Tarek Sioufi is set to become chief strategy officer at Grey London, joining from Media.Monks. He will take on his new role as part of the agency’s core executive team in June, reporting to president and chief creative officer Laura Jordan Bambach and global chief strategy and data officer Jonathan Lee.
At Media.Monks, Sioufi spent two years working as global executive strategy director. During his time there, he was instrumental in building out the company’s global creative offering, working for clients including Toblerone (Mondelez), Adez (Coca-Cola), BrewDog, Netflix, Havaianas, RobinHood, Shure, WhatsApp (Meta) and more.
Prior to joining Media.Monks, Sioufi worked in senior roles at several high-profile creative agencies, including The Brooklyn Brothers, where he was chief strategy officer and head of strategy.
In the seven years he worked for The Brooklyn Brothers, he was involved in standout campaigns including “The new agenda” for The Financial Times, which called on leaders to drive progress in the boardroom and broader society, and “This is parenthood” for WaterWipes, which challenged the damaging ideals of perfect parenting.
He has also worked for agencies such as Wieden + Kennedy London and Fallon London, where he was strategy director, and as a sr. strategist for Sid Lee Amsterdam & Carat Global.
While at Wieden + Kennedy, Sioufi led the agency’s biggest account–Sainsbury’s–through the pandemic. During this time, the agency created the brand’s most talked about Christmas campaign, “Food is home. Home is Christmas.”
Sioufi is passionate about making the advertising industry more diverse and has been involved with Brixton Finishing School acting as a tutor and mentor for the past two years.
During his time at The Brooklyn Brothers, Sioufi also co-founded Night School, one of the first agency DE&I initiatives designed to attract more diverse talent into the creative industries. While he is no longer involved, that entity is now in its fourth year and works as a springboard for individuals from underrepresented ethnicities and backgrounds to get into full-time roles at agencies, marketing departments and production companies.
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More