It took me almost five years to write this book. It began as a sit-down-to-write-whenever-you-are-free project, but this rarely happened, as my executive responsibilities at TBWA\RAAD kept me busy.
Had it not been for the support and encouragement of my dear wife Nimat (Grace) and my three sons Reda, Rani, and Rayan, as well as my grandchildren Leanne, Ramzi, Sophia, Rayan and Ralph, who kept asking “when will you finish writing your book, Jiddo (Grandpa)”, it might have taken another five years to complete.
I began scribbling on slips of paper, blank envelops, the back of airline boarding passes, credit card receipts, and any other available surface whenever I remembered an incident or experience worth sharing.
I then grouped these bits and pieces together into complementary thought chapters and passed them on to my support team. They helped to find references or the addresses of people that we needed to contact. We then requested that those people vet, correct or amend the draft.
Here, I must confess that putting this story into your hands was very much influenced by Jean-Marie Dru, TBWA’s chairman, who kindly wrote the book’s preface. Also, by my old clients Fouad Kouraytem and Samir Hawwa of Procter & Gamble, who vetted what I had written about the P&G business in Arabia. I am thankful as well to Johnny Youssef, who came to my rescue in relation to the chapters that dealt with Young & Rubicam’s early experience in the region. Salim Barakat is another old-time colleague for whom I owe my thanks, as he helped me with the names and dates of the Saatchi & Saatchi Middle East executives and their roles. I must also thank Philippe Hitti, my first boss, for vetting the chapters related to my time at Publicite Universelle, including the stories of Sharp, Personna, Freshy, Uncle Ben’s, Cutty Sark and Mennen; Raja Baroody, who kindly helped with regards to the brands represented by Baroody Brothers & Company, as well as Geadah Brothers. Talking of old bosses, I also rush to thank Raymond Hanna, who vetted the chapters on Ceylon Tea and HIMA, as well as the early days of Intermarkets. I need to heartily acknowledge the help of Ghada Azzi and Chantal Dagher, who gave me access to ArabAd’s archives, and Sami Raffoul, who shared with me his wealth of information on media and market research.
Writing this story, I was loaded with memories and details about the International Advertising Association, but I am also thankful to Mustapha Assad, Talal Dhulaymi and Ian Fairservice for enriching my own records on the subject. Ghassan Charbel and Sami Andraos were extremely supportive and helped me to locate a rare copy of Asharq Al-Awsat that dated back to the first year of its publication and carried key evidence related to one of my stories. Rafic Kamaleddine is another colleague who I owe a heap of appreciation. He added greatly to the details of the Arab agency scene of the Seventies and Eighties.
My barber in Beirut, Joe Serop Housepian, is to be much thanked for helping me to search for Fontana’s Matossian family amongst the Armenian community in Lebanon and Los Angeles.
Jennifer Fischer and Rifaat Fakih were instrumental in helping me locate references for the book, and I hasten to thank both of them, as well as Romy Abdelnour and Ezzat Habra, who played an ongoing role by stepping in every time the project faced a hurdle that we needed to overcome. Mahmoud Jaber, Sandeep Fernandes, and Iain Akerman have edited many chapters of this story and my thanks and great appreciation goes to the three.
A book without a cover is like a peacock without feathers. Many of my colleagues offered their help on the cover design. My thanks and appreciation go to Nour Serhan, Mira El Fil, Jimmy Papas, Jad Chidiac, Alex Pineda, and Julio Luengo. The final design – inspired by the film “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” – is the brainchild of Walid Kanaan, to whom I owe loads of appreciation.
Joseph Raidy, Mariya El Khoury and Rita Mehanna, as well as the wonderful team at Raidy Printing Group, were all superb in delivering a dedicated job on page setting and printing. This for me – and hopefully to you dear reader – will make all the difference.
Last but in no way least, my gratitude and great thanks to two dear ladies – Mona Hamdan and Sally Bassil. On my return to Lebanon, Sally took charge of the entire publishing project. Her labor of love went far beyond the call of duty, and I will always treasure her passion, alertness, and care.
Thank you all again and again.