NAJEM
ANTONIOS
Marketing Director & Fractional CMO | Retail, Brand & Operations Leader
20+ years building brands and running retail across the GCC and Levant. Past brands include Fairmont, Marco Pierre White, Converse, Nike, and Mango.
Executive Profile
Senior marketing and retail leader with 20+ years across the GCC and Levant — UAE, KSA, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Oman. My career spans both sides of the business: in-house retail operations and brand-side marketing leadership.
I’ve managed 6 Mango stores and 200+ employees in Jeddah as an Area Manager, grown Converse market share by 25% across 5 countries as Regional Marketing Manager for the Converse and Nike licensee, led a 3-year corporate rebrand of Al Oumara Bakery as Operations Manager at Smaha Group, and founded Need to Talk — a Dubai-based marketing firm that has served 40+ clients including Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Marco Pierre White, Palm Destination, Allo Beirut, Grand Café, Café Najjar, Baalbek Restaurant, and many of the region’s most recognized hospitality, F&B, retail, and lifestyle brands.
Today I lead Need to Talk Consulting as a Fractional CMO, advising founders, CEOs, and brand owners across B2B SaaS, legal services, education, and consumer sectors. I’m also open to senior in-house leadership roles — Head of Marketing, Marketing Director, or CMO — at retail, F&B, hospitality, and lifestyle groups across the UAE and wider GCC.
BBA from Saint Joseph University of Beirut. Trilingual: English, Arabic (native), French. Learn more about my consulting work at Need to Talk.
Brands and clients I’ve worked with
Hospitality, retail, fashion, F&B, and lifestyle brands across the GCC and Levant.
Plus 30+ more across hospitality, F&B, retail, fashion, and lifestyle.
Executive Leadership Experience
20+ years across retail operations, regional marketing, business growth, and strategic advisory throughout the GCC and Levant.
Present
Marketing Director / Fractional CMO
Need to Talk Consulting is a Dubai-based growth and marketing strategy advisory practice serving UAE and GCC businesses. needtotalk.co
Senior strategic advisory practice. Embedded as Fractional CMO with founders, CEOs, and brand owners across the GCC — defining marketing strategy, building 12-month growth roadmaps, and architecting in-house marketing teams. Current clients include Clinch Tech (B2B SaaS), AX Law (legal services), Universal University (higher education), and Mouroj Pro Services (corporate services and business setup), plus 6+ brands across F&B, hospitality, and wellness.
2024
Founder & Marketing Director
Founded and led a Dubai-based integrated marketing firm serving 40+ GCC clients across hospitality, F&B, retail, wellness, real estate, and government services. Owned full P&L, team leadership, and client strategy.
Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Marco Pierre White, Palm Destination, Allo Beirut, Grand Café, Café Najjar, Baalbek Restaurant, Grissino, Mira Amine, Sewar Restaurant and Lounge, Mazzaj Moroccan, Al Oumara Bakery, plus 30+ more regional brands.
3-year hospitality engagement (2022–2024) covering 6 F&B outlets within the property. Rebuilt the full marketing system end-to-end — funnel architecture, channel mix, content engine, CRM setup, and reporting cadence — with the marketing infrastructure handed over and still in operation at the property today.
Dec 2013
Independent Marketing Consultant
Transition period between corporate roles and founding Need to Talk Marketing Management LLC. Consulted with GCC and Levant brands on brand strategy, retail marketing, and go-to-market planning, while designing the operating model, service offering, and client pipeline for the firm launched in January 2014.
2012
Regional Marketing Manager
Led regional marketing for Converse and Nike as the licensed distributor across 5 Levant and GCC markets — brand strategy, retail marketing, and go-to-market execution.
2012
Operations Manager
Held in parallel with regional marketing role at Sidewalk. Owned end-to-end operations for the group, led the 3-year corporate rebrand of Al Oumara Bakery — the group’s flagship brand — and ran an independent retail merchandising practice serving 30+ Lebanese stores during the same period.
2009
Area Manager
Led multi-store operations for Mango in Jeddah — owning P&L, retail performance, visual merchandising, and people management across 6 stores and 200+ employees.
2006
Earlier Career
Sales and marketing role within Azadea’s portfolio, covering Zara and Bijoux Terner. Supported retail activations, seasonal campaigns, and store-level commercial performance.
My Consulting Practice
Beyond in-house roles, I lead Need to Talk Consulting — a Dubai-based growth and marketing strategy advisory practice serving founders, CEOs, and brand owners across the UAE and GCC. We help established businesses fix strategy, align teams, and unlock measurable growth.
Strategic Leadership & Operational Expertise
20+ years across marketing leadership, retail operations, business growth, regional expansion, and executive advisory throughout the GCC and Levant.
Retail Leadership & Multi-Store Operations
Managed 6 Mango stores and 200+ employees in Jeddah as Area Manager. Owned P&L, KPIs, staff development, and visual merchandising across the area.
Brand Strategy & Market Expansion
Grew Converse regional market share by 25% across Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Oman as Regional Marketing Manager for the Converse and Nike licensee.
Corporate Rebranding
Led the 3-year rebranding of Al Oumara Bakery as Operations Manager at Smaha Group — brand identity, store experience, and customer-facing communications.
Marketing Leadership & Team Building
Founded Need to Talk Marketing and led an 18-person team across strategy, performance, creative, content, and social — serving 40+ GCC clients over 10 years.
Performance Marketing & Digital Growth
Scaled brand audiences from zero to category-leading — Palm Destination 0 → 18,500 followers in 12 months, Baalbek 0 → 15,000. Delivered 35% campaign ROI improvement through data-led media planning.
CRM & Customer Retention
Implemented HubSpot, Salesforce, and Odoo across the client base, lifting repeat business by 20% through segmented lifecycle campaigns and loyalty programs.
Budget & P&L Ownership
Managed 15M AED in annual marketing spend at Need to Talk with full P&L accountability across multi-brand client portfolio.
Fractional CMO Advisory
Embedded marketing leadership for 10+ regional brands across B2B SaaS, legal, education, professional services, and consumer sectors through Need to Talk Consulting.
Enterprise Marketing & Operational Ecosystem
Hands-on leadership across enterprise marketing systems, CRM infrastructure, analytics platforms, performance media ecosystems, CMS environments, and digital transformation tools.
Academic Background & Professional Certifications
Formal business education combined with certifications across digital marketing, CRM systems, performance media, and modern growth platforms.
Bachelor of Business Administration (2003)
Saint Joseph University of Beirut, Lebanon