Head of Brand
Arada, Dubai, U.A.E

Presentation Title: “How Brand Power Can Help Create the Perfect Community”

Melissa Bayik is Head of Brand at Arada, where she oversees all brands from both a design and strategic perspective. Her current responsibilities include helping Aljada, Sharjah’s new AED24 billion lifestyle destination, redefine what it means to be a mass premium experiential brand for everyone in the UAE and beyond.

Prior to working at Arada, Melissa worked with Meraas to develop the new corporate and destination brands of the holding group during its transformational brand change.

With over 14 years’ experience, Melissa has worked with leading international design consultancies, and also owned and led a small Dubai-based design practice.

She has been involved with a range of regional branding projects across most sectors including financial services, energy, shipping, trading, hospitality, petrochemicals, destination and real estate, and has worked with brands as varied as Majid Al Futtaim, Fawaz Al Hokair, Al Hilal Bank, ADPC (Abu Dhabi Ports Company) and many more.

Melissa holds a BSc from the American University of Sharjah (AUS), where she later served as Alumni Board Secretary. In 2018, she was awarded the Emerging Young Leader Impact prize by AUS for “exceptional institutional engagement and service in supporting the educational mission of AUS”. She is involved with a number education and community initiatives across the UAE, and is a strong believer that design is a powerful conduit for change.