Publicis CEO Maurice Lévy to stay in place until 2017

 

Publicis Groupe chairman and chief executive Maurice Lévy is to stand down from the company in early 2017, over a year later than originally planned.

Lévy, who has led the company since 1987, was originally expected to leave Publicis next year but his departure has been pushed back as part of a wider internal restructure.

The company has revealed a raft of new additions to the board of directors, including Laura Desmond, chief executive of Starcom MediaVest Group, Steve King, chief executive of ZenithOptimedia, Arthur Sadoun, chief executive of Publicis Worldwide, and Richad Taboccawala, chief strategist of Publicis Groupe.

 

They will be join existing board members Lévy, Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner, senior vice president, general secretary, Publicis Groupe, Kevin Roberts former chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, and Jean-Michel Etienne, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Publicis Groupe.

Commenting on the changes, the company said: “These initiatives will lead the way for a new generation at the helm of the Groupe.

“Its mission will be the seamless implementation of the changes required to optimise the use of Groupe resources and its transformation into a hybrid company of the new era: an alchemy of talents offering advertisers the strategic, creative and technological solutions they need to progress, both in terms of image and of growth, in a world of constant upheaval generated by technological innovations.”

Current chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Kevin Roberts will take over the role of executive chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi/Fallon and has been appointed head coach of Publicis Groupe, effective as of January 1 2015.

At the same date, Robert Senior will be appointed as chief executive and Chris Foster as chief operating officer of the Saatchi & Saatchi/Fallon network.

The Razorfish and Rosetta agencies will be merged to become Razorfish Global, and will be led by Tom Adamski as chief executive.

 

Luke Taylor, chief executive of DigitasLBI, and Tom Adamski, chief executive of Razorfish Global will report directly to the group chairman and chief executive.

Frank Voris, chief executive of VivaKi, is promoted to chief executive of Re:Sources and will have overall responsibility for the Groupe’s Shared Service Centers and internal IT.

In July, Publicis Groupe reported a drop in its net income in the first half of 2014 to €260m compared to €313m last year, a decline of 16.9%.

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