Memac Ogilvy

Memac Ogilvy is the regional arm of Ogilvy and one of the longest-tenured WPP shops in the Gulf. Founded as Memac, the agency partnered with Ogilvy decades ago and has run as the network's integrated MENA presence ever since — advertising, PR, and influence under one roof, with the PR practice trading on Ogilvy's global brand-building DNA more than on a public-affairs heritage.

The PR practice covers ten markets and is structured under Ashraf Shakah as president of Ogilvy PR MENA, with country MDs in the major hubs. Ghassan Maraqa runs the broader MENA group across disciplines, and the leadership chain ladders up to Matt Buchanan in Ogilvy EMEA. The firm has been visible on Al-Futtaim IKEA and an increasingly Saudi-weighted government roster — Ministry of Culture, Green Riyadh, World Defense Show, Expo 2030 — alongside its long-running Qatar Foundation partnership.

The 2024 MEPRA Awards were a coronation. Memac Ogilvy won twenty-seven titles, took Large Agency of the Year, and shortlisted sixty-seven entries — the highest count of any firm in the region. Qatar Foundation alone delivered eleven wins for the partnership, five of them Gold, including the inaugural Best Artificial Intelligence category for the Bytes of AI content series.

Where it leads: integrated work where PR sits next to creative and social on the same brand, and Saudi government mandates that demand creative-first storytelling alongside earned-media discipline. Where the boutiques still take share: pure-play corporate reputation work for sensitive regional clients who prefer not to sit inside a network roster.