Mustapha Assad
The region’s communication industry was built on the sweat and tears of a few individuals who were armed with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and an indefatigable desire to better themselves. In so doing, they created and grew a business that is second to none, which today caters to more than 350 million Arabs.
Chief among these future architects was Mustapha Asaad, who bought and expanded local agency Publi-graphics from a team of 12 to 370 operating in 13 cities spread throughout 11 countries with total billings of $1.2 billion.
He entered the business in the sixties and chose to leave it four decades later having achieved more than even he could have imagined possible. To commemorate the trials and tribulations witnessed, he elected to compile these achievements in a book that literally speaks volumes.
The rich visuals beautifully depicted coupled with his story written by George Elassadis with commentary as well as recollections by those individuals closest to him at the time comprise the work in its entirety. The book reads more like a riveting tale of creative ingenuity and could also be used as a brilliant reference of case studies that baffle the imagination.
The official launch of the book titled “Play It Again” by Dar Annahar publishing house took place at Ecole Supérieure des Affaires de Beyrouth (ESA). The event saw three communication personalities addressing, to a full-house auditorium, various aspects of the work starting with Jacques Séguéla, vice president of Havas Group who also wrote the book’s forward, followed by Walid Azzi, founder and editor-in-chief of Arabad magazine and concluded with Ramsay Najjar, founder of Strategic Communication Consultancy.