Horizon Holdings announces new roles for top leaders

Marketing and communications group Horizon Holdings, part of Interpublic Group and FCB Global, has announced the promotion of two of its top leaders.

Co-founder and partner Rafic Saadeh, who currently serves as chairman and chief executive officer, will become executive chairman of the group, while current president Mazen Jawad will take over as CEO.

Saadeh has been with Horizon Holdings since 1976, soon after which he played a key part in the formation of Horizon FCB MENA as Horizon Holdings merged with global marketing communications company FCB’s Middle East and North Africa arm Horizon FCB.

“This is another special milestone in Horizon’s ever-evolving legacy. On Sept. 13, 1976, Saad Hijjawi and I first opened the doors of our first office in Kuwait, and ever since, our team has been committed to transforming our Horizon from a single integrated operation into what it is today,” Saadeh said in a statement.

Jawad has spent 28 years within the network holding roles throughout the US, Europe, and the Middle East since 2001. Serving as president since 2019, he will now lead Horizon Holdings as CEO.

He played a leading role in launching the network’s digital agency Blue Barracuda and FCB’s production arm Fuelcontent in Dubai, appointing Dubai’s first Arab female leader of a multinational agency.

Jawad said: “In an era of drastic regional and global transformations, Horizon Holdings is poised to remain at the forefront as we focus on data and tech-fueled creativity and work that solves our clients’ business issues.

“Whether it’s branding, creative, media, public relations, digital solutions, omni-commerce, events activations, or content productions, we’ll always strive to remain innovative, disruptive, yet relevant to our region,” he added.

The appointments came on the heels of the group’s 45th anniversary in September last year, marking the evolution of a single agency into a multi-agency group that now comprises five agencies in the region: Horizon FCB MENA, BPN MENA, Golin MENA, Blue Barracuda, and Fuelcontent.