An exercise: How to trust me

Trusting someone with your brand, or work you’re responsible for, is hard.
Pick one of five routes [or make your own] to trust me:

Route 1: Because others have.

Agencies - Y&R, ITP Media, Tonic International. Brands - Victoria’s Secret, ADCB, DP World, Flash Entertainment (Coldplay, Ariana, Kevin Hart, Rod Stewart) Sun & Sand Sports, Global Village, Yas Waterworld. Government entities - Sharjah Port Authority, Sharjah Book Authority.

Route 2: Because I was trained for this.

If you’ve been in the UAE for a while, you may know significant media positions are filled by American University of Sharjah graduates - It’s part-privilege, and part we-were-rigorously-trained-to-build-a-work-ethic. I got my BA in Mass Communication at AUS. I received my MA in Media Studies at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. All that followed by ten years of learning on-the-job.

Route 3: Because they said so.

If you lean towards word-of-mouth recommendations, here are a few words from people who have worked with me:

“As reliable as a person can be.”

— Maha Tohamy, AUS, now at Wunderman Thompson

“The human equivalent of an energy drink.”

— Sushmita Pathak, Independent Journalist, previously at NPR

“She’ll know what you need when you tell her what you want.”

— Tarun Shyam, Co-Founder of STREET FZC and business partner of 10 years

Route 4: Because I lived and worked in the “media capital of the world” (NYC), and I know the UAE market well (born and raised).

I know we say size doesn’t matter, but maybe it inspires confidence in you that I’m not a big fish in a small pond - that I swam in the “big pond.” I won’t say I bring best practices from NYC, because the same stuff doesn’t work here and I respect your unique audience. I will say that my time in NYC taught me to take my audience and process seriously.

Route 5: Because you’ve seen (some of) my work.

Over ten years of experience working in media and marketing, I’ve managed projects, conceptualized big ideas and a hundred small ones, built integrated strategy and content for players across industries, spanning functions like editorial, retail, events, and digital.

Here’s a taste:

Creative Strategy & Management - Notable Campaigns

Sun & Sand Sports/Nike/Al Hilal Concept, Copy & Creative Production: Up Your Game 2018 - Outdoor + Digital + In-Store Activation.

On January 8, 2018, it was declared that Saudi Arabian women were now allowed to watch official football matches in Jeddah and Riyadh stadiums. 43% of a 31 million population now had access to the game. It wasn’t simply an audience expansion, it was the future of football becoming. The game just got bigger.

Players: Up Your Game. They are watching.
Women: Applause is just the beginning. Up Your Game.

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Flash Entertainment Creative & Project Management (top-left to right): Coldplay New Year’s Eve 2016 - Digital/Social; Ariana Grande 2015 - Social/On-Ground; Beats on the Beach 2016 - Social; Rod Stewart 2017 - On-Ground; Kevin Hart 2016 - On-Ground/Social/Digital; Fun Nation Cosplay 2017 - Social.

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Victoria’s Secret PINK 2017 Creative & Project Management - On-Ground/Social/In-Store.

Bjorg Launch 2020 Positioning: A French leader in plant-based nutrition comes to the UAE, competing with market leaders in the dairy alternatives space - Digital/Social/In-Store/On-Ground.

The Box 2023 DXB Time Capsule: We wanted to place The Box at the top of people’s minds when they thought of self-storage in the UAE. For its 15th anniversary, the #DXBTimeCapsule was launched, with coverage in The National, KT, Time Out, WhatsOn, Lovin’ Dubai and more. Walk-ins increased, word-of-mouth networks multiplied.

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Global Village, Dubai 2017 & 2018 Project Management - On-Ground/Social.

Copywriting

Websites

2017: A complete overhaul of a giant’s website, like Bloom Holding (Real Estate, Education, Hospitality, Healthcare, Facilities Management and Landscape Design), was an exercise in maintaining product differentiation while applying brand tone consistency and SEO-friendly copy that translated the brand’s prestige. See here.
2015: DAE, a renowned women and children’s hospital in the UAE, was a crash course in medical jargon. I learned to make it legible to others like me. The project required SEO-friendly copy, attention to detail, and warm language to balance a domain that can often be clinical. See here.
An online transformation for one of UAE’s oldest ports required tracking how the Port’s many users use the interface, gaps between departments and UI mapping. I designed the copy to make the transition smoother (so what you find offline is easy to find online). See here.