08-04-2025
LIGHTBLUE appoints Adel Noueihed as Managing Director
Creative experience agency LIGHTBLUE has appointed Adel Noueihed as Managing Director. In his new role, Noueihed will lead the agency's operations across Dubai and Riyadh, working in close partnership with Co-Founder David Balfour and Partner Craig Borthwick.
Together with the wider leadership team, he will focus on driving strategic growth, strengthening client relationships, and pushing the boundaries of creative innovation across the region.
Commenting on the appointment, David Balfour, Co-Founder of LIGHTBLUE, said, 'Adel joins LIGHTBLUE at a time of incredible momentum and opportunity. His unmatched knowledge of the region, combined with his entrepreneurial mindset and passion for design-led strategy, makes him the perfect fit to lead the next phase of our growth. I've long admired his ability to build culture and capability in equal measure – and I'm thrilled to welcome him to the team.'
With more than 15 years of leadership experience across the MENA region, Noueihed brings a wealth of strategic and commercial expertise to the role. Most recently, Noueihed served as the Chief Marketing Officer for IFZA, where he played a pivotal role in launching new business verticals, building in-house creative capabilities, and developing group-wide brand strategy.
Prior to that, he was Regional Managing Director at independent experiential agency Imagination. During his 12-year tenure there, Adel scaled operations across the region, won major international RFPs, and led some of the most significant experiential and cultural projects in the region, including the Saudi Ministry of Tourism's global launch and Expo 2020 countdown.
Adel Noueihed said, 'I am incredibly excited to join LIGHTBLUE as they scale in the region. I have always been impressed with what David and his team have built – a creative, bold and fiercely independent agency that understands culture and impactful ideas. I look forward to our next chapter of world building.'
Noueihed also has held senior roles at Ogilvy in Riyadh and Bahrain, leading integrated marketing campaigns for blue-chip clients such as AMEX, STC, and Almarai. His deep experience in marketing strategy, design thinking, and regional business development is complemented by a Global Executive MBA from INSEAD and accelerator programmes at CERN and MIT.
