Fadi Ghosn appointed new Marketing Director for General Motors in the Middle East

General Motors Middle East Operations (GM) on July 01, 2008 announced the promotion of Fadi Ghosn to the position of Marketing Director for the Middle East Operations.

In his new role, Fadi will be responsible for all regional marketing activities for GM and its brands, Chevrolet, GMC, HUMMER, Cadillac and Saab.

Fadi moved back to the Middle East earlier this year as Deputy Marketing Director from a two years assignment with the Global Development team for Cadillac, in Detroit, USA in 2006.

He was responsible for the development of the Cadillac brand globally as well as its introduction into new markets, most notably into South Africa.

During his US stay, Fadi was also responsible for Cadillac and HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Operations in the USA.

In that position, he led Cadillac’s remarketing efforts and residual value management.

Fadi began his General Motors career in 1999 with GM in Dubai.

From his initial position as Cadillac Brand Manager, he subsequently moved up to Regional Divisional Marketing Manager - Premium Brands (Cadillac, HUMMER and Saab) - and then to Premium Brands Director.

Congratulating Fadi on his new appointment, Terry Johnsson, President for General Motors - Middle East Operations said: ‘Fadi Ghosn brings with him great passion for the job and valuable experience in the region, having been a key player in setting up the Premium Brands in the Middle East. With his blend of experience, skill and commitment, we are certain he will be able to take GM to the next level.’

At the same time, GM also announced the retirement of David Venticich, former Marketing Director for Middle East Operations. David commenced with GM in Australia before coming to the Middle East in 2005.

With his successful brand strategies, David launched over 25 car models and set up the Chevrolet Motorsports including Lumina CSV series.

In his successful GM career of 30 years, David progressed through a variety of marketing, finance, sales and planning positions. Terry Johnsson commented, ‘on behalf of everyone at General Motors, I would like to take this opportunity to thank David for his contribution to the company’s success over the past three decades, and to wish him all the best for a happy retirement.’

Tags: Cadillac, Chevrolet, David Venticich, Fadi Ghosn, General Motors, GM, GMC, HUMMER, Saab, Terry Johnsson

HUMMER wins six campaign media planning awards

HUMMER walked away with six awards at the latest Campaign Media Planning Awards that were held in Dubai on November 28th 2006.

In a total of nine categories HUMMER entered six and walked away with a win in all entries. The categories included Best Use of Online, Best Use of Print, Best Use of Outdoor, Best Use of Media, Best Media Innovation, Best Use of Sponsorship and Best Media Plan.

‘It’s great to see all our innovative thinking and creative ideas materialise in winning these awards,’ said Ahmed Soudodi, HUMMER Marketing Manager at GM Middle East. ‘Our teams at both General Motors and Starcom Mediavest have worked very hard to create these Like Nothing Else ideas, setting new benchmarks in media usage.’

The challenge was to launch the new HUMMER H3, building on the smaller HUMMER platform while maintaining the big brand value of HUMMER. Selecting various media types was essential to the success of the media plan. TV and print were essential to break the news; online encouraged interactivity; and outdoor was chosen for drivers who love the great outdoors.

HUMMER went a step further in its use of outdoor media by daring to exemplify the H3’s unparalleled off road performance and unmatched climbing and crawling capabilities. Outdoor adverts were placed in the most unconventional of places such as a live size H3 replica in Ski Dubai, stickers on the bottom of swimming pools in Lebanon, sponsored dumbbells in gyms and a live size replica climbing the side of a building in Abu Dhabi.

‘One of our most important wins is Best Media Plan as this lays the foundation for everything else that follows,’ said Soudodi. ‘Our strategy and media was very carefully planned from the beginning and gave much room for creative and innovative thinking. Excelling in print, outdoor, TV and online media in addition to being innovative in our creative thinking is what made our campaign successful and materialised in taking home six wins this year.

‘Working with the best to materialise our creative marketing ideas is what drives HUMMER to stand out from the crowd and to truly convey the message that HUMMER is ‘Like Nothing Else.’

Tags: Campaign Media Planning Awards, General Motors, HUMMER, Starcom Mediavest