Ali Zhairati, Group Marketing & Strategy Manager

Ali Zhairati

Group Marketing & Strategy Manager

Unigaz Company

Location
Saudi Arabia - Riyadh
Education
Master's degree, Business Management
Experience
17 years, 7 Months

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Work Experience

Total years of experience :17 years, 7 Months

Group Marketing & Strategy Manager at Unigaz Company
  • Lebanon - Beirut
  • My current job since February 2015

 Corporate strategy formulation, communication and follow up on group level and per country.
 Value Proposition Analysis to reform business offering (7S) and re-segment the market followed by tailored Go-to-Market strategy per channel.
 Marketing (MarCom) strategy for 7 countries utilizing multiple media channels and analytics based on trend research and adoption rate analysis per channel.
 Developing new concepts based on intensive research while fully engage in the user experience (UX Design) of its tools i.e. Mobile Apps, Website, platforms, etc...
 Market intelligence and competition landscaping to boost sales performance

Cluster Marketing Manager Arabian Peninsula & Egypt (APE) at SIG Combibloc Obeikan FZCO
  • Saudi Arabia - Riyadh
  • February 2014 to February 2015

Cluster Marketing Manager Arabian Peninsula & Egypt (APE)
SIG Combibloc Obeikan FZCO - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
February 2014 - February 2015

Driving the company's marketing direction towards customer-centric and value adding business approach through:
 Market Intelligence, Market Budgeting (Lean Budgeting) & Product Management - Liquid Dairy, NCSD & Food.
 Market and Customer Segmentation
 Research and Innovations / Create B2B & B2C Marketing Campaigns with emphasis on Social Media.
 Communications: Commercial / Environmental Engagements. (BTL & corporate events).
 CRM module enhancements and designing CSR strategy
 Certified as Internal Trainer across MEA region for Think-Customer & Employee Engagements courses.

Client Service Manager - Retail Measurement Nestle Account at The Nielsen Company (ACNielsen)
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • August 2012 to December 2013

 Working with Nestle CIMI Team (Consumer Insights & Market Intelligence) for MASH and ME Markets. Providing marketing insights and analysis for Nutrition, Confectionary, Culinary, Coffee and Dairy divisions. As well as competition landscape, gray products analysis and track marketing activities effectiveness through Market Watch tools.

Research Manager & Head of Communication at The Nielsen Company (AC Nielsen)
  • Qatar - Doha
  • August 2009 to August 2012

Role start up base was Lebanon and then moved to Qatar:
 Building business relationships with local/International clients and retailers in Qatar & Lebanon, understand their business strategy and vision, and accordingly design Nielsen insights and research that includes:
o Driving retail performance through Nielsen Retail Audit (distribution, sales, pricing, promotion, modern/traditional trade analysis, etc…) within the Retail Measurement Services division in Nielsen for FMCG industry.
o Conduct customized research & insights based on need nature (concept testing, satisfaction measurement, new products launch, brand equity, shopper trends, market penetration & positioning, etc…)
o Being a project champion in Middle East for the following workshops: (i) Category Management, (ii) Advanced CatMan/Shopper-centric by NeuroFocus Int’l, (iii) Brands Performance through Consumer Behavior.

 On the communication:
o Internal Communication: Communications inside the organization (cross & in divisions) as informative material, achievements in Lebanon, and regionally initiated the Market Watch Magazine which is the first and unique communication tool of Nielsen Retail Measurement across MENAP region by RS including all details of each country and my job was from collecting these details from the concerned executives, pilling it up, working on the designs, and kick-off the finalized edition.
o External Communication: I worked on establishing a solid base for Nielsen in food and FMCG industry exhibitions (i.e. HORECA) through continuous participation as T&B deals (trade & barter) in compliance with cost leadership. Aside from exhibitions, all events, conferences and fairs (job fairs), was in the scope of my communication role for Lebanon.

Senior Category Manager - Private Label and Hard Discount Specialist at The Sultan Center
  • Oman - Muscat
  • May 2008 to July 2009

Managing a group of private brands for TSC that starts from choosing the right category and the right product mix, sourcing the right supplier globally/locally, assessing feasibility, set the retail selling price based on the pricing strategy and finally create the replenishment calendar.
 As Hard Discount specialist, TSC was the first retailer that launched this new concept of retail stores that has an assortment of 95% as private brands and 5% of brand leaders. Therefore, establishing this 95% was in my list of tasks taking into consideration that branding was per category and includes building the brands from the base starting with setting brand role & identity and selecting target audience, creating the name, the logo and design to start the above mentioned process.

Category Manager - FMCG at The Sultan Center
  • Kuwait
  • September 2006 to April 2008

Learning the fundamentals of category management, and implement it to my work to manage the categories that fall under FMCG as strategic business units (SBUs) and establish an efficient assortment that meets the customers’ expectations and needs.
 Earned the ECR certificate (Efficient Consumer Response).
 Design rebates and negotiation schemes.
 Responsible for driving growth to the category and related department.

Education

Master's degree, Business Management
  • at Lebanese American University
  • December 2017

Distingushed list student for the MBA program in the Lebanese American University

Bachelor's degree, B.S Marketing
  • at Lebanese International University
  • June 2006

Marketing and Sales

Specialties & Skills

Business Plan Formulation
Consumer Insights
Strategy Development
Marketing Mix
Space Planning (Retail)
MS Office
Market Analysis
Communication Tools (Digital / Offline)
Project Management (PMP Course)
Omnichannel (Path to purchase)
Strategy Formulation (Balanced Scorecard)
Business Modelling (Award Winner)

Languages

English
Expert
French
Beginner
Arabic
Expert

Training and Certifications

Project Management Professionals PMP (Training)
Training Institute:
PMI
Date Attended:
June 2015
Duration:
25 hours
Think Customer (Internal Customer Service) (Certificate)
Date Attended:
September 2014
Valid Until:
January 9999
Advanced Analytical and Communication Skills (Certificate)
Date Attended:
September 2010
Situational Leadership (Certificate)
Date Attended:
April 2015
Principles of Category Management (Certificate)
Date Attended:
October 2011
Valid Until:
October 2011
Certified Supply Chain Management (Certificate)
Date Attended:
November 2010
Valid Until:
November 2010