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In his 23 years in business, 44 year-old Dani Richa has became one of those figures that are simply unavoidable on the region’s communications scene. He got his first job in Beirut when he was 21, right after he had graduated in advertising at the French Académie Charpentier in Paris.

Advertising was never Richa’s original plan, however. In fact, he began as a student of interior architecture. “My father was an architect, my brother was an architect so I thought I would complete the family business,” he says. “But during the first year, which is shared between architecture, interior architecture and advertising, I couldn’t help being jealous of what those in advertising were doing. The sky was their limit, it was more than three dimensions.”

In 1983, in Paris, Richa found his calling. After attending one of the first “Night of the Ad Eaters” – the now global ad show which boasts a “fairground cum rock concert atmosphere” – he made up his mind.

CHOICES, CHOICES. Immediately after graduation in 1986, Richa came back home to Lebanon with a solid portfolio to show potential employers. “I had a couple of good offers in Paris, but I was keen on coming back to Lebanon,” he says.

First hired by Leo Burnett in Beirut as an art director, within a year he was offered a senior position in Saudi Arabia, despite his relative youth. “I was willing to go because I was making so little money, being paid in Lebanese pounds at a time when it was devalued,” he says.

While preparing for his trip, the young art director was informed that Impact-BBDO’s Alain Khouri wanted to meet him. Richa happily agreed, but didn’t take his book with him – he had no intention of leaving Leo Burnett. “I was interested in simply establishing the contact,” he says. This meeting almost didn’t happen; one of the pair was late, arriving as the other was about to leave. It turned out to be a life-changing moment. Khouri called Richa back and invited him to Impact-BBDO’s regional offices in Cyprus, all expenses paid. “I felt flattered and impressed,” he says. “At the end of the day, they made me an offer and the choice was easy. Here were two good agencies, but one was offering Saudi Arabia, and the other the topless beaches of Aya Napa.”

Richa never looked back. “I fit with Impact-BBDO’s culture. They give you the room to do things your way, as long as you share the same values. There are no two identical offices around the world.”

ENERGETIC CLIMBER. From senior art director, Richa quickly climbed the agency ladder, becoming associate art director six months later, and the agency’s art director at age 23. “These British art directors were very good but when they came to Cyprus, for some reason – maybe the sun – they used to go and have fun all the time while I kept working,” he says. “And the management saw this.”

Richa moved to Dubai with the agency in the early 90’s, where his work, and more importantly his stamina, kept being appreciated. “I’m always… not hyper, but I have this energy,” he says.

Ali Azarmi, now a partner in Joy Films and a former Impact-BBDO creative, says, “We crossed agencies a couple of times. Dani is of this rare breed of creative talents who also has managerial skills and who’s client-friendly. A perfect combination. Besides, he has a surprising showmanship quality. One day, we were sharing a presentation for 7Up. When Dani’s turn came, he jumped on the table in a very animated way, and shocked the audience into attention. It was like a cabaret presentation.”

Despite enjoying Dubai, Richa felt it was time to go back home once again. “I realized something good was happening to Lebanon, and I wanted to come back,” he says. “Alain Khouri didn’t take me seriously when I told him so, since we [Impact-BBDO] didn’t have anything there.” 

At age 29, Richa left Impact-BBDO, to become regional art creative director for Publigraphics out of Beirut. “It was sad, because I belonged with Impact-BBDO. But when I left, everybody knew that it would simply be some time off.”

Sure enough, in 1995, Impact-BBDO re-hired Richa to join a Beirut branch of the agency as a partner. “My ambition wasn’t management at all, but I was so afraid that someone else would take the agency into something different,” he says, explaining his decision to rejoin. Soon, Impact-BBDO in Beirut became one of the leading players, doubling in size in less than two years. “For the last ten years, we’ve been Lebanon’s number one agency,” he says.

Richa became managing director and chief creative officer for Middle East and Africa in the early 2000’s. And last year, he was made chief operating officer for the region. For someone with a background in art direction, such a shift still isn’t easy.

“For good or bad, everyday that passes is a step away from creative,” he says. Does he miss it? “Yes, I miss it. Because sometimes, you feel you had more time to add more value. But then creativity is not just doing ads. You can be creative in the way you manage the agency, in the culture you’re pushing in media, PR, content development, digital, etc. And creativity is changing anyway, and it puts me in a very comfortable position to take the agency to places where it needs to be.”

AGGRESSIVE EXPANSION. Richa is always restless, striving to go further. In fact, under his guidance, Impact-BBDO is taking more offices in Beirut, and hiring an additional 50 people. “We’ll have three operations there: OMD, our media arm; Impact Porter Novelli, our PR company; and IP 2, a boutique agency, created two years ago,” he says. “I see now Lebanon playing a bigger role. In times of recession, if you have the balls to go aggressive, there are a lot of opportunities. And business is following.”

Today, Impact-BBDO is working with seven of Lebanon’s car companies, three of its top-five banks, and dozens of other clients, with a distinctive track record of loyalty. “I have so many friends and half of them became clients,” says Richa. “So even if I’m out with friends, we talk business,” he says. He complains about not having more time to unwind, “even if I ignore my blinking Blackberry that’s sitting next to me in bed.”

On top of work, skiing (when possible) at the weekend, playing poker on Sunday nights and his Thai massage (booked for an hour every Saturday morning, all year round), Richa also found time to become president of the IAA Lebanese chapter. That was in 2003, and he has just finished serving his second term.

“At a time when Lebanon was losing everything a few years ago, maybe I was chosen because I believe in this market, continue to grow into new categories and invest in talents, creating a positive momentum for the industry,” he says. Among the achievements of the association, Richa is most proud of what he calls “the best research system in the whole Arab world, using a single research currency.”

“We’ve had people meters, but now we’ve got all the TV stations to agree,” he says. “Lebanon is light years ahead of other Arab countries. We have also helped set up the Beirut film festival, as well as the MENA Cristals at the most difficult time in terms of security. To have kept Lebanon on the map is good.”

But even in the face of all this success, he does admit to having one more ambition. “One thing I know for sure, because I’ve helped create so many brands, is that someday, I’ll create a brand of my own,” he says. Perhaps. But as former colleague Azarmi observes, “In our industry, we have to wear many hats, and Dani learned successfully to change his hats on many occasions. One day, he’ll inherit the empire of BBDO.” At the rate Richa works, it’s conceivable he’ll do both.

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