Raja Trad CEO Of Leo Burnett Group MENA
Raja Trad is the CEO of Leo Burnett Group MENA, an integrated communications network headquartered in Dubai with offices in Jeddah, Riyadh, Kuwait, Beirut, Amman, Cairo and Casablanca. Through solid and expansive partnerships with its multinational clients and through the strong growth of its regional and local accounts, Leo Burnett MENA has become one of the region’s leading agencies. Now a member of the Leo Burnett Worldwide Global Leadership Council, Trad began his career in advertising in 1978 as an account executive with Young & Rubicam on the P&G account in Beirut and Athens. In 1981, he joined H&C Leo Burnett Beirut as an account director, and in 1984 he was named regional account director on the Philip Morris account. Trad moved to Bahrain in 1987 as subregional managing director for the Bahrain, UAE and Kuwait operations. He also served as regional account director on Philip Morris. In 1991, Trad became the CEO of Leo Burnett Middle East. North Africa was added to his geographic scope in 2000. A year later, in 2001, Trad’s responsibilities as CEO of Leo Burnett MENA were expanded to cover all nonmedia operating units in the region, namely the brand agency Leo Burnett; the marketing services, interactive and CRM agency Arc; and the public relations agency Manning Selvage & Lee. Over the years, Trad has dedicated his time to growing the network and developing its talents. Between 1991 and 2011 the number of professionals swelled from 120 to 568, while the network as a whole expanded from three offices to eight. Trad was the recipient of the Lebanese Order of the Cedar (Knight) from the President of the Lebanese Republic in 2004. He is a board member of Dubai Media Incorporated and a member of the IAA UAE Chapter. Born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, Trad received his B.A. in political studies and public administration from the American University of Beirut in 1977.
