Pioneering Communications CEO Fatime-Zohra Outaghani Inspires Female Leadership

A CEO and founder of an award-winning public relations agency, Fatime-Zohra Outaghani’s pioneering work in communications deserves to be spotlighted in the wake of the world’s celebration of International Women’s Day.

Outaghani founded DPR Group in 2004 as the first agency exclusively dedicated to public relations in North Africa. The firm has worked with major brands like Adidas, Inwi, Starbucks, Spotify, and Coca Cola.

“The role of female leadership and the interest of women’s participation in economic, social, cultural, and political life are no longer to be proven,” Outaghani said in a 2017 interview with Visage du Maroc.

She said that being a woman was neither an advantage or a disadvantage to her career.

“Only the work matters,” she said in the interview, adding: “It is now up to us to show the way and ensure that a woman who leads should no longer be considered an exception but as natural.”

Leading in communications

Adaptability has been key to Outaghani’s work towards her public relations agency’s success.

“We have successfully taken every turn in the transformations that have affected markets and consumers since the early 2000s: the mobile revolution, the internet revolution, and so on,” she said in a 2020 interview with The Business Year.

DPR Group has won numerous top awards in public relations media, including Africa SABRE Awards four different years. Given annually, the SABRE Awards recognize superior achievement in branding, reputation, and engagement.

The last time DPR Group was recognized by the SABRE Awards was in 2018 when Outaghani walked away with five new recognitions, including a Gold SABRE Award. The year before in 2017, DPR Group was also awarded five honors under Outaghani’s leadership.

Prior to that, DPR Group was also awarded the Middle East Consultancy of the Year in 2015 issued by The Holmes Report. Her trophy cabinet also includes an Imperials Award, which she won for the Best PR Action.

Where she started

Born and raised in Casablanca, Outaghani earned a master’s in communication and upon graduation quickly took the world of entrepreneurship by storm.

She established her first communication agency with her sister in 1997.

In the interview with Visage du Maroc, Outaghani said she opened the company because at the time there were no PR services in Morocco. With competition in Morocco growing in the 1990s and more foreign influences, companies needed to know and take advantage of the media landscape, she explained.

Now as the CEO of DPR Group for nearly 20 years, Outaghani stands out as one of Morocco’s top public relations leaders.

Asked in the Visage du Maroc interview what the next generations of young women need to know and do to achieve success, Outaghani responded: “Be passionate and attentive, keep an eye on trends and have a taste for challenges. With these three qualities, you can do everything!”.