LONDON — Edelman has promoted Middle East chief creative officer Marie Claire Maalouf to lead the agency’s creative output across EMEA.

Maalouf joined Edelman last year, after 17 years at Impact BBDO. In her new role as EMEA chief creative officer, based in UAE, Maalouf will lead creative in 13 markets across Edelman’s specialisms, including brand marketing, digital, influencer and entertainment, with clients in sectors such as financial services, FMCG, travel, health and technology.

The promotion follows the departure of Edelman’s co-chief creative officers for EMEA, brothers Mattias Ronge and Stefan Ronge, who are leaving the agency to pursue new opportunities. Edelman acquired the duo’s Swedish agency, Deportivo, in 2014.

Over the course of her career, Maalouf has worked on campaigns including ‘Despair No More’ for Tena, which gave women in the Middle East a platform to redefine what menopause meant to them and erase the derogatory description of menopause in Arabic, which translates to ‘Age of Despair’.

Maalouf’s work has been recognised at major awards shows including Cannes Lions, The One Show, Caples, Clio Awards, LIA Awards, Dubai Lynx, D&AD, Epica, ANDYs, Warc and Effies. Last year, she was ranked by The Drum as the third most-awarded executive creative director in the world, and she maintains her position this year as the number one ECD in the MENA region.

Edelman global chief creative officer Judy John said: “I am excited to have Marie Claire take the reins for creative across EMEA. She has an incredible track record for creating work that has impact and makes a difference. Marie Claire is that rare combination of creative and business leadership. I know she’ll take our work to new heights across the region.”

Maalouf added: “What truly inspired me and drew me to Edelman is the unique opportunity to build actionable brands through trust. On meeting Judy and all the creative leaders, I quickly understood we all share the same mission. We are united by our passion to solve business challenges as well as powering brands to have a real impact in the world around us. This transformational mindset is why more and more creatives are looking to join Edelman”.

EMEA chief executive AJ Hesselink said: “We are grateful to Mattias and Stefan and thank them for the significant role they have played in transforming the Edelman business for our people and clients these last 10 years. However, we count ourselves lucky to be surrounded by great talent.

“Since joining Edelman Marie Claire has had a huge impact on our ability to win new clients and produce important work for our current ones, particularly in the Middle East. We believe she is exactly the right person to lead us forward into the next stage of our creative evolution.”