A Message From Arthur

Bonjour,

As I said when I addressed you on my first day as CEO of our Groupe, I want to keep you regularly informed of the most important initiatives we’re taking with Maurice Lévy.

So today I want to share with you some important news about the governance of our Groupe.

First of all, two nominations:

The first- I am pleased to announce the appointment of Carla Serrano, CEO of Publicis New York as Chief Strategy Officer for Publicis Groupe. Carla joined Publicis New York in 2014 as Chief Strategy Officer, and became CEO of the agency in January 2016. Before arriving at Publicis, she held positions such as CEO of Naked NA, CSO at TBWA Chiat/Day NY and President of Berlin Cameron and Partners. Carla has worked with some of the world’s most iconic brands including Coca-Cola, Samsung, Kraft, P&G, HPE and Citibank.

Carla’s profile is truly hybrid between creativity and technology, which has allowed her to often been the link between our different Solution hubs since launching The Power of One. Carla is a real strategic visionary and will play a major role in shaping the future of our Groupe. She was also just named one of Ad Age’s Women to Watch in 2017.

The second nomination is of Véronique Weill, who will join Publicis Groupe as General Manager on September 1, and will take responsibility for Re:Sources, IT, Real Estate, Insurance and M&A. Véronique spent 21 years at JP Morgan where she led operations and IT globally. She then joined Axa in 2006, where as part of the management committee she was responsible for operations, technology, digital, marketing and innovation. As Chief Operating Officer and then Chief Customer Officer, she contributed to making AXA the world’s number one insurance brand.

In addition to her rich international experience, Véronique also brings a deep knowledge of the service sector, having launched JP Morgan’s platforms in the 2000s between India, Europe and the US. With a degree from Sciences-Po in Paris, her expertise will be an asset with which our Groupe will be able to improve its internal service offerings and reach new heights in terms of technology. Véronique is a real leader and, as you will soon experience for yourselves, a pleasure to work with. I am convinced that she will be a fantastic support for our teams in the field who continue to work towards our growth, and will help us all win.  

The second thing I want to share with you today is some important changes taking place in terms of our Groupe’s management. Starting today, the Groupe’s governance is composed of the following two bodies, in addition to the existing Directoire which includes Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner, Jean-Michel Etienne, Steve King and myself.

The first body is the Executive Committee that will be composed of the Directoire members plus Chip Register, Co-CEO of Publicis.Sapient, Carla Serrano, Chief Strategy Officer of Publicis Groupe, Nigel Vaz, President of DigitasLBi, Véronique Weill, General Manager of Publicis Groupe and Alan Wexler, Co-CEO of Publicis.Sapient.

The Executive Committee will be responsible for the transformation of our Groupe and will meet in person every month to make sure that we bring to life our vision and align our assets and talents with it, at the service of our clients.

The second body is the Management Committee, that will be composed of the Executive Committee members, plus Valerie Beauchamp, EVP Business Development of Publicis Groupe, Justin Billingsley, COO of Publicis Communications, Agathe Bousquet, President France of Publicis Groupe, Gerry Boyle, CEO APAC of Publicis Media, Andrew Bruce, CEO North America of Publicis Communications, Nick Colucci, CEO of Publicis Health, Lisa Donohue, Global Brand President of Starcom, Tim Jones, CEO North America of Publicis Media, Loris Nold, COO of Publicis Communications, Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Growth Officer of Publicis Groupe, Alexandra Von Plato, Group President of Publicis Health and Jarek Ziebinski, CEO of Publicis One.

The Management Committee will meet every quarter and be fully responsible for operations throughout the Groupe and make sure that we drastically accelerate in the execution of our plans to bring back growth, reduce our costs and implement our model. 

I’m sure you’ll all join me on congratulating Carla and Véronique on their new roles, and in supporting the Executive and Management committees as they work with all of us to build our Groupe’s future.

Amitiés,
Arthur