Publicis Worldwide and Leo Burnett merge to create ‘Leo’
Leo Burnett is merging with Publicis Worldwide to create “Leo.” Despite the branding, it’s Publicis Worldwide that is providing the leadership – Carla Serrano, global CSO Publicis Groupe, Publicis Conseil’s CEO/CCO Marco Venturelli, Publicis Groupe France CEO Agathe Bousquet and Publicis Creative US CSO Gareth Goodall are in charge of the new “creative constellation.”
Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun includes quite a lot of double speak in his announcement video. He claims to “believe in the power of creative brands” while ditching one of them, but his point that Publicis is the “group brand” makes sense. He also can’t resist another cheap shot at the Omnicom-IPG deal, repeating his jibe that the two groups will be preoccupied with merging when they should be servicing clients etc.
No leadership changes are planned at a local level. Charlie Rudd, the dynamic CEO of both Leo Burnett and Publicis Groupe in the UK, declared the news to be “a bold move to further invest in creativity”.
A new logo for Leo drops the “Burnett” name and adds the Publicis Groupe’s “Lion” emblem. The leaders, including Andrew Bruce (who becomes chairman of Leo North America while continuing as chief executive of Publicis Groupe Canada) will operate from France and North America. Any client conflicts, we are told, have been smoothed out.
Carla Serrano, global CSO Publicis Groupe said: “Through Leo we are doubling down on our strategy of strong creative brands, connected to the industry’s only data, media and tech ecosystem. With Publicis as the global group brand we all rally to, we are now accelerating on the Power of One, turning two networks into one constellation.”
Agathe Bousquet, co-president of Leo and President of Publicis France, said: “At Publicis, we have demonstrated time and again the power of the Power of One. Leo’s global spirit will live and breathe at the local level, with outstanding creative and strategic talent turbocharged by best-in-class data and technology through our country model, to create truly bespoke models for its clients.”
Marco Venturelli, co-president and CCO of Leo, said: “We’ve never had so many tools to better understand people and connect with them. Nevertheless creativity still is, and forever will be a messy human process. Leo will be a true global community of creative and strategic talents, connected together for a more human way of creating at scale.”
Arthur Sadoun, CEO of Publicis Groupe, said: “I have had the privilege of leading both Publicis Worldwide and Leo Burnett. Since then, other iconic names have disappeared, but I have never believed that creative efficiency should mean fewer brands and fewer operations. It is about big ideas from creative minds that are nurtured by strong agency culture, to have an impact on our clients’ business. In today’s world it is also about more collaboration and more access to capabilities. That’s exactly what Leo stands for. By unifying the spirit and talent of these global creative communities, Leo will be bigger, stronger and on more doors than ever.”