Steve Haddad
I build regional growth engines and the AI systems behind them.
Regional marketing leader with 13+ years across MENA, combining strategy, performance, CRM, digital transformation, and applied AI to deliver measurable commercial outcomes.
$50M+media investment
12markets
54%CPL reduction
$1Mannual efficiency
25AI products and systems
Markets Covered
Global Reach
Experience Across
Career Snapshot
AutomotiveBMW Group
Real EstateAldar Estates
FMCGAmericana/Hardee's
Media AgencyStarcom + Mindshare
AI & MartechMultiple
UAE
Based
MENA
Region
EN+AR
Languages
Experience
Aldar Estates
Senior Digital Marketing Manager, B2B, B2C, Media & Commercial Growth
Sep 2025 – Present
- •Owned cross-channel strategy across Colliers (B2B advisory + brokerage), Asteco, and Aldar Experiences, spanning B2B and B2C verticals simultaneously
- •Reduced brokerage CPL from $120 to $55 (54%) by restructuring audiences across Meta, Google, and programmatic
- •Built CPL benchmarking model from 70+ campaigns, first of its kind within the business
- •Designed and shipped two production AI intelligence platforms: a competitive marketing intelligence system and an autonomous client intelligence engine, both running parallel Claude data collectors to auto-generate board-ready competitor decks in minutes, cutting research and reporting cycles by 60%
- •Built an AI-powered bilingual (EN/AR) communications engine that turns a single structured brief into on-brand, compliance-checked community messaging at scale
- •Led Salesforce Marketing Cloud integration across three business units
- •Managed team of 4 across performance, SEO, social, and web
- •Developed go-to-market strategies for AIP commercial towers targeting institutional investors, corporate tenants, and enterprise clients across regional and international markets
- •Led social media strategy across in-house managed channels, defining content direction, platform roles, and performance KPIs to drive audience growth and engagement
AI systems delivered here
- EDM Gate: Bilingual Resident Notice PipelineliveView system details
- Reply Tool: The Locked DraftliveView system details
- Arabic Translation Portal: Source-Grounded English to ArabicliveView system details
BMW Group
Regional Digital Marketing Manager
May 2022 – Sep 2025
- •Owned $6M+ annual digital media budget across 12 Middle East markets — CTR +8%, CPA -12%, VTR +9% YoY
- •Led 15+ vehicle launches integrating media, PR, and experiential across all markets
- •Governed 13 market websites — 40% growth in unique visits, 30% increase in form submissions
- •Secured Nigma Galaxy esports partnership — 12.5x ROI in media value, reaching a younger demographic outside BMW's traditional automotive media mix
- •Led BMW's first ticketed M Drive Experience — sold out in 4 days
- •Delivered 5 dealer and customer-facing digital tools across 13 markets
- •Managed agency team of 12 across media, creative, social, and CMS
Americana Restaurants (Hardee's)
Regional Marketing Manager
Aug 2021 – May 2022
- •Owned full-funnel regional marketing across UAE, Qatar, and Oman, managing digital, TV, radio, CRM, app growth, performance, OOH, and retail channels simultaneously
- •Led Hardee's app growth strategy in the UAE — driving installs, active users, and owned-channel orders through targeted offers, CRM campaigns, and partner discounts to reduce aggregator dependency
- •Optimized ROAS, CPI, and CPO across all channels using CRM, Power BI, Google Analytics, and Adjust
- •Executed Arcane x Hardee's with Riot Games — one of the brand's strongest non-discount engagement campaigns in brand history
- •Led Hardee's 40th Anniversary influencer strategy targeting Gen Z via gaming, music, and sports creators
- •Integrated location services and QR-driven journeys to increase app adoption and strengthen omnichannel experience
- •Built strategic partnerships with UFC Abu Dhabi, local banks, and Riot Games to drive acquisition and brand visibility
Starcom
Senior Account Manager, Integrated Media & Performance Marketing
Aug 2018 – Aug 2021
- •Senior media advisor for Samsung Gulf, $30M+ annual investment across 6 flagship product launches
- •Led full-funnel media strategy for six Samsung flagship launches across the Middle East, defining channel investment and audience strategy across TV, OOH, Google Search, YouTube, Programmatic, Amazon DSP, Amazon Search, paid advertorials, and Paid Social, aligning media architecture with retail sales and e-commerce objectives, optimizing budget allocation and ROAS throughout each launch cycle
- •Managed PUIG portfolio across 5 fragrance brands across MEA markets
- •Raised team TRR score from 4.1 to 6.5 in under 6 months
- •Negotiated multi-market media proposals delivering 5–10% cost efficiencies
- •Managed agency-to-client relationships across Samsung and PUIG simultaneously, balancing competing investment priorities, platform negotiations, and campaign delivery timelines
Mindshare
Senior Account Executive, Media Strategy & Client Leadership
Jan 2013 – Jul 2018
- •Built media strategies for 18 clients across automotive, real estate, FMCG, finance, and travel
- •Clients included Nakheel, Nissan, Infiniti, Volvo, IHG, Nike, Lufthansa, and Booking.com
- •Managed planning, buying, and performance reporting across digital and traditional channels
- •Served as day-to-day strategic contact for senior brand and marketing stakeholders
- •Progressed from Account Executive to Senior Account Executive over 5 years, managing strategic relationships for senior brand and marketing stakeholders
- •Built and managed media strategies spanning TV, radio, print, OOH, and digital across 18 client accounts in a multi-market environment
I don't run campaigns. I build marketing systems that compound across markets, channels, and time.
0+Years in MENA
$0M+Budget Managed
0Markets
0%CPL Reduction
Capabilities
STRATEGY & BRAND
Brand StrategyBrand PositioningProduct LaunchGo-to-MarketABM MarketingMulti-Market ExecutionCompetitive IntelligenceStakeholder LeadershipExecutive ReportingFull-Funnel MarketingBudget ManagementDigital TransformationMartech Stack Management
PERFORMANCE & GROWTH
Performance MarketingPaid MediaProgrammatic AdvertisingDemand GenerationLead GenerationConversion Rate OptimizationROAS OptimizationInfluencer MarketingA/B TestingAttribution ModelingSEO & ContentApp GrowthMarketing Operations
CRM, DATA & COMMERCIAL
CRM StrategyMarketing AutomationSalesforce Marketing CloudFirst-Party DataCustomer SegmentationLifecycle MarketingRetention MarketingRevenue MarketingPipeline MarketingRevenue OperationsKPI FrameworksForecastingP&L AccountabilityPower BIAdobe AnalyticsGA4
AI SYSTEMS & ENGINEERING
Multi-Agent OrchestrationSpecialist Agent DesignAI Workflow DesignVoice AI & Realtime SystemsBrowser AutomationModel Context ProtocolSource Grounding & ProvenanceStructured Outputs & Schema ValidationHuman-in-the-Loop Approval GatesCross-Model EvaluationPrompt EngineeringAI GuardrailsCost & Latency Optimization
LLMs & AI PLATFORMS
Claude (Opus, Sonnet, Haiku)GPT-4.xOpenAI Responses APIOpenAI Realtime APIAnthropic SDKWhisper
DEVELOPMENT & DEPLOYMENT
Next.jsTypeScriptPython (FastAPI, Celery)Node.jsSupabasePostgreSQLPlaywrightBrowserbaseDockerVercelRailwayGitHub
AI TOOLING
Claude CodeChatGPTGeminiGammaNotebookLMZapier
CHANNELS & PLATFORMS
Meta AdsGoogle AdsYouTubeLinkedIn AdsProgrammatic DisplayOOHTV & RadioEmail & CRMIn-App Marketing
Education
Bachelor of Science, Business Administration
American University in Dubai