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Meet Mohammed Tayem, the Founder and CEO of Entourage Marketing & Events, a young live communication agency filled with passion for delivering the highest standards, irrespective of the scale and size of the challenge. As the organization’s founder, Mr. Tayem has a long track record of achievements. He established entourage in 2009, and before that, he worked extensively with several top brands in the region, including Orange telecom, Etisalat, and Damac.
Over the last decade, entourage has gained the trust of many regional and local governments and some of the biggest international private entities due to its exceptional work ethic and performance. The Dubai Government/ Dubai Economic Department has also evaluated its performance among all other SMEs in the Emirate and selected it as one of the 100 top SME companies in Dubai in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Under Mr. Tayem’s leadership, entourage became one of the first live communication agencies in the region to be awarded the Middle East Events Awards and nominated by the Middle East Event Awards in 2022 for the ‘Industry Icon Award’ and the ‘Best Person in Crisis’ in 2021.
Housing all Marketing Solutions Under One Roof
Entourage is a live communication agency housing all marketing solutions under one roof- events, creative, advertising, digital, social, and PR. Mr. Tayem and his team have always believed in the power of integrated marketing to create brand journeys across multiple touchpoints that help drive the narrative. As a live communication agency, entourage has had the opportunity to build several mega-events over the years, including Knowledge Summit, World Government Summit, G20 – KSA, eCommerce Forum, YouTube Music App Middle East launch, Pakistan Pavilion Expo 2020, IKTVA by Aramco, and most recently, the One Billion Followers Summit in Dubai.
Entourage has also been the agency behind several groundbreaking advertising campaigns in the region, including Egypt Tourism campaigns – Misr Wahashtoona and Misr Orayba, Jordan Tourism Campaign – Yes, It’s Jordan, Amazon KSA – app download campaign, Ministry of Industry & Mineral Resources KSA – Ramadan Campaign and many more. Entourage has had partnerships with international clients like Google and Discovery Networks for all their marketing initiatives and activations.
The Greatest Accomplishment
Entourage is Mr. Tayem’s dream, a product of his ambition and passion, fuelled by his people and their relentless commitment to the work. Like the rest of the planet, the 2008 recession impacted Mr. Tayem’s employment, which was a complete reboot for him. He had the time, vision, and motivation to embark on the entrepreneurship journey. The global recession’s challenge accelerated his desire to build an organization that people like him could call home. In building entourage from the ground up, Mr. Tayem has managed to create a community of self-driven and like-minded people who have accompanied him through the ups and downs of this journey.
Mr. Tayem feels building entourage is one of his greatest professional accomplishments, but what makes it great are his milestones during this journey.
“From a small start-up to a regional agency with five operational offices in less than 15 years, I have come a long way,“- he explained. “Working with the biggest international brands and consulting for multiple government entities across the region are milestones by themselves. More importantly, building a family along with a business is an achievement. Usually, it comes down to choosing between family life and your professional goals. But I am very fortunate to have had the unwavering support of my loved ones to share in my professional journey.”
Differentiating from Competitors
Mr. Tayem feels the industry is overflowing with brilliance and creativity; the competition is fierce but inspiring. His earlier experience has taught him and his team to set entourage apart, stand out, and create its own niche. Mr. Tayem carefully placed his bets on strategy, which paid off immensely. At entourage, the strategy works like an invisible thread that binds all elements together and brings the puzzle pieces to create a complete picture. It has led every campaign, event, or execution the agency has done to date and will lead all its work in the future.
“Our industry is a melting pot of creativity and diverse experiences driven by exceptionally talented people. I would like to see more industry collaboration, mentorships being provided to the younger generation, and, more importantly, knowledge exchange. There is a lot we can learn from each other, keeping the competitive fire burning bright,“- said Mr. Tayem.
Tackling the Pandemic
As a creative agency, entourage sees most of its challenges and roadblocks as opportunities. As global economies came to a standstill and business continuity was challenged, entourage’s primary goal was to keep its people safe and protect everyone’s employment to the best of its ability. With so much time on their hands, Mr. Tayem and his team launched a 3D virtual platform named ‘eve’ in June 2020 to help events continue virtually. Within another month, they also launched WizShops.com, an eCommerce business, and technology solutions provider.
Although the pandemic hindered the organization from continuing on its path, it successfully created an entirely new path and focused on what it could do rather than what it couldn’t.
What Success Looks Like
“In my dictionary, success is a collective noun. As they say, it takes a village to succeed, and it does. My success or that of my company is not mine alone; it wouldn’t be possible without the people fueling the entourage engine with passion and commitment. Success can be measured in moments, seeing my team rise up together to face a challenge or deliver a campaign that becomes wildly popular or simply an epic brainstorming session,“- explained Mr. Tayem.
In the future, entourage aspires to become the biggest regional, self-owned live communications agency in the Middle East, gaining the trust of the government and private sector entities alike. The organization has already expanded to Saudi Arabia and Egypt and has plans to foray into different markets to cover the entire region quickly.
