5 Minutes with... Lara Arbid

Lara Arbid's journey into media led her to challenge regional gender norms from the outset. In 2016, she became the first woman to lead a media agency in Riyadh, establishing Magna Global's Saudi operations from scratch and driving the agency to profitability within three months, while elevating it to market leadership in under two years. Today, Lara serves as CEO of both Initiative MENAT – ranked the #2 media agency in the MENA region with a dominant profile in 2024 and 2025 (RECMA) and named Media Network of the Year at Dubai Lynx 2024 – and Magna Global, which is recognized as Most Effective Media Agency Network (2020-2021 Global Effie Index) and Best Performance Marketing Agency (Campaign ME Agency of the Year Awards 2024).

LBB’s Alex Reeves caught up with Lara to find out what’s fuelling her agencies’ success – and what’s next.

LBB> Where did you grow up and how do you think your upbringing shaped you?

Lara> I was born and raised in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I'm Lebanese by heritage—my parents relocated to Saudi in the '70s where they built our family life. I grew up there through my high school years and returned after completing my university degree to begin my professional career.

When I tell people this, they're often really surprised. They wonder how a woman who grew up in what was then a restrictive environment could ascend to my current position. But I view those early constraints as catalysts that forged essential leadership qualities in me - resilience to overcome barriers, ambition to break stereotypes, and the determination that defines my approach today.

When you've spent your formative years navigating various constraints, you develop a mindset where challenges naturally transform into opportunities. The environment I grew up in could have limited my aspirations, but instead, it expanded my vision and capabilities. This experience instilled a fundamental belief that with determination, resilience, and strategic thinking, any barrier can become a catalyst for differentiation and growth.

LBB> What first drew you to the media industry after leaving finance?

Lara> My path to media was anything but linear. Initially drawn to banking through academic interest rather than practical exposure — I pursued a degree in finance only to discover during an internship that it didn't align with my aspirations.

What I found most revealing during that experience wasn't just the misalignment with my expectations, but my instinctive drive to innovate within constraints. That’s what lead me into media, where I commenced at Starcom Saudi. The contrast with banking was immediate: where finance felt procedural, media offered intellectual stimulation through constantly evolving challenges.

Every day brought a different brief, a different problem to solve — the innovation inherent in the work resonated perfectly with my natural inclinations. I had discovered something I was genuinely passionate about, and everything since then has fallen into place.

LBB> You've witnessed the media landscape evolve significantly over your 19-year career. What have been the most transformative changes in the MENAT region during this time?

Lara> I've witnessed our industry's remarkable evolution from analog foundations to today's sophisticated digital ecosystem. The transformation has been extraordinary — what once required extensive manual processes and physical logistics now happens instantaneously with a few clicks.

The most profound shift, however, wasn't technological evolution, but how it fundamentally shifted our industry's focus. The pendulum swung dramatically toward performance metrics, often at the expense of what truly differentiates brands. While accountability matters, brands that reduce marketing to pure metrics frequently lose the creative spark that creates meaningful connections.

Covid accelerated this performance-first mindset but revealed a crucial truth: organizations that abandoned brand building lost market share to competitors with more balanced approaches. This market evolution validates Initiative's 'Fame and Flow' model—our framework for balancing brand building with conversion optimization. We guide clients to their optimal equilibrium based on their specific market position.

The industry is now recognizing that sustainable growth demands both dimensions. The most powerful marketing happens at the intersection of creativity and accountability—forging emotional connections while driving business results. This balanced perspective has become our competitive advantage in a marketplace that increasingly values this integrated approach.

LBB> With Magna being recognised as the Most Effective Media Agency Network, what does ‘effectiveness’ in media mean to you?

Lara> Effectiveness in media isn't universal - it's calibrated to each client's unique business model and objectives. At Magna, we distinguish ourselves by measuring impact through meaningful business outcomes for each client. For real estate, this means qualified leads converting to sales discussions; for retail, it's increased store traffic; for others, app engagement or e-commerce conversions.

Our competitive advantage stems from deep integration within our clients' business ecosystems - evolving beyond campaign management to become extensions of their technology, data, and revenue operations. This strategic integration enables sophisticated attribution models that directly link media investments to business performance, optimising toward metrics that deliver genuine enterprise value.

Consider our partnership with Global Village, where performance is evaluated on driving physical visitation, requiring tailored measurement frameworks connecting digital engagement to attendance. This bespoke approach to effectiveness has been fundamental to Magna's recognition as Most Effective Media Agency Network.

LBB> As someone who has built teams across diverse cultural contexts, what principles guide your approach to finding the right talent in the region?

Lara> In our business, our greatest asset is unquestionably our people. As a service-based industry, the calibre of our talent directly determines our success. What I've learned from building teams across our diverse markets is that while skills matter, two qualities consistently predict exceptional performance: passion and ambition.

Each market presents unique talent challenges: Saudi Arabia operates with a predominantly male talent pool and nationalization requirements, complicated by competitive government sector offers; UAE functions as a global talent hub with intense competition; Egypt provides depth of local expertise; Lebanon serves as both a GCC team extension and training hub for ambitious young talent seeking regional opportunities; and Turkey offers vast scale and specialized capabilities.

What unites our highest performers is that common thread of passion and drive, complemented by their market-specific knowledge—cultural insights, local relationships, and operational nuances that cannot be compensated for from a regional perspective.

This balanced approach — identifying universal qualities while respecting market differences — has enabled us to build teams that deliver both consistency and local relevance. The right people with the right mindset remain our most crucial competitive advantage.

LBB> How are changing consumer behaviours in the region influencing your agencies' approach to media innovation?

Lara> We're navigating two fundamental shifts: evolving media consumption patterns and profound changes in engagement expectations.

The first shift extends beyond younger generations abandoning traditional media — it's a fundamental transformation in attention behaviour. Linear storytelling has given way to the imperative of instant engagement, elevating creativity and innovation from nice-to-haves to essential business drivers.

The second shift involves emerging consumer mindsets, particularly with gen z and alpha. These groups reject traditional top-down communication approaches. I was enlightened by a conversation I had with a university professor who transformed his teaching approach after realising students weren't absorbing information delivered in conventional lecture format. By providing content in advance and using class time for discussion and exchange, he achieved improved engagement.

This insight transformed my approach to meetings and discussions. Rather than presenting predetermined solutions, I now create space for diverse perspectives before guiding toward strategic objectives. This method requires more patience but yields richer insights and stronger commitment — challenging yet rewarding, as it continuously reveals new ways of working.

LBB> What leadership lessons from your journey would you share with other women aspiring to leadership roles in media across the MENAT region?

Lara> My leadership approach was forged in Saudi Arabia during a time vastly different from today's landscape. Early in my career in Riyadh, I navigated an environment where women required special permits to enter certain buildings and often found myself the sole female voice among dozens of male colleagues. These experiences taught me that having a seat at the table is meaningless without the courage to use your voice.

The most valuable lesson I've learned is that innovation and progress emerge from diversity of thought, and diversity of thought requires every person to contribute their unique perspective. Too often, people withhold their insights out of fear of judgement or dismissal, not recognising that their viewpoint might be precisely what's needed to unlock a breakthrough.

I've developed what some might call an unapologetic approach to sharing my thinking. I enter conversations with the mindset that my perspective has value, and I invite others to challenge or build upon it. This isn't about being right; it's about creating the conditions for the best ideas to emerge through constructive discourse. Finding your voice and using it deliberately is perhaps the most important leadership skill you can develop. It's not about being the loudest voice in the room; it's about ensuring meaningful perspectives aren't left unshared.

LBB> What’s next for you and your vision for Initiative and Magna in the coming years?

Lara> The agency landscape presents an ongoing challenge of technological acceleration — we're constantly navigating an environment where innovation outpaces implementation, and Both clients and agencies are learning together, which requires humility and agility from all sides.

Our agencies' distinct identities position us uniquely in the market. Magna, which evolved from conflict management origins twenty years ago, has cultivated deep personal client connections. This relationship-centred approach has expanded our portfolio to include Dubai Holding Group across all its entities and numerous clients across diverse industries.

Initiative operates with different strengths as part of a global network, benefiting from robust frameworks and methodologies that cascade from our international hub, which provides our regional teams with exceptional resources and processes that create measurable value for clients.

Looking ahead, my vision centres on harnessing technology to eliminate operational inefficiencies. Agency life never affords sufficient time – there’s always more to accomplish than hours available. By strategically deploying technology to routine tasks, we're looking to create space for what truly matters: innovation, creativity, and relationship-building, that will drive our next growth phase. This isn't about reducing human capital — quite the opposite. It's about elevating contribution across both agencies, allowing our talent to focus on intellectually stimulating work that creates genuine competitive advantage.