INNOVATE. CREATE. SUCCEED.
Integrated
Communications
Services
London
Dubai
Beirut
What we do
Synthesis is a bespoke consultancy offering integrated communications services to public and private clients across different industries in the United Kingdom and MENA regions.
Consultancy
We offer services delivered by a trusted team of professionals who have extensive and diverse experience across all brand development and marketing disciplines.
Strategy
From planning to logistics and cost-effective execution, we provide expert scrutiny and oversight to major marketing projects, enabling you to achieve your business goals.
Marketing
Synthesis provides clients with a third party, objective professional sounding board for all manner of media and marketing initiatives. We regularly advise on supplier pitches, market analysis and marketing mix.
Who we are
Salim Barkett
Co-founder
Salim has an outstanding track record in advertising, content development and marketing. He is a trusted advisor to many companies and organisations, providing expert advice on all aspects of brand building, advertising, integrated marketing and media. His agency experience covers Publi-Graphics / McCann Erickson and Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising UK, working with clients such as Proctor & Gamble, General Motors, Nestlé, L’Oréal, Citybank / Samba, Saudi British Bank and Arab National Bank.
Salim leads advisory and consultancy services for Synthesis across integrated marketing communications. Recent projects include the KSA National Transformation Program, Saudi Energy Efficiency Center (SEEC), and South Center- Green Climate Fund.
Mike Baker
Co-founder
Mike is a Cambridge graduate and marketing professional with 30+ years’ experience. He has pursued a distinguished career in advertising media, becoming international marketing director at CBS Outdoor, international development director at Viacom Outdoor, and CEO of the Outdoor Media Centre, the UK trade body overseeing revenues of £1bn. Prior to that, he worked in senior media marketing roles in television (Thames TV), newspapers (The Sunday Correspondent) and magazines (IPC Magazines). Research is one of Mike’s specialties.
He also has extensive experience of communications and presentations coaching. In recent years he has built up effective roles in media training, negotiation, and interviewing skills.
Marie Oldham
Communications Strategist
Marie has over 30 years’ experience gained at agencies such as Leo Burnett, Havas Media, VCCP and Fresheyes Media, working with leading global brands as a strategist. These clients include United Airlines, Tropicana, Mercedes, Nickelodeon, McDonalds, BBC, EDF Energy, Kew Gardens, First News, ASOS, MTV and the National Lottery among others. She has won many awards for her strategic planning expertise.
Marie also spent two years at the BBC leading the insight and development team to identify NPD opportunities and provide input to the UK and Global teams. In the academic world she holds the position of Visiting Fellow at Bournemouth University, where she has helped train many students embarking on their advertising careers.
Walid Menassa
Creative Consultant
Walid has over 30 years of experience as a creative director and copywriter, leading teams for PubliGraphics (Publicis). He has overseen the creative output for all major accounts handled by the agency including Nestlé, Crédit Libanaise, Arab Bank, Central Bank, Fransabank, Renault, Chrysler, Total, Sanofi, Obegi Consumer Products, Sinno company, Ghandour, Ingelheim Bohringer, Bintel/Nationlink, Mechref Village, Katara and QMF.
He also developed a number of social and environmental campaigns for public and private institutions. In 2016, Walid set up his own business, consulting on communication, creative and copywriting services. He has won several TV and print awards and is fluent in Arabic, French and English.
Wadad Tabbara
Communications Consultant
Wadad holds an MBA and is a communications consultant with 20 years’ experience in senior advisory, strategic counsel and training roles. She established the PR department at Around the Clock Communication, and was Vice President of TRACCS Ventures and subsidiaries. Working with marketing and communications agencies, she helped to launch the UAE Medical Day, involving all healthcare authorities in the UAE, as well as working with the South Center in Lebanon and the Ministry of Environment.
Wadad is a specialist in PR, from building and leading teams, to delivering complex PR programmes. She has worked across many industry sectors including FMCG, real estate, hospitality and luxury brands.
Our Services
Alignment = On Message
By strategically integrating marketing communications, we ensure that all channels are on message for the audience in question. By optimizing channel support, the brand’s identity is consistently recognizable holistically, no matter what media channels are used.
The Story Is The Strategy
Building the brand is building a story that the user relates to.
We help identify the long-term goals of the brand and its audiences – we build a road map on how to get there..
Through an in-depth analysis of the brand identity, what the brand stands for, and what the brand promises to its customers, a powerful profile that is both personal and meaningful becomes clear. This is what we communicate to our audiences, meeting their changing needs, and lifestyle priorities.
Creative Says It All
Creativity is the public heart of our strategy. We design the core visual brand messages that make it real for the target audience. Memorable, distinctive, fresh, and engaging – the visuals build long-term recognition and brand equity.
Logistics and Deployment
Brand output goes far beyond image advertising. Products need 360-degree exposure. Offline physical placement, merchandising, sales promotion, catalogues, pack design, leaflets, and materials for exhibitions, events and in-store all need to be engineered with precision, care, and consistency-reinforcing the brand equity in all relevant channels.
Making Media Matter
Managing paid, owned and earned media, and determining the perceived value of each channel to reach our target audience is a big part of what we do. Successful integrated strategies optimize allocated media budgets by negotiating the selected most cost-effective, strategic deployment routes to market - a key ROI driver in any project.
We hold the appointed external agencies to account, scrutinizing return on investment, managing tenders, and constantly providing oversight on the budget.
Digital | Social Where Brand Means Lifestyle
Synthesis works with the client and their in-house team to manage brand messaging and effective online presence. Matching the channel to the client profile, data mining, measuring performance vs. competitive and constant analytics on target audience response is at the core of any media strategy today.
ESG-Serving Society Responsibly
Synthesis has always taken an active part in promoting projects and programs that have a strong positive impact on the communities we serve.
ESG is one of the next steps in pro-active programs that bond corporate entities and institutions with their partner communities. Synthesis has the vision and tools needed to assist leadership form communications that showcase their role in tomorrow’s circular economy.