Ali Rez
Ali Rez
Chief Creative Officer MENAP
Impact BBDO Group
Biography
Named Creative Person of the Year three times by Campaign magazine, including in 2023, Ali Rez is the most awarded creative leader in the Middle East, and currently leads output for the IMPACT BBDO Group across the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan region.
Rez’s creative leadership has seen Impact BBDO become the first MEA agency to be ranked Top 10 on both the WARC and World Creative Rankings in the same year, while winning 29 different No.1 Regional Agency accolades in 2022 and 2023. His work has contributed to the UAE being ranked amongst the Top 10 Creative Countries on Cannes Lions rankings.
Rez has won almost 1000 international accolades in his career spanning four continents over 20 years, which include Grands Prix at all the major shows including Cannes Lions, Clio, OneShow, LIA, Loeries, Effies – awards which have led him to be ranked No.1 ECD in MENA and APAC on several creative rankings. In 2023, he was the first jury president in Cannes Lions’ 70 year history to represent the Middle East, which he then followed up in 2024 by becoming the first Clio jury president from the region.
With an ambition to take the UAE to the No.1 Creativity Ranking spot, Rez has brought to the region a number of firsts, such as the first One Show Best in Discipline Pencil, and the first Andy Bravery Best in Show. The accolade he is most proud of though is winning Glass - The Award for Change - at three different Cannes Lions shows: Spikes, Lynx and Cannes.
Moving from California, Rez currently lives in Dubai, where he is an avid mountain biker. Besides lecturing at Oxford University, Rez has exhibited at Tate UK, spoken at Tedx, and has travelled to 139 countries.