10.30 - 11:30 CET
Brand Finance will be in Davos on Tuesday, 21st January, to officially launch the Global 500 2025, the 19th edition of its highly anticipated annual study, which identifies and ranks the world's strongest and most valuable brands. This landmark report provides an in-depth analysis of global brand performance, showcasing emerging trends, industry leaders, and key insights that define the modern branding landscape.
As part of the launch, we will not only unveil the results of the study but also host an engaging discussion featuring renowned industry leaders. This panel will delve into actionable strategies, innovative approaches, and the critical challenges faced in building and scaling successful global brands. By highlighting real-world examples and expert perspectives, the session aims to inspire attendees to rethink and refine their own branding strategies in an increasingly competitive and interconnected world.
Hatem Dowidar is the Group CEO of e&. He joined the Group in September 2015 as Group Chief Operating Officer and was appointed as Chief Executive Officer, International in March 2016.
Ever since he took the company's helm, Dowidar has spearheaded several ground-breaking strategic programmes that propelled the company’s business growth to new heights across the 16 markets where it operates. As the company transformed into a global technology and investment conglomerate in February 2022, and despite the ever-changing business landscape, his astute brand stewardship has been the foundation for enhancing e&’s brand equity, enhancing employee experience, and adding value to stakeholders.
Today, e&’s portfolio of brands is among the most valuable in the region standing tall in global rankings. Dowidar also has been ranked 22nd in the Global Brand Guardians Index (BGI), up from 79th place in 2022 and has become 1st in the BGI Telecoms Ranking.
Under his guidance, the company is also recognised as the most valuable publicly-traded company and, according to Forbes, also the most valuable listed telecommunications service provider in the GCC region. A highly skilled strategist and visionary, Dowidar has been instrumental in ushering in a new phase of strategic partnerships and key collaborations with global industry leaders such as Microsoft and Meta that will digitally empower societies.
Prior to joining the Group, Dowidar was the Group Chief of Staff for Vodafone Group based in London. He brings 32 years of experience in multinational companies and more than 25 years of these within the telecommunications industry across various leadership positions in multinational companies.
He initially joined Vodafone Egypt in 1999, served as Marketing Director (CMO) and later became the CEO of Vodafone Egypt from 2009 - 2014, where he steered the business growth with benchmark profitability in challenging and competitive environments.
Dowidar has a long track record of achievements in the various leadership positions he held at Vodafone Group and its subsidiaries, including Group Core Services Director, Chairman and CEO of Vodafone Malta, CEO of Partner Markets with partnerships covering over 45 markets and Regional Director Emerging Markets. He also has extensive Corporate Governance experience through his representation as Chairman and Board Member in several Corporate Boards within and outside the telecommunications industry.
Dowidar began his career in AEG/Deutsche Aerospace (Daimler Benz Group) in Egypt, before moving into marketing at Procter & Gamble, where he held several managerial roles.
He is currently a board member of Etihad Etisalat Company (Mobily), Maroc Telecom, Etisalat Misr (Etisalat Egypt), Pakistan Telecommunications Company (PTCL), Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industry and in the board of trustees of Khalifa University.
On a global industry level, Dowidar is a member of the GSMA , United Nations and the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) leadership panel. GSMA is an industry organisation representing the interests of global mobile operators as well as the broader mobile ecosystem. IGF leadership panel is a multi-stakeholder group for policies and practices relating to the Internet and technologies. Convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the IGF facilitates knowledge exchange on how to maximise Internet opportunities and address risks and challenges. Since its foundation, the IGF has identified a wide range of key issues to be addressed by the international community and has shaped policy decisions related to the Internet and technologies throughout the world. He is also the only Arab member from the MENA region on the Leadership panel, which currently consists of 15 members.
Previously, Dowidar served as a board member for Hutch Lanka, Etisalat Nigeria, Attijariwafa Bank Egypt, Barclays Bank Egypt and Vodacom Africa, Vodafone Egypt and Malta, and ElSweedy Electrometers.
He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and Electronics Engineering from Cairo University and an MBA from the American University in Cairo.
Jill Kramer is Accenture’s chief marketing & communications officer, leading a global team of approximately 2000 professionals focused on strengthening the Accenture brand in the marketplace and helping grow the business.
Most recently named one of Forbes’ 50 Most Influential CMOs, she is responsible for brand, advertising, content, digital marketing, social media, corporate and financial communications, industry analyst, media relations and research, insights and analytics. She is also a member of Accenture's Global Management Committee.
Previously, Jill led Accenture’s brand and advertising, where she was responsible for the stewardship of the Accenture brand, leading all advertising strategies, creative development, production, media planning and buying. She also led the creative, media and communications strategy for the launch of Accenture's new “Let There Be Change” brand campaign in 2020, the company’s biggest brand move in more than a decade.
Before joining Accenture in 2015, Jill held successive senior leadership roles at BBDO and DDB, two of the world's most creative agencies, and delivered award-winning core business-to-business brand development, digital marketing and communications for some of the most iconic brands, including AT&T and ExxonMobil.
Jill serves on the board of directors of the Ad Council and was also named as one of Forbes’ Most Entrepreneurial CMOs. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in communications from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Sir Martin Sorrell is Founder and Executive Chairman of S4 Capital plc, a new age/ new era, purely digital advertising and marketing services business for global, multinational and millennial-driven influencer brands.
S4 Capital plc merged with MediaMonks, its content practice, in July 2018 and MightyHive, its data and digital media practice, in December 2018. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange under SFOR.L and has over 7,000 people in 33 countries, with a market capitalization in excess of $4.0 billion.
Sir Martin was Founder and CEO of WPP for 33 years, building it from a £1 million “shell” company in 1985 into the world’s largest advertising and marketing services company. When Sir Martin left in April 2018, WPP had a market capitalisation of over £16 billion, revenues of over £15 billion, profits of approximately £2 billion and over 200,000 people in 113 countries. Prior to that, Sir Martin was Group Financial Director of Saatchi & Saatchi plc and worked for James Gulliver, Mark McCormack and Glendinning Associates before that.
Sir Martin supports a number of leading business schools and universities, including his alma maters, Harvard Business School, where he received the Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award and Cambridge University, where he is an Honorary Fellow at Christ’s College, Cambridge. He was ranked as the second-best CEO in the world by the Harvard Business Review in 2017 and was nominated as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People.
Sir Martin also supports a broad range of charities, including his family foundation.
David is the Chairman of Brand Finance Plc – the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. He has worked in the area of branded business, brand, and intangible asset valuation since 1991. He specialised entirely in the field after becoming the Director of Brand Valuation for Interbrand in 1995. He subsequently left Interbrand in 1996 to launch Brand Finance which is celebrating 25 years in business this year.
David represented the British Standards Institution in the working parties responsible for crafting international industry standards: ISO 10668 on Brand Valuation in 2010 and ISO 20671 on Brand Evaluation in 2019.
David is a passionate writer and has authored many articles on brand valuation, published in numerous marketing and finance newspapers and magazines, such as: Financial Times, Accountancy Age, and Marketing Week. He has also lectured on the topic of brand valuation for Harvard, Chicago, and London Business Schools.
David graduated from Bristol University with an English degree, qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse in London, and obtained a postgraduate diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). He is a Fellow of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and has a practising certificate with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).