Kamil Kuran
Group CEO, Grey Group
With over 18 years of industry experience spanning leadership positions on the strategic and managerial fronts, Kamil recently assumed the role of Grey Group CEO MENA, responsible for its various communication entities. Prior to joining Grey Group, Kamil was the Strategic Planning Director for Leo Burnett MENA, leading on several multinational and regional brands such as Kraft, GM, P&G, Mastercard, Showtime and Saudi Telecom. He then assumed the role of Managing Director, Levant for Leo Burnett, followed by Regional Managing Director of the Publicis Group of Companies in the Levant. Under his leadership, Leo Burnett Lebanon was transformed into a regional hub for creative excellence (globally ranked in the top 20 Most Creative Agencies in the World for 4 years with the latest global rank of 4th Most Creative Agency in the World in 2015, according to the Big Won Report). Before advertising, Kamil worked in Auditing at KPMG, Lebanon and Management Consultancy (IT) at Price Waterhouse, USA. He holds a BBA from the American University of Beirut, an MBA (Finance and Marketing) from the University of Florida and an MA in Economics from the University of Georgia.
Himanshu Ratnawat
CFO, Grey MENA
Himanshu graduated from Delhi University and qualified as a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He started his career in 1999 with Ernst & Young, in their Assurance and Audit division, leading Audit and Consulting assignments for local groups and various multinationals. In 2005, he joined Grey Dubai as Finance Manager. By 2012, he was promoted to Regional Finance Director GCC before taking on the role of Chief Financial Officer for the region. During his tenure at Grey, Himanshu has been instrumental in improving agency efficiencies and effectiveness across all areas of operations, including SOX reporting.
Johnny Assi
Client Service Director, Grey Beirut
Johnny graduated in 2010 from NDU with a BA in Advertising & Marketing, and won the Ogilvy Post-Graduate Program award which landed him his first job as an account executive in Ogilvy & Mather KSA. He worked there on telecom and FMCG brands (STC & Al Marai), and got promoted to Senior Account Executive 1 year after joining. In 2012, Johnny moved back to Lebanon and spent 2 years working as a Marketing Manager in a radio station growing the client portfolio and the radio’s marketing activities. In 2014, Johnny joined Grey as an Account Manager working on P&G Hair Care portfolio (Pantene, Wella, Koleston) covering the Middle East and Africa including sub-Saharan Africa. In 2016, he was promoted and is currently the Account Director handling P&G Pantene MEA.
Odile Riachi
Creative Director, Grey Beirut
Odile holds a double degree in Advertising (ALBA Beirut) and Multimedia (ENSBA Paris). Her experience spans over 20 years in advertising. Starting as a fresh graduate at Leo Burnett Beirut in 1999, Odile became Senior Art Director in 2002 and then decided to add a Multimedia Masters in Paris to her studying journey, in a world that was leaning fast towards the interactive medium. Back to Beirut, Odile joined Saatchi & Saatchi as an Associate Creative Director and lead for 8 years 360º communication projects for local and regional clients mainly Zain Telecom Corporate and P&G, being promoted to Creative Director in 2007. Odile joined back Leo Burnett in 2012 as Creative Director leading on a pool of local clients in the banking (Bank Audi) and FMCG sectors (Bel, Nestlé, Mondelez), expanding her experience on various creative accounts and participating in the agency’s transformation for more integration with digital. She volunteers into nationwide efforts for the environment in Lebanon and taught for 8 years at ALBA and 1 year at LAU. Odile joins Grey early 2020 to lead the creative department with a mix of bustling creativity and grounded efficiency.
