The rise of Steve King (below) at Publicis continues apace, now the global boss of Publicis Media (and also member of Publicis’ all-powerful Directoire, which sounds as if he can chop your head off) is taking overall charge of all Publicis’ operations in the UK.
These include its creative agencies (BBH, Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide and Saatchi & Saatchi.) Arthur Sadoun is chairman and CEO of the group.
Publicis says: “In continuing with Publicis Groupe’s Power of One model, breaking down silos and encouraging collaboration across our four solution hubs, Publicis Groupe is driving country leadership teams in every country, including the UK, to bring the best of our group to our clients.
“As a member of Publicis Groupe’s executive committee and the Directoire, Steve King will serve as the executive sponsor of this initiative in the UK, working closely with the appointed local leadership team, representing each of the four solution hubs (Communications, Media, Healthcare and Publicis.Sapient).”
Publicis had previously appointed Robert Senior, then CEO of Saatchi, to oversee most of its companies in the UK. Senior left at the end of last year, around the time Saatchi lost Toyota Europe to The&Partnership.
Not so long before this King’s position as media boss had looked precarious as the company had lost a number of big media accounts, including Procter & Gamble to Omnicom’s new Hearts & Science in the US. But Publicis Media has bounced back with wins across the board, including retaining P&G’s £210m media account in the UK against Hearts & Science.
