Merivale appoints new marketing director and head of content

Andrew El-Bayeh

Merivale has appointed a new executive-level marketing director as well as its first head of content.

Andrew El-Bayeh has been promoted to marketing director after spending the past 12 months as commercial development manager, a role created for him to help build his business credentials across new ventures, commercial partnerships and operations. He initially joined Merivale in 2011 as group venue marketing manager.

El-Bayeh is replacing Deanna Marrocco, who leaves the property group after less than a year in the position, and will report to both Merivale’s chief operating officer, Brett Seargant, as well as CEO, Justin Hemmes.

The new role sees El-Bayeh taking charge of leading the marketing, creative and production departments, with a specific focus on developing Merivale’s customer experience, data strategy and content publishing initiatives.

Prior to joining Merivale, El-Bayeh spent 10 years in the hospitality industry, working in marketing roles across restaurants, bars, hotels, music venues and music festivals at the Keystone Group and The Palace Group.

“I have an innate passion for the hospitality industry and am thrilled to be leading brand strategy during what is undoubtedly the most exciting period of growth for the group,” El-Bayeh said in a statement. “I am constantly inspired by the evolving landscape of digital and content marketing; and look forward to working alongside my passionate colleagues to engage our audiences in new and innovative ways.”

One of El-Bayeh’s first initiatives has been to appoint Sarah Ranawake as Merivale’s inaugural head of content, leading a new division within the marketing function. She will be responsible for overseeing content strategy and execution encompassing online, social and video and is tasked with building a team of content specialists.

Ranawake has spent the past 10 years working in a number of editorial roles, including partner and editorial director at Sporteluxe.com, features director at Cleo, entertainment editor at InStyle and editor of Vacations & Travel Magazine.

“Merivale has such a wealth of passionate and talented experts from chefs and sommeliers to stylists, DJs and even gardeners. I cannot wait to tell their stories and create innovative lifestyle content that excites and engages our guests,” she said.