At the heart of the media and communications business in the Middle East for over 25 years, John founded ASDA’A in 2000 and has shaped its growth into the benchmark PR consultancy in the Arab world. In 2008, after WPP Group acquired a majority stake, he relaunched the firm as ASDA’A BCW. John serves on the global board of BCW, a top three global PR consultancy and a WPP Group company.
John drives the annual ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey, a unique thought leadership initiative started in 2008. In 2020, he launched the 12th annual survey on the region’s largest demographic, the over 200 million Arab youth. The study is now is one of the most widely cited pieces of public opinion research by media and policymakers across the world.
Strategic move
Discarding tried-and-tested communications playbooks during the pandemic in 2020, John led the firm through a strategic ‘reset’ to make ASDA’A BCW and its offerings agile, flexible, and relevant to the changed landscape and evolving needs of clients.
He describes a pivot to a more transparent communications model, with a focus on social purpose, as the only way for brands to tell their story to an anxiety-ridden consumer base.
Climate change and a new emphasis on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) communications will rule the roost in the corporate sector. John believes that embracing a digital-first mindset, while delivering truly integrated and creative communications, will be the game changer over the next five years.
He delivers this through ASDA’A BCW’s differentiating strength, which he describes as The Power of Three – integrating data and digital into PR through two fully owned subsidiaries: PSB Middle East (research) and Proof Communications (digital, social and design).
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