Middle East and North Africa-focused Spotify rival Anghami has hired Mary Ghobrial, ex-Amazon Director Marketplace Expansion and ex-CCO of SOUQ.com to be the company’s new Chief Operating and Strategy Officer.
Ghobrial has over 25 years’ experience in building brands and has developed various new products within sectors including FMCG, entertainment and online shopping.
At Amazon, Ghobrial led initiatives enabling Global Selling Partners to sell across the MENA region.
During her time with Souq.com as Chief Commercial Officer, Ghobrial initiated and built the regional retail business and was also instrumental in creating Souq.com events like White Friday and Singles Day (Amazon acquired Souq.com in 2017).
She also leads the 3P business for Saudi Arabia.
Prior to Amazon, Ghobrial led Business Development for Prodea systems with leading telcos in MENA, Turkey, Asia and Africa.
Her principal role was negotiating with all major studios in Hollywood, Bollywood and the Arab world for the digital on demand rights for all new movies and original programming.
She also helped build the Showtime brand across the region, leading the company’s advertising strategy and new product development.
Ghobrial started her career with Procter and Gamble, launching global brands in Egypt from new product development, consumer insights, concept tests, pricing, packaging and brand building, to leading market shares.
“I am so happy to be back to the entertainment world, but more importantly to be part of building this amazing Arabic strong brand and scaling it further”.
Mary Ghobrial
“I am so happy to be back to the entertainment world, but more importantly to be part of building this amazing Arabic strong brand and scaling it further,” said Mary Ghobrial.
“As Anghami prepares for listing on NASDAQ in Q4 ’21, we are happy to raise the bar with a hire like Ghobrial who will help us to scale and will bring many of the Amazon leadership skills.”
Elie Habib, Anghami
Elie Habib, CTO and Co-founder of Anghamimi, added: “As Anghami prepares for listing on NASDAQ in Q4 ’21, we are happy to raise the bar with a hire like Ghobrial who will help us to scale and will bring many of the Amazon leadership skills.
“What is unique about her is that she also has the experience of a startup like Souq while being an extremely creative tech leader.”
Anghami is planning to list on the NASDAQ this year via a proposed merger with a SPAC called Vistas Media Acquisition Company.
The company recently announced the launch of entertainment venues in Dubai, London, L.A. and more cities worldwideMusic Business Worldwide