Publicis extends Maurice Levy's term; Jean-Yves Naouri is out of the running

In a wide-ranging reshuffle of the network's top management, Lévy will continue as Group Chairman & CEO until June 2017. Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Strategist of Publicis Groupe, is part of the new Directoire+

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | September 17, 2014

Publicis Groupe yesterday announced wide-ranging top management changes, but has once again failed to resolve the succession issue. In a significant development, the statement on the Publicis Groupe website mentioned the departure of its Chief Operating Officer Jean-Yves Naouri, once considered a candidate to succeed Maurice Levy as CEO of the Paris-based holding company. Maurice Lévy will continue as Publicis Groupe Chairman & CEO until May or June 2017, by when he would have crossed 75 years.

The statement reads: “On the joint proposal of the Chairman of the Directoire (Management Board) and of the Nomination Committee, the Conseil de Surveillance has decided to appoint a new management team to implement these strategic directions over time. The terms of office of the current Directoire (members include: Maurice Lévy, Chairman, Jean-Yves Naouri, Jean, Michel Etienne and Kevin Roberts) are to end with immediate effect. The Conseil de Surveillance also approved a number of organizational changes, promotions of senior executives and nominations of new leaders.

“The new Directoire is appointed for a period of four years. It comprises additional senior executives of the Groupe, to form the "Directoire+" who will have strictly identical responsibilities. The aim is to involve an expanded team in the management of the Groupe at the highest level and in the preparation for its future. With regret, Jean-Yves Naouri will not be part of the new management structure.”

The statement further names the new members of the Directoire+ as: Maurice Lévy, Chairman, Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner, Kevin Roberts and Jean-Michel Etienne. It will be complemented with the addition of Laura Desmond, CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group, Steve King, CEO of ZenithOptimedia, Arthur Sadoun, CEO of Publicis Worldwide, and Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Strategist of Publicis Groupe.

With effect from January 1, 2015, Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, is appointed Executive Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi/Fallon and takes on the role of Head Coach of Publicis Groupe, with the task of inspiring and motivating the Groupe's top leaders. Robert Senior will be appointed as CEO and Chris Foster as COOof the Saatchi & Saatchi/Fallon network.

Axel Duroux is to join Publicis Groupe on October 1, 2014, to take over strategy, development, performance and optimisation of the Groupe's presence in emerging and fast-growing markets.

The Razorfish and Rosetta agencies, along with certain Nurun assets, will come together under the new Razorfish Global brand, under the responsibility of Tom Adamski, CEO of the new entity. Luke Taylor, CEO of DigitasLBi, and Tom Adamski, CEO of Razorfish Global, will report directly to the Groupe Chairman and CEO.

VivaKi will continue its aggressive development through two divisions: VivaKi Exchange, under CEO Simon Pardon, who will deploy trading, negotiation and execution operations worldwide, and VivaKi Data under CEO Stephan Beringer, who will be responsible for the development of AOD and of technology platforms, particularly in the field of data. The position of Chair will alternate yearly between Laura Desmond, who is to serve the initial term, followed by Steve King.

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