While in Casablanca to meet the teams of Moroccan subsidiary Wavemaker (WPP Group), Amer El Hajj, Chief Executive Officer of GroupM MENA, shares with us his vision of the market, the agency's ambitions in the MENA region, and his view of the major transformations redefining the media agency business. An exclusive interview with a leader who believes in the power of bold marketing, focused on results but also on people.
What is your background, briefly, and what motivates your visit to Morocco today?
So I've been in the industry for 22 years, started as chief investment officer for one of the big media agencies. And then almost two years ago, I moved as a CEO of Group M for the entire MENA region. Definitely, Morocco is a very important market for us.
It's growing, and it's so dynamic in our region that, as a group, we are very interested to work here, develop our clients and our team, and be close to them. And that's why my visit here, this is the second time I come to Morocco, is to see our clients, our team, and our partners.
How do you see Wavemaker Maroc developing in recent years?
WaveMaker did great, actually, in the past few years, not only when it comes to the business growth, but also when it comes to working closely with clients.
Because we do believe that clients always come first, and we are very client-centric. And the results talk a lot about itself, especially that we won very recently four big awards in Morocco that we are very proud to have and to win them on behalf of our clients.
Wavemaker is the only agency to have won 4 Love Brand awards at Impériales Week 2025. Is that a source of pride for you?
Of course, the minute we knew about it, it was like a great joy for us. As you said, one of the only agencies in Morocco to have such a great win, especially for multinational advertisers. And I think it's a great statement for WaveMaker, Group M, and the team, and the collaboration between the team and our clients.
You often talk about provocative planning. How does it translate concretely into local campaigns?
So I do believe that we always try to be innovative. And this is the strength of our team, not only to produce exactly, if you like, the same campaign over and over again. And if I look at the evolution of our campaigns moving from very traditional media campaigns through innovating digital, innovating content, so all this is provocative in a market that is still focused plus or minus on the traditional media.
What are Wavemaker's strategic priorities for the MENA region in 2025?
So definitely we're growing, and we're growing very fast for almost the past three years. We're working a lot globally and locally on adopting AI. And it's becoming in our DNA. We are automating most of our campaigns and prompting AI to produce, if you want, the best assets for our clients. And this is a level that we do believe that in the coming few years will be adopted by most of our clients and agencies.
How does Morocco fit into this regional dynamic?
It's in the middle and the main focus. So we were talking today, this morning, how to bring in the team to be fully educated and trained on our AI tools, which is WPP Open, WPP Studios, WPP Convince, that it's a model that was created and invested by WPP Global.
We invest almost $300 million a year on those tools and platforms. And Morocco will be similar to all the other markets in the MENA to work and adopt those.
Do you observe any specificities in Moroccan media or consumer behavior compared with other markets in the region?
Yes, and there is a big growth, I would say confidently, about the digital adoption in Morocco, especially when it comes to social media.
There is a huge consumption. Penetration of smartphones is very high, similar to any market and countries in MENA. And even globally, I would assume penetration here is almost at 85% on digital, while in UK it's the same, around that much.
So I think, and we've seen economically, the progress of Morocco is very, very fast. And this is what is, if you want, parallel to how the consumers, when it comes to our media, is behaving.
So what is the media or technological trend that you consider the most promising in the region? Is it AI?
AI definitely is one of them. And I'm pretty sure we are still in the infancy of AI, and it's going to be definitely growing within the years. But at the same time, you have a lot of social media that is being consumed. And later on, using more and more AI will be the alternative for these media in the years to come.
What do you think is the real impact of generative AI on media buying and strategic planning?
There is a huge, if you want, shift when it comes to media, and even creative when it comes to AI. And as I said, there will be a great focus in the coming years.
I wouldn't shy of saying that it will be replacing certain roles, certain processes. The most important part is for us to be well-equipped, understanding and learning how AI works, especially when it comes to prompting the AI to get the best answers and outcome of these platforms.
What role do agencies like WaveMaker have to play in this increasingly fragmented ecosystem?
I would say that being advanced, being innovative, being on top of things, and future-proof our business and our client business is the most important part.
And that comes by understanding three characters in this ecosystem. Number one, understanding our audience, understanding our clients' needs, and equipping our teams to be the best in the market. Because in the end, it is no longer a game of cloud or size. It's more a game of knowledge and technology in our industry.
A final word to sum up the added value that Wavemaker wants to bring to brands in this region?
I would again say, and maybe I'm repeating myself, it's more of how our team can bring forward the communication of our clients and the brands versus other agencies that is still mainly, if you want, a media buying agency rather than being a media communication and marketing agency. And this is what we're striving towards and what we're working towards with all our clients to elevate that kind of communication to the audiences that we're after.
