Africa and Turkey

The juries will award Gold, Silver and Bronze accolades across the 12 categories. They will be guided by the frameworks of the WARC/LIONS Creative Effectiveness and B2B Effectiveness Ladders, which provide a consistent and universal benchmark.

The jury chairs of all the regional awards – Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America, and North America – will form a super jury to award the highly sought after Grands Prix, the ultimate recognition of marketing success, selected from all the regional Golds.

More information on The WARC Awards and jury bios here. Download the entry pack here.

Key dates for The WARC Awards 2024 are:

• Entry deadline: 6 February 2024
• Middle East & Africa and other regional winners announcements: 20-25 May 2024
• Global Grand Prix winners announcements: Cannes Lions Week 2024