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 Publicis Graphics Jordan has appointed Nathan Ross, formerly of Grey Dubai, as its new creative director, and the latest in a string of senior hires for the group.
PGJ chief exec Amre Husseini said in a press release: “When the management of PGJ met with Nathan for the first time, we could all tell that Nathan is to creative what wet is to water, we knew that he is the right person to lead our agency into a new era of creativity and innovation. We were looking for someone who can position our agency as number one on the advertising map for the region, and gladly we met Nathan.”
(If we were nitpicking, we might put the metaphor as “what water is to wet”. But we’re not.)
For his part, Ross was effusive about his new office and home when AdNation spoke to him: “I came out and had a look, and I was really taken aback by the culture and people and environment of Jordan – a very refreshing contrast to Dubai, almost a complete polar opposite.
“The people, the way they interact with complete strangers on the street, really blew me away – I’d never seen any other environment like it. So that was the main attraction, other than the office and the people. The staff here almost literally welcomed we with open arms; everyone’s eager to learn and understand outside environments and cultures, and learn from international influences,” he added.
Along with praise for Jordan and PGJ, Ross isn’t short on ambition. Having only started at Publicis at the end of February, he arrived too late for this year’s awards cycle, but has what might be modestly described as Plans (with a capital P) for next year.
“I want to make the impact in the creative world. We’ll be pooling our resources as an agency, and then next year we’ll unleash a torrent of creativity that will, as far as I can see, whitewash the competition in the region. If I can be so ambitious!” said Ross.
Whether completely serious or not about PGJ’s award strategy, the agency’s new creative director is intent on putting Publicis and Jordan on the advertising and creative map.
“The way I see my opportunity is upping the growth, the capability and the credibility of the agency, not only regionally, but internationally as well. One of my main points that I wanted to get approved before joining was that I wanted international exposure for the agency, and obviously to promote Jordan as a very strong creative hub,” explained Ross.
A tall order – but anyone who doubts whether it’s possible might just look at Qatar a few years ago, prior to the rise of FP7’s Doha office (and we’re not getting into a debate about that operation here). With Dubai’s star somewhat in the descendant, now would seem to be an ideal time to at least make the attempt to build a strong agency in a marginally-neglected territory.
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