Leo Burnett's new regional executive creative director returns home

In a move that reinforces Leo Burnett's commitment to brand-building excellence and creativity, Al-Ali will contribute to new regional business development, with a focus on fully integrated and creative solutions that deliver on the client and brand's business objectives.

Al-Ali, who will be based at the agency's Dubai regional headquarters, has more than 20 years of communications experience - including more than three years with the Leo Burnett Group as executive creative director at Arc digital and CRM, formally known as iLeo.

"We warmly welcome back Emad, who is passionate about brand building, creative ideas generation and delivering business results. He will be an additional asset to the Leo Burnett team and will contribute to the agency's strong legacy of ideas generation and creativity, not for its own sake, but for the sake of turning brand buyers into brand believers," said Farid Chehab, chairman and chief creative officer, Leo Burnett MENA.

Emad, who previously was chief creative officer with the FP7-McCann Erickson Middle East network, has during his career played an integral role in building creative strategies for global accounts such as General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Grohe, Philips, MasterCard, Nokia, Coke and Nestle, as well as regional brands such as Saudi Telecom and Gulf Bank. He is well acquainted with the client side of business communications, having served as advertising director for Grohe, Water Technology, for four years.

"It is great to be back at Leo Burnett, again working as part of this growing family of committed talented people and contributing to this network's continued steady growth. I look forward to helping add value to our clients' brands through creative business solutions that deliver on brand and client business objectives" said Al-Ali.