Publicis Communications appoints new management team for Australia and New Zealand

Rebelo will be tasked with driving transformation for global and local clients across the group, which includes Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide, BBH, Fallon, Marcel and Arc.

Publicis Worldwide CEO Andrew Baxter has been appointed as chairman, with a remit to focus on collaboration with other Publicis Groupe businesses, including Sapient Inside and Prodigious.

Baxter and Rebelo will assume the new roles in addition to their current responsibilities and will report to Publicis Communications global chief operating officer, Loris Nold.

Publicis has also promoted longstanding Leo Burnett Melbourne CEO Melinda Geertz to CEO for Leo Burnett Australia. Geertz, who has been CEO of the Melbourne agency for 14 years, will work closely with Leo Burnett Sydney CEO Pete Bosilkovski and Rebelo to continue to grow the agency in Australia.

The appointments follow a string of country-level appointments made across the Publicis network by Publicis Communications Global CEO, Arthur Sadoun, who will assume the role of Publicis Groupe CEO and chairman in June.

Sadoun said in a statement: “Australia and New Zealand are key markets for Publicis Communications; these appointments will allow us to further harness the Power of One to deliver to all of our clients seamless end-to-end solutions that draw on our world-class expertise and resources, no matter where they may be located."

Earlier this month Publicis Communications appointed Alexander Peiterson as chief executive of the Nordics region. Last week Publicis Communications announced it will merge its shopper marketing divisions from Arc, Vivid Brand and Saatchi X to form a single one-stop-shop.