Dubai/ Brussels 30 October 2018 — Two accomplished new Managing Directors have joined the Serviceplan Group in Dubai and Belgium. Sophie Vanderwinkel is Managing Director of Mediaplus in Belgium, and Natalie Shardan is new General Manager of Serviceplan Middle East.

Respected Managing Directors Sophie Vanderwinkel and Natalie Shardan strengthen the management teams, at Mediaplus Belgium and Serviceplan Middle East respectively.  These strategic hires further reinforce the internationalization of Serviceplan Group.  

Markus Noder, Managing Director of Serviceplan International commented: "We are very pleased with these two top personalities, which strengthen our Houses of Communication in both Dubai and Belgium, and help us to continue successfully implementing our internationalization strategy." 

Sophie Vanderwinkel is now responsible for Mediaplus at the House of Communication in Belgium. The House of Communication in Belgium has just under 100 employees.

Sophie has worked for the Finnish company Sanoma throughout her career, most recently as Head of Inbound Sales & Advertising Care. She will take over the position of Kathleen Soontjens, who will now assume the role of Managing Director in the holding following the successful establishment of Mediaplus in Belgium. 

In addition to Rami Hmadeh, Natalie Shardan is now Genereal Manager of Serviceplan Middle East in Dubai. The seasoned agency manager has worked at 

Y & R, JWT, Mullen Lowe MENA and BBDO, with brands including Emirates Airlines, Nestle, PepsiCo and Pizza Hut. Together with Rami Hmadeh, Natalie will lead and develop the House of Communications in Dubai with around 60 employees.

ABOUT SERVICEPLAN

The Serviceplan Group is the largest and most diversified owner-managed and partner- managed agency group in Europe. Founded in 1970 in Munich as a traditional advertising agency, Serviceplan today has offices in 38 locations worldwide and more than 4,100 employees whose work regularly wins awards at national and international creative competitions.

As well as Serviceplan itself, the additional corporate brands within the Group – the media agency Mediaplus, the digital agency Plan.Net, and the market research institute Facit – also rank among the market leaders in their respective competitive environments. The precise interplay between the various specialist agencies – more than 45 in all – in matters of creation, technology and media makes Serviceplan the leading agency group for innovative communication.

In order to guarantee outstanding performance in the execution of its campaigns, Serviceplan is represented with own offices in all significant economic areas in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia. The global network is called Serviceplan International.