PR News
Pictured from left to right: Laurent Ezekiel, Floriane Tripolino, Devika Bulchandani

WPP announces global leadership appointments

WPP has made a series of strategic global leadership appointments and named Devika Bulchandani as Chief Operating Officer of WPP, and Laurent Ezekiel as Global CEO of Ogilvy Group and Executive Sponsor for WPP Open X. Additionally, Floriane Tripolino has been appointed CEO of WPP Open X, WPP’s bespoke agency team dedicated to The Coca-Cola Company.
As Chief Operating Officer, Devika is responsible for commercialising services and solutions across WPP to drive intelligent growth for WPP’s clients worldwide. Prior to this, she was Global CEO of Ogilvy, where she worked to diversify the network’s client roster over four years.

Succeeding Devika as the new CEO Ogilvy Group, Laurent oversees the creative network’s global business, spanning integrated marketing capabilities that include advertising, PR, social & influence, customer engagement, consulting, and health. Laurent most recently served as CEO of WPP Open X for The Coca-Cola Company, after securing the the global marketing agency partnership in 2021.

In her new role as CEO of WPP Open X, Floriane is tasked with building upon model established in 2021 that brings together creative, media, social, influencer, commerce, PR, data, and technology into a marketing ecosystem. This global network-to-network partnership was specifically designed to support The Coca-Cola Company’s marketing transformation.

“These appointments underscore WPP’s commitment to delivering unparalleled value and innovation. Devika’s deep obsession with helping our clients grow and win, will help us accelerate our growth across the entire WPP landscape. Laurent's close, successful partnership with The Coca Cola Company and creation of WPP Open X gives him valuable insight and experience to help navigate the needs of our largest clients, many of which are housed in Ogilvy," said Cindy Rose, CEO of WPP.

"These leaders embody the strategic vision and creative excellence that define WPP. Their collective expertise will play a crucial part in helping me drive WPP to our next phase of growth and ensuring our clients continue to win in a rapidly evolving market.”

(Pictured from left to right: Laurent Ezekiel, Floriane Tripolino, Devika Bulchandani)

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2025
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2025 MEPRA Awards winners revealed

The 17th edition of the MEPRA Awards announced its 2025 winners on 27 November, recognising work demonstrating strategic thinking, creativity, effective storytelling and measurable impact. The awards highlighted achievements in brand reputation, integrated communications and strategic narrative development, reflecting how agencies are adapting to a rapidly changing communications landscape.

Agency winners
Weber Shandwick MENAT dominated the evening with 26 wins, followed by Gambit Communications with 18 awards, securing their positions as leaders across popular categories. Weber Shandwick MENAT also claimed Large Agency of the Year, while Current Global MENAT was named Medium Agency of the Year, and The Romans took home Small Agency of the Year.

Individual honours
The Chairperson’s award was conferred upon Scott Armstrong (founder, Mentl) for accelerating mental health advocacy, whereas Brian Lott of Mubadala Investment Company won the Best Communicator of the Year. Tala Majzoub of HAVAS Red ME won the ‘Dave Robinson’ award for Outstanding Young Communicator of the Year, and Fathimath Nooha of Murdoch University won the Outstanding Student Campaign.

Kate Midttun, MEPRA Chairperson, commented, “MEPRA Awards has become a vital benchmark for recognising PR brilliance and exceptional talent in the Middle East’s PR and communications sector.  This has been a standout year for creative resilience, and work across the communications spectrum has been truly astounding. The honorees have showcased the power of PR to inform and engage, elevating the art of an insightful communications approach. Congratulations to all the winners tonight, and we would like to thank them for redefining excellence benchmarks, motivating the entire fraternity to gear up for the upcoming year.”

The 2025 awards were supported by Gambit Communications (Diamond Partner), TAQA (Platinum Partner), Weber Shandwick MENAT and CARMA (Gold Partners), along with Mubadala, Kibsons, SEC Newgate Middle East, Telum Media, Burson, Place Communications, First and Ten Productions, Current Global MENAT, Matrix Public Relations and AMEC.

View the full list of  2025 MEPRA winners here.

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ACID brings in new Associate Partner

Stephanie Thng has taken on a new role as Associate Partner at ACID. Based in Singapore, she works with business founders, startups, and companies on strategic communications, media relations, brand narrative development, and executive positioning.

Stephanie's prior communications experience includes roles at Fullerton Fund Management, Aberdeen Asset Management and iFAST. She currently also serves as the Head of Communications for Femtech Association Asia in an advisory capacity.

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Latest marcomms hire at KLCC Group

Hisham Abdullah has joined KLCC Group as Manager, Digital Brand Marketing & Events Management, on a secondment basis. Based in Malaysia, he leads a range of communications initiatives, including strategic communications, branding, media and digital engagement, and reputation management.

Hisham brings more than 17 years of strategic communications experience, having worked at organisations such as PROTON, KIA Motors, BASF Malaysia, and PETRONAS.