The IAB MENA conducted its General Assembly on Feb 21, 2024, unveiling achievements from 2023 and outlining plans for 2024. Key messages for this year include a focus on local insights and initiatives (Go Local), expanding on the 2023 activities by adding further depth of insights in 2024 (Go Deep), providing more member value and fostering member engagement, and leadership opportunities (Member Led).

The meeting also announced 10 operational task forces for 2024 made up of well over 150 people from member companies, who collaborate together to find solutions to challenges, increase knowledge of specific channels and support the development of people in the industry, urging members to participate especially in new areas like Adtech, Retail Media, and Audio.

Simultaneously, a new Board of Directors for the 2024-2026 term was elected, comprising 14 companies spanning Agencies, Tech platforms, and Publishers/Media Houses.

• Agencies: GroupM, Havas Middle East, MCN, Omnicom Media Group, Publicis Media Groupe
• Tech | Research: Amazon, Bytedance, Google, Snap
• Publishers | Media Houses: Backlite Media, Choueiri Group, MBC Group, Rotana Media Service, W Group

In the first board meeting of their term, the new board representatives re-elected Michel Malkoun, Chief Growth Officer of Choueiri Group as Chair of the Board and elected Christos Solomi, Chief Digital Officer of Omnicom Media Group as Vice-Chair of the Board. The board thanked Mohamad Itani, the outgoing Vice-Chair due to a changed role within Amazon, for his support and dedication to the IAB MENA during his term, who responded by saying: “I want to congratulate Michel and Chris for their election and I’m confident that they will continue to drive the momentum the IAB MENA has established over the past couple of years.”

On his re-election, Michel commented: “2023 was a bumper year for the IAB MENA in terms of outputs, impact and growth. This gives us a fantastic base on which to build and I’m excited that we will be able to accelerate our efforts to drive deeper, more localized knowledge and insights for our community, while giving our members more opportunity to lead initiatives.”

Chris added: “2024 is likely to be a landmark year of change for the industry, in part due to cookie-deprecation, but I’m confident we can both prepare our region for the challenges to come and support the growth of new channels and opportunities.”

Ian Manning, IAB MENA Executive Director welcomed the new board members and Board Chair/Vice Chair commenting: “The IAB MENA continues to go from strength to strength. This is testament to the members dedication and the board’s determination to make digital marketing in MENA world class. I’m thrilled to be working with Michel and Chris on delivering our vision and on driving growth opportunities for the region.”

For more, download the General Assembly presentation, exclusively available to members or contact us at [email protected].