Najah Hussain: A self-starter and a team player

Najah Hussain is one of the region’s leading marketing and corporate communications professionals, with 24 years of experience working with some of the Middle East’s most valuable brands and the world’s most influential companies. An Emirati born and raised in the UAE and with undergraduate and graduate degrees from the United States, Najah operates fluently across local, regional and international social, cultural and business environments. She is fluent in English and Arabic.

With extensive experience launching new brands in the region and regional brands internationally, Najah has proven development, implementation and operational experience in the full range of marketing and corporate communications strategies and tools. Her work is distinguished by a focus on strategic and targeted communication that achieves its intended results through a clear understanding of communication objectives, target audiences and the tools necessary to achieve results.

One of her most significant roles was as a lead member of the marketing team at Emirates Airline during its first 13 years of operation. She was responsible for developing the airline’s event-marketing strategy and its distinctive multi-touch-point communication programs for the launch of 43 destinations on four continents, as well as other elements such as the in-flight magazine, Emirates-branded retail operations and international event sponsorships – including top global sporting events – that became an Emirates trademark and much-copied branding strategy.

Having worked in the UAE and the region for nearly a quarter of a century, Najah maintains an extensive network of high-level contacts in many areas of business, government and media. Her strong networking skills mean that she assists client companies move with clarity and confidence within a wide range of organizations, both within the region and internationally.

At the same time, Najah has managed sensitive and highly strategic work with top international media outlets and platforms, including, in the United States, the CBS television network’s hard-hitting and widely-respected news program ‘60 Minutes’ and ITV’s GMTV morning show in the UK. In 1995, she managed an unsolicited ’60 Minutes’ piece that presented Dubai in a very positive light, reached a US audience of 50 million, as well as countless more through international broadcasts. In 1996, she successfully pitched and then facilitated GMTV’s four days of live broadcasts from Dubai, which presented the emirate as a high-quality tourist destination. Her understanding of these, and other international media markets, as well as the requirements and expectations of top-level journalists continues today, as does her access to a wide range of local, regional and international media platforms.

She is highly focused and ambitious, a self-starter and a team player, and a strong leader with sound problem-solving skills. More recently, she founded and is Managing Director of SAREEM Consultancy, the only Emirati-owned and managed PR and corporate communications marketing agency.

Through SAREEM, Najah has helped develop corporate identities, launch campaigns and IPO strategies for some of the UAE’s biggest blue-chip companies, including Emaar, the Middle East’s biggest publicly traded property company; Aldar, which has announced $75 billion in assignments in Abu Dhabi; Amlak Finance, one of the region’s first retail mortgage providers; Dolphin Energy, one of the Gulf’s largest energy-related ventures; and Mubadala Development Company, Abu Dhabi’s $23 billion strategic investment vehicle.

She has managed numerous multimillion dollar marketing budgets for her clients across a range of industries, including aviation, banking & finance, oil & gas, real estate, foodstuff, automotive and IT. International clients included Rothschild, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, HP and Ford.