About

Allow me to
re-introduce myself.

Ahmad Elrefaey

Seventeen years ago I started writing ads in Cairo. I never stopped. But somewhere along the way the job changed, and I changed with it.

Today I make brands into content people actually choose to watch. Campaigns open doors. Engines keep them open — formats, series and platforms that live with the audience all season, not for one launch window. That is the work now, and it is the work I love.

The last chapter proves it. As Regional Creative Director at Footballco, the world's largest football media company, I built season-long branded content platforms for the biggest sponsors in Saudi football. I wrote and directed for Nescafé and SAVVY Games. The Nescafé work with Al Hilal made the fans the medium: 11.1M views, 12.2M impressions, a 91% view rate. The brand was welded into the mechanic, not stitched beside it. That is the difference.

Footballco is the fourth stop in a Gulf run that started in 2023. Kuwait first, heading a 19-person department at Horizon FCB and winning Burgan Bank, Nissan and Hardee's inside a year. Then Riyadh — VML on STC, Almarai and Flynas, then Bold Creatives running a 25-person department across sport and government, and a MENA Effie Bronze for Deemah Chips. Four markets, four years, each one adding a floor. Kuwait taught me to lead departments, VML taught me the Saudi machine from inside a global network, Bold taught me sport and government at scale, and Footballco taught me what to do with a season's worth of attention.

Before all that, the classic road. TBWA. FP7. Seven years at Wunderman Thompson, from Senior Copywriter to Creative Director. Three MENA Effie Golds. An Effie shortlist for Best Use of AI. Six Dubai Lynx metals. 68+ commercials, four films directed.

There is also the part nobody expects. From 2007 to 2023 I ran a parallel life in sport as founder and head of Gridiron Egypt, the organisation that established American football in the country. Fifteen years of building sports organisations while building brands. So when I make content for fans, I am not guessing what fans feel. I was in the stands and on the sideline the whole time.

And now the new skillset. I work full-stack with AI — Higgsfield, Nano Banana, Veo, Kling. An idea leaves my desk written, visualised, art-directed and motion-tested. The old divide between copy CDs and art CDs is dead. I helped bury it. I also teach: Saudi Ad School, Cairo Ad School and several Egyptian academies.

I am quite the weird mix. Half my life in the USA, half on the streets of Cairo. Both cultures native, not translated. And for the last four years the Gulf — Kuwait, then Riyadh — not as a visiting consultant flying in for the workshop, but living here, working here, raising the work inside the market rather than at it. Three cultures, all first-hand.

I lift heavy things competitively. I train every day. And I believe the best brief is the one that scares you a little.

A seasoned vet with a new skillset. That is the whole story.


01

Experience

Three markets in three years sounds like movement. It was construction — each stop added a floor.

2025 — Present
Riyadh

Regional Creative Director

Footballco MENA

Season-long branded content platforms for Saudi football's biggest sponsors. Creative and production, end to end. Wrote and directed for Nescafé and SAVVY Games.

2025
Riyadh

Creative Director

Bold Creatives

A 25-person creative department across sport and government. MENA Effie Bronze for Deemah Chips.

2024 — 2025
Riyadh

Associate Creative Director

VML

STC, Almarai, Flynas, Monsha'at — the machinery of Saudi's biggest brands.

2023
Kuwait

Creative Director, Head of Department

Horizon FCB

A 19-person department. Secured three major businesses in one year: Burgan Bank, Nissan and Hardee's.

2015 — 2022
Cairo

Senior Copywriter → Creative Director

Wunderman Thompson

Seven years, one house, the full climb. Effie Gold for Shell Rimula.

2014 — 2015
Cairo

Senior Copywriter

FP7

Two Effie Golds in one year: Coca-Cola “Share a Coke” and Mobinil “Net Heads.”

2012 — 2014
Cairo

Senior Copywriter

Kairo for Ideas

Award-winning film and radio. Pizza King, Lamar, Edita.

2009 — 2012
Cairo

Copywriter

TBWA\Egypt

Where it started. Dubai Lynx Silver in year one.

2007 — 2023
In parallel

Founder & Head

Gridiron Egypt

The organisation that established American football in Egypt. Academies at Wadi Degla and ZED. The Gezira Thunder, operated 2015–2020.


02

Awards

2025 MENA EffiesDeemah Chips Bronze
2024 MENA Effies — Best Use of AINissan, “Test Life” Shortlist
2019 Lories — Certificate of RecognitionShell Rimula, “What Matters Is Inside” pt. 1 Recognition
2018 MENA EffiesShell Rimula, “What Matters Is Inside” pt. 1 Gold
2017 Dubai Lynx — MediaVodafone, “An Ode to Al Ahly Fans” Silver
2015 Dubai Lynx — ScriptwritingMobinil, “Net Heads” Silver
2014 MENA EffiesMobinil, “Net Heads” Gold
2014 MENA EffiesCoca-Cola, “Share a Coke” Gold
2014 African Crystals — FilmPizza King, “The Egyptian Superheroes” Emerald
2014 African Crystals — FilmElectrostar, “Home Politics” Emerald
2014 Dubai Lynx — RadioPizza King, “The Ballad for Real Men” Silver
2014 Dubai Lynx — ScriptwritingPizza King, “The Ballad for Real Men” Silver
2013 Dubai Lynx — FilmFreska, “An Arab Tribe Somewhere” Bronze
2010 Dubai Lynx — Print IdeasPattex, “Sticks Anything” Silver

03

Elsewhere

Fifteen years building American football in Egypt. A strongman season currently running in public. Both are on this site as work, not as trivia — they are audiences built from zero. The part nobody expects