“HR and every other business that functions in Egypt have been developing over the past decade, yet I still believe that only successful companies are the ones who invest greatly in their staff and HR structure.”
Mazen Fekry
INTERVIEWER: MAHMOUD MANSI
EDITED BY: SALMA HANNO
About Spinzomedia LLC: A fully-fledged agency offering 360° services that include creative marketing & advertising strategies, web and mobile solutions, augmented reality and guerilla marketing.
THE INTERVIEW
1-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: How did you launch Spinzomedia in a market that is overwhelmed with media businesses?
MazenFekry: Well, Spinzomedia started as a very random idea on a late night in a café. Ahmed AG, our CIO, and I were joking about starting a new business, and at that time I had just returned from the UAE with IKEA’s 2012 Augmented Reality catalogue, where you could scan some pages and see 3D models of the furniture. I told Ahmed if you could develop something like this we can start a company with a competitive edge in the Egyptian market. Two weeks later, he sent me on Whats app a picture of him lying in bed with a prototype of a 3D model projected from the QR code. That same week we legalized the company papers and started our journey.
2-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What are the products that you offer?
Mazen Fekry: We are a fully-fledged digital agency offering 360° services that include creative marketing and advertising strategies, web and mobile solutions, augmented reality and guerrilla marketing and even production. We have the capability to create innovative and cost effective campaigns designed to fulfill advertising media objectives. We can basically do everything differently. The only thing we don’t do is renting outdoor advertisements. Other than this, if you are looking for something totally out of the box, we are the right choice for you. I personally believe that we have a technological advantage among our competitors, and this is our specialty “Adding and using high tech in every day marketing implementations”.
3-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What were the challenges you faced as a startup? And what were your strategies to overcome them?
Mazen Fekry: We started right after the revolution and that was the hardest challenge we have faced. At that time, big marketing companies were either going bankrupt or shutting down. I wouldn’t say it was a smooth ride along the way from 2012 till now, but my partners and I were always backing each other. I believe they are the reason we still exist till now. We had one survival strategy, which was very slow and steady growth. High income was not our target at the beginning, and we had our share of rough times along the way. But again don’t they say “Easy come, easy go”. Spinzomedia was not at all an easy ride, but it’s totally worth it to see your baby grow and your dreams coming to life one step at a time.
4-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: As a media organization how do you market your own brand?
Mazen Fekry: Well we keep our standards really high and we let the market and our work speak for us.
Word of mouth my friend can make you or break you in our business.
5-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What is your opinion about media and advertisement in Egypt?
Mazen Fekry: EGYPT is the school of advertising and marketing. There is a lot to learn from competitions. It’s a very dynamic field to work in, and we are really proud to be part of this industry.
However, I have a lot of concerns regarding everyone shifting their careers to marketing and HR these days. There are a lot of decent and real marketers out there, but again much more marketing wannabes.
6-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: How did you start the recruitment in Spinzomedia? What was the process from A to Z?
Mazen Fekry: At the beginning, we were doing all the work from painting the walls of the company to serving the clients. Then, one step at a time, we started our internship Program “SIP”. Now we have 5 batches of graduates. Then, we started hiring part-timers, then full-timers, and now we have the whole team of creative, young, enthusiastic individuals who are Spinzomedia’s greatest asset. The process starts by CV scanning and short listing, followed by an initial interview, then a technical one. If all these steps are passed, the finalists get into a 6-hour assessment or a creative interview. This depends on the job post. Finally an interview with the CIO or CEO, then they’re in. It’s a long process, but again it’s not that easy to add a member to our Spinzomedia Family.
7-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: With a BA in Finance, how did you find your way into marketing and become the CEO of a media organization?
Mazen Fekry: Well, I majored in Finance after 4 years of Marketing experience, in which I have basically worked everything from a salesperson at a jewelry shop to a brand manager at a well-known cosmetics company. After graduation, I worked as a Bank assurance insurance specialist at the largest insurance companies in the world. Then, as an activation and events’ specialist at one of the tobacco market’s world leading companies, followed by being the youngest head of department at a very well-known private university in Alexandria where I started Spinzomedia. Then I worked as the sales and marketing manager to two of the most well-known fitness brands in the world, and finally as an events’ manager at the leading Mexican franchise of edutainment. After that I quit the corporate life and started focusing on how to develop and expand the growth of Spinzomedia.
8-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Having studied HR as a course in college, did this have any influence on you as the CEO of Spinzomedia?
Mazen Fekry: Definitely HR is the soul of any business and yes what I learned from college along with the physical experience with many HR departments during my career helped me out to find my way through tough and rough times while running my company.
9-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What is your advice to other organizations that seek media sponsors in any of their events or products? How can they differentiate between professionals and media crooks?
MazenFekry: Find someone who states the bare truth in your face, not undersellers or oversellers.
10-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Having worked in several organizations before, what is your criticism of the HR departments in Egypt? And what advice do you have for them?
Mazen Fekry: Well, I have been working with many companies. Some had the best HR systems and structures I have ever seen and some didn’t even know what the letters H and R stood for. HR and every other business that functions in Egypt have been developing over the past decade, yet I still believe that only successful companies are the ones who invest greatly in their staff and HR structure.
11-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What is your advice to those who want to establish any kind of startups in Egypt?
Mazen Fekry: BE Different, don’t imitate and be extremely passionate about what you are about to start.
It is one hell of a bumpy joyful road.
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