Publicis Groupe appoints Bassel Kakish as Chief Executive Officer, Middle East & Turkey

Publicis Groupe today announced that effective immediately, Bassel Kakish is promoted as Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Groupe Middle East & Turkey.

He will continue to be based in Dubai and report to Raja Trad, Executive Chairman, Publicis Groupe Middle East & Turkey. In his new role, Bassel will now be responsible for over 2,100 talents across various disciplines and markets spanning technology, marketing, creative, media and PR professionals.

The appointment will further strengthen and expand the Groupe’s offering in the marketplace to help clients win in a data-led, digital-first world through disruptive creative strategy, analytics and insights.

Bassel started his career in assurance and advisory services and joined Publicis in 2002 where he has worked in various strategic roles as part of the regional management team. Prior to his appointment as CEO, he held the positions of Chief Financial Officer, Chief Integration Officer and Co-Managing Director of Publicis Sapient in the Middle East. He was able to bring together the various Groupe functions to build a modular approach for our clients’ business problems in a seamless manner driven by the alchemy of creativity and technology.

Loris Nold, CEO of Publicis Groupe APAC & MEA said: “I am thrilled with Bassel’s appointment. He brings very strong operational expertise and more importantly his unique understanding of data, tech, media and creativity, and how we can best assemble these for the benefit of our clients. Having worked with Bassel for many years, I am absolutely convinced that together with Raja and the rest of our leadership team in the Middle East, we are uniquely positioned to harness the strong growth that will come out of this region and for the years to come.”

Raja Trad, Executive Chairman at Publicis Groupe Middle East & Turkey said: “Bassel has been an important member of the core management team for several years now. His experience working across different Groupe disciplines and functions uniquely positions him to collaborate with our leadership, teams and clients to continue unlocking growth in what is today undoubtedly a platform led world.”

His understanding of the intersection of technology and the creative world coupled with his financial acumen will allow us as a Groupe to build on our power of one vision: a transformative approach driven by a common purpose, a powerful spirit, shared behaviors and relentless focus on clients.”

Commenting on his promotion, Bassel said: "I would like to thank Publicis Groupe, Loris and Raja for entrusting me with this role. It will be my endeavour to continue to accelerate our capabilities, bring new products and services and be an indispensable partner for our clients in their own transformation journey.”

As we emerge from this unfortunate pandemic, it is even more important that we provide our people and clients the tools and products to win in this platform led, connected world. My experience working together closely with the Groupe’s leaders across the various disciplines will help the process of evolving our offering and ideas while providing growth for our clients in less time by providing them with seamless access to all our talents across the entire value chain.”