5 Minutes with… Joe Nicolas
Joe Nicolas has spent the past few years steering media agency UM through a period of remarkable growth and industry acclaim in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT). Under his leadership, the agency has consistently delivered an impressive 20% year-on-year growth, stacking up accolades like Best Agency in Qatar (2022, 2024), Agency of the Year at the Campaign ME Awards (2023), and MMA Smarties MENA (2021, 2022).
Building upon a foundation he laid with an Economics degree from York University and an MBA in Marketing from Cranfield School of Management, his career has spanned Lebanon, North America, Europe, the UK, and Canada – putting him at the helm of media strategies for global giants like Coca-Cola, L'Oréal, Emirates, Mastercard, McDonald’s, and Ford.
Now, he's leading UM MENAT into a new era as the IPG media network launches Full Colour Media – a bold new approach to media planning developed in partnership with Oxford Saïd Business School professor Felipe Thomaz. The model, built on a three-year deep dive into over 10,000 brands, introduces the concept of ‘brand patterns’ to help advertisers optimise media planning according to their unique pattern across what UM calls the ‘three Vs’: visibility (eg. attention and ad awareness), vibrancy (eg. social engagement, word of mouth) and variability (eg. differentiation through customer intrinsic value). To make this vision a reality, UM has retrained its teams and embedded the methodology into its custom version of Interpublic’s Interact tech platform.
LBB’s Alex Reeves caught up with Joe to explore what this means for brands, creativity, and the future of media strategy.
LBB> What were you like when you were younger? Was there any early sign that you might end up in advertising?
Joe> My journey was never a straight line. I was always fascinated by the intricate language of business and economics. Numbers weren't just figures to me; they were stories waiting to be decoded. While I didn't have a eureka moment pointing me directly towards advertising, I was perpetually drawn to the art of storytelling through a rational lens. Brands, to me, were complex ecosystems where strategy, creativity, and human psychology intersect.
My early fascination wasn't with glossy advertisements, but with understanding how businesses communicate their essence, and how they transform complex propositions into compelling narratives that resonate with people. Economics taught me the framework, but advertising showed me the human heart behind every transaction.
LBB> You've been at UM for most of your career. If you were to time travel and speak to Joe back when he first started, what would you tell him, so he'd be prepared for the changes to come?
Joe> The media and advertising landscape is not just an industry – it's a dynamic, ever-shifting ecosystem of innovation and transformation. If I could speak to my younger self, I'd say embrace uncertainty as your greatest ally. Unlike any other sector, what you know today will be obsolete tomorrow. The skills that matter are not just what you know, but how quickly you can unlearn and relearn.
The fundamental advice would be simple: enjoy the journey, stay curious, and never become comfortable. In this industry, comfort is the enemy of innovation. Every challenge is an opportunity to reinvent, and every technological shift is a chance to redefine what's possible.
LBB> MENAT is such a varied region. What fundamental principle transcends market variations and anchors an effective media strategy across diverse geographical landscapes?
Joe> The true north of media strategy lies in our shared humanity – those fundamental, unchanging values that connect us across diverse landscapes. At our core, we are beings who find profound fulfillment in kindness, doing something genuinely good, and experiencing emotions like happiness, contentment, and vulnerability.
These universal human values are our ultimate objective – our strategic endgame. While the manifestation of these values differs across markets – shaped by local nuances and cultural contexts – the underlying emotional current remains constant.
Consider how corporate social responsibility (CSR) resonates so powerfully. It works because it speaks to our collective desire to make a meaningful difference – to connect on a fundamental human level. The market details – the technologies, the media landscapes, the content trends – are merely the shifting backdrop. What endures is our capacity for empathy, connection, and shared understanding.
Technology and data are critical enablers, but they're not the strategy itself. Our strategic compass should be focused on the human narrative that connects us all.
LBB> With media fragmentation, we've seen a lot more agencies prioritizing bringing creative and media closer together (again). What does the best kind of creative-media relationship look like to you?
Joe> The future of creative and media isn't about merging specialisations to become one, but about creating a truly integrated intelligence that respects the craft of both disciplines while recognising their interdependence.
Our approach should centre on three critical integration points to create a strategic framework where creative and media work as a unified force:
Overarching Objective: Moving beyond isolated campaign goals to a holistic brand narrative. For instance, instead of a digital campaign targeting conversions, we'll align creative and media to build a comprehensive brand story that resonates across multiple touchpoints.
Consumer Insight: Deep diving into audience understanding that informs both creative expression and media placement. This means using data to uncover not just demographic information, but the emotional triggers and cultural nuances that make a message truly connect.
Measurable KPIs: Defining success metrics that reflect the true impact of integrated communication. Rather than siloed measurements like reach or engagement, we're looking at holistic indicators of brand perception, audience sentiment, and genuine behavioural change.
At its core, this means a continuous dialogue where data informs creativity, and creativity gives meaning to data. The most effective creative-media relationship is one of real-time strategic collaboration, where insights trigger new creative approaches, and cultural nuances inspire narrative directions that transcend traditional advertising paradigms.
LBB> UM recently launched its new brand proposition, Full Colour Media. Can you elaborate on what makes this concept a game-changer for the MENAT region, and how it reflects the innovative essence of the marketing and media landscape?
Joe> Full Colour Media is our manifesto for a new era of marketing intelligence, designed to ‘stand against bland’ in the age of AI. More than a strategy, it's a philosophy that embraces complexity, celebrates diversity, and breaks free from traditional marketing boundaries, creating meaningful communication in a world saturated with generic content.
We're excited because this approach speaks directly to the MENAT region. In a market where cultural narratives are rich and audiences are incredibly nuanced, a monochromatic approach simply doesn't work.
When you look at how businesses and governments in this region transform complexity into opportunity – from Saudi Arabia's ambitious tourism strategies that reimagine destination marketing to the UAE's government-led initiatives that differentiate us on the global stage – you’ll see how we don't just adapt, we innovate. Full Colour Media mirrors this spirit of radical differentiation and recognises that every brand story is a complex tapestry, not a single-thread narrative.
We're essentially challenging the industry's default settings. While others see fragmentation, we see opportunity. Where some see complexity as a challenge, we see it as our strategic playground. Full Colour Media is about transforming what seems like noise into a symphony of strategic insights.
LBB> UM has maintained recognition by RECMA for seven consecutive years under your leadership. What's been key to that consistency?
Joe> Consistency isn't about maintaining the status quo – it's about relentless reinvention. Our approach to client growth transcends traditional metrics. We see each client relationship as a dynamic ecosystem of potential, where our mission is to uncover and activate growth vectors that aren't immediately visible.
Our teams are trained to look beyond the immediate brief, diving deep into understanding the challenges that keep our clients awake at night. We treat their business and brand ambitions as a single, integrated mission. This means our success is measured not by the campaigns we produce, but by the tangible business impact we create.
Talent is our greatest asset, but it's how we deploy that talent which truly differentiates us. We've cultivated a culture of continuous learning and strategic curiosity, where every project is an opportunity to challenge assumptions, test new approaches, and push the boundaries of what's possible.
Our seven consecutive years of RECMA recognition is a testament to our unwavering commitment to strategic evolution and client-centric innovation.
LBB> What are your priorities when it comes to hiring? What sort of people make for a successful agency in your book?
Joe> Attitude is everything in our industry. Technical skills are campaign tactics, but attitude is our overarching media strategy. I look for individuals who see limitations as invitations to innovate, understanding that today's expertise becomes tomorrow's obsolescence.
In a world constantly being rewritten, the ability to unlearn is more valuable than what you currently know. We seek talent comfortable with discomfort – those who pivot without panic and view complexity as a playground. Potential is our real currency, and I challenge every new hire to bring transformative thinking from day one, whether reimagining a process, challenging workflows, or introducing perspectives that shift how we approach our work. Successful team members are those who bring an entrepreneurial spirit to everything they do, whether they're junior talent or seasoned professionals.
The right attitude means being humble enough to learn, bold enough to challenge, and resilient enough to keep pushing when others might step back. That's the DNA of our agency.
