Publicis Groupe appoints Emanuele Saffirio as President of Publicis Groupe in Italy

Louis Tohmé is promoted to CFO of Publicis Groupe Italy

Paris – Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40] announces the appointment of Emanuele Saffirio as President of Publicis Groupe in Italy. This appointment comes in the context of Publicis Groupe’s transformation which began two years ago and led to The Power of One – breaking down silos across expertise and putting the Groupe’s clients at the core in order to provide them with solutions that best fit their needs.

Italy is the third market to implement a country leadership team, following France and the UK. The appointment of Emanuele Saffirio will enable the Groupe to accelerate momentum in Italy, responding to market demand for end-to-end and multi-discipline solutions. Emanuele will commence his new role October 9th, and report directly to Arthur Sadoun, Chairman & CEO of Publicis Groupe. Previously, Emanuele founded STV, an agency that was sold to Omnicom in 2011. Most recently, he was in the position of CEO of STV DDB.

Louis Tohmé is also promoted as CFO of Publicis Groupe Italy. Reporting to Emanuele and Jean-Michel Etienne (EVP and CFO of Publicis Groupe), Louis will oversee the finance function in Italy and be responsible for driving Publicis Groupe’s transformation agenda and focus on improved operational and financial performance. Louis was previously CFO of Publicis Communications for Italy.

Arthur Sadoun, commented: “Our business model, The Power of One, is being successfully implemented throughout Publicis Groupe, truly putting our clients at the core of our organisation. In Italy too, the increasing collaboration across our creative, media and technology hubs ensures we are providing the best solutions for our clients. The appointment of Emanuele Saffirio as Publicis Groupe’s President in Italy, after the arrival of Agathe Bousquet in France and Annette King in the UK, is testament to this commitment to our clients. Emanuele’s task will be to further improve collaboration across our solution hubs and reinforce our role as our clients’ business transformation partner.”

Emanuele Saffirio added: “Publicis Groupe, thanks to last year’s acquisitions and the speed of the transformation behind the Power of One, is currently the only company fully equipped to face the new challenges of our industry. I am honoured by the challenge and role I have been given in Italy.”

Both Emanuele and Louis will work closely with:

  • Daniela Canegallo, CEO of Publicis Communications, the solution hub that includes iconic award-winning creative agencies Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide and Saatchi & Saatchi
  • Luca Montani, CEO of Publicis Media, which is made up of market leading media agencies including Zenith, Starcom and Blue 449
  • Roberto Leonelli, CEO of Publicis.Sapient, which includes the digital, technology and consulting expert, Sapient Razorfish

Publicis Groupe in Italy employs 1380 multi-discipline specialists across Milan, Rome, Turin and Bologna. It is comprised of Publicis Communications, Publicis Media and Publicis Sapient, made up of iconic brands including Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, Publicis Italy, MSLGROUP, BCube, Prodigious, Zenith, Starcom, Blue449 and Sapient Razorfish.

ABOUT PUBLICIS GROUPE - THE POWER OF ONE

Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40] is a global leader in communication. The Groupe is positioned at every step of the value chain, from consulting to execution, combining marketing transformation and digital business transformation. Publicis Groupe is a privileged partner in its clients’ transformation to enhance personalization at scale. The Groupe relies on ten expertise concentrated within four main activities: Communication, Media, Data and Technology. Through a unified and fluid organization, its clients have a facilitated access to all its expertise in every market. Present in over 100 countries, Publicis Groupe employs around 101,000 professionals.

About Emanuele Saffirio

Emanuele Saffirio is 49 years old, he is a graduate of Università Bocconi in Milan and holds a degree in Economy. He started his career at Euro RSCG Media in Paris, in the media agency in charge of global clients’ management. After a period based in London with the global team dedicated to Procter&Gamble, he was back in Italy in 1996, at BGS DMB&B (later became BGS D’Arcy and then merged in Leo Burnett) starting as an Account Supervisor all the way to the role of Managing Director of Fiat Coordination Center (the Group established to globally supervise Fiat Group communication). In 2004, together with Aurelio Tortelli and Francesco Vigoriti, he founded STV, which quickly became one of the most interesting national independent agencies working for clients such as Fiat, Intesa Sanpaolo, Coca-Cola and Mediaset Premium to mention a few. In 2011 STV became part of Omnicom Group, hence giving life to STV DDB, where Emanuele was CEO.

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