In latest news, VMLY&R has officially announced a merger that brings VMLY&R Commerce, GTB, and VMLY&R under one roof. The merger aligns with the global advertising and marketing agency's goal to deliver a seamless end-to-end brand and customer experience along with commerce offerings to clients. Currently, the CEO of the MENA region at VMLY&R Commerce, Nick Walsh will be taking over as the CEO for MENA at the recently merged VMLY&R, which marks Georges Barsoum’s departure from the company to pursue new opportunities. In his new role, Walsh will be responsible for unifying and expanding the VMLY&R agency and brands’ footprint across the MENA region. Walsh will partner closely with Miguel Bemfica, MENA CCO, who joined McCann WorldGroup in January this year, to offer the full depth of VMLY&R capabilities to client partners and create connected brands that drive growth for them.

VMLY&R has been gaining significant momentum both globally and, in the region, with a strong showing at the Dubai Lynx awards with two Grand Prix for Twitter’s Feminine Arabic and Rolling Stones’ Rocking Mamas and six statuettes; and most recently a Silver Lions at Cannes Festival of Creativity for Twitter Feminine Arabic campaign.

The global agency also announced a new leadership team including Miguel Bemfica as Chief Creative Officer, Ginny Kemp-Taylor, who will be taking over as Head of Marketing and Operations, Chelly Megale as Head of People, and Martin Barta to become the Chief Financial Officer.

Commenting on the announcement of the merger, Andrew Dimitriou, EMEA CEO at VMLY&R, said, "The pace of change in the creative industry has exponentially increased. With the acceleration of digital and technology transformation, we need to help our clients navigate the path of change for growth. Bringing together VMLY&R, VMLY&R COMMERCE and GTB combines complementary expertise that can truly deliver a connected end-to-end brand, customer experience, and commerce offering. The timing of bringing these agencies together under the VMLY&R brand has never been better. The opportunity for growth in the Middle East market is unprecedented and we're excited to see Nick Walsh and his team unleash these capabilities for our client's growth."

VMLY&R is a subsidiary of the WPP group and specializes in marketing, advertising, and communications. It is best known for its unique approach of embedding creativity using CX and BX with technology and commerce.