Spanning such shops as Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, Publicis, BBH and Fallon, Publicis Communications in the U.S. will organize into three zones: West, led by Andrew Bruce, CEO, Publicis Communications West; Center, headed by Andrew Swinand, CEO Publicis Communications Center; and East, led by Jem Ripley who returns to Publicis Groupe as Publicis Communications CEO of this region.
Ripley will also lead Publicis Sapient’s marketing transformation business and clients in the U.S., which will transition to Publicis Communications. The digital business transformation capability remains within the Publicis Sapient hub.
Ripley had most recently been at Capgemini to run growth of its Digital Transformation Business for North America. Prior to that, he was East Region president at SapientRazorfish, serving as a key leader of its business for a decade.
Bruce continues as CEO of Publicis Communications North America while taking on responsibilities as West chief. And Swinand maintains his position as Leo Burnett North America CEO as he now assumes the reins for Publicis Communications Center.
Ripley, Bruce, and Swinand will report to Arthur Sadoun, Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO. The West, Center and East regional operations have been created to help catalyze transformation and cross-fertilization of the Publicis Groupe’s U.S. agencies.
Publicis Groupe U.S. ComEx formed
New U.S. executive leadership infrastructure in the U.S. has also seen Publicis Groupe form an executive committee chaired by Sadoun following the finalizing of the company’s deal to acquire data-driven marketing and tech giant Epsilon. Publicis Groupe U.S. ComEx, under the aegis of Sadoun, is comprised of: Tim Jones, CEO, Publicis Media Americas; Bryan Kennedy, CEO, Epsilon; Ros King, EVP, Global Clients, Publicis Groupe; Steve King, COO, Publicis Groupe, and CEO, Publicis Media; Adrian Sayliss, CFO, Publicis Groupe North America; Carla Serrano, CSO, Publicis Groupe; Liz Taylor, CCO, Publicis Communications US, and CCO, Leo Burnett Worldwide; and Nigel Vaz, CEO, Publicis Sapient.
This executive committee will be accountable for advancing the Groupe’s strategy and driving overall performance and growth for the Groupe and its clients in the U.S.
“Our clients are feeling pressure from e-commerce platforms, walled gardens and fierce competition from DTC (direct-to-consumer) brands. We are now uniquely positioned in the U.S. with the right model, assets and team to bring data, creativity and technology together and help clients transform and strike back,” said Sadoun. “With this new U.S. leadership team in place, we will bring to our clients what they really need: personalized experiences at scale, to enable them to leapfrog the competition.”
In the big picture, Sadoun noted, “At a time when the alchemy of creativity and technology has never been so important, I’m thrilled to welcome back Jem, a leader who understands both worlds and how to bring them together seamlessly. With the recent arrival of Liz Taylor CCO North America, our creative leaders across our agencies, and now with Jem’s return, we are better placed than ever to bring modern creativity in all of its forms to our clients across North America.”
Before joining Publicis, Taylor was FCB Chicago’s chief creative officer.
