BEIRUT: Marketing and communications agency MENACOM CEO Joseph Ghossoub was awarded the 2011 man of the year prize by the monthly communications and business magazine ArabAd.ArabAd chose Ghossoub from among leading figures in the advertising industry for his impressive record of achievements in communications in the Arab world since he joined the sector in early 1980.

A year after he joined Intermarkets, Ghossoub was appointed junior account executive in Saudi Arabia.

Ghossoub quickly climbed the ladder and walked his own path, launching in the mid-1990s a joint venture with Talel al-Makdessi called Team.

In 1999, New York-based ad agency Young & Rubicam bought a 25 percent stake in Team, allowing a prosperous Team-Y&R to later buy Intermarkets.

In 2008, the agency sold 60 percent of its shares to London-based holding group WPP and rebranded to MENACOM with more than 1,200 employees and a network of 57 offices across 17 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Among prominent posts held by Ghossoub over the past few years are world president of the International Advertising Association Global, member of Dubai Media Incorporation’s board and president of the Lebanese Business Council in the UAE.

The selection process for ArabAd’s Man of the Year is conducted by a committee of the magazine’s senior editors chaired by its publisher Walid Azzi.