- Noreen O'Leary

Olivier Altmann has been named to the new position of CCO, Publicis Worldwide, effective immediately. He retains his position as ecd, co-chairman of the network's Paris-based agency Publicis Conseil.

The namesake network of Publicis Groupe has moved from 15th in Gunn Report's ranking of creative awards recognition to No. 10. The company said that in Altmann's new role, he is responsible for getting the network to move up to No. 5. Altmann will divide his responsibilities between global clients like Renault and Orange, and recruiting and motivating top talent.

"We have an ambitious target to be a top five creative network by 2012. To do that I need a partner who can spend his time on global accounts and on key creative talent around our network," Publicis CEO Richard Pinder said in a statement. "Olivier is ideal for this role having already been a chairman of our creative board and it's great to finally be able to have him in this crucial role. He will join our worldwide executive committee with immediate effect."

Altmann was a co-founder, in 1998, of BDDP & Fils, which is now part of TBWA Group. He started his career as a copywriter in 1987 and has worked at agencies like WPP Group's Young & Rubicam and Interpublic Group's FCB. In 2004, he joined Publicis Conseil in the top creative role. Among the clients he has worked with are Orange, BMW, McDonald's, Club Med, Epson, Renault, Wonderbra, Nestlé, Caisse d'Epargne, Michelin, Sara Lee and Samsung.
 
"I believe that a truly successful chief creative officer has to create community, collaboration and common values, to inspire and motivate. He also has to remain anchored in the craft with clients," Altmann said in a statement. "We live in exciting times: the current climate has pushed us to reinvent ourselves, embrace digital and focus harder than ever before on innovative ways to build clients' businesses."

Publicis has been changing the top creative talent at offices around the world: Craig Davis, former CCO worldwide at WPP's JWT unit, was named CCO, Publicis Mojo Australia and New Zealand; Miguel-Angel Furones, former cd at Publicis corporate sibling Leo Burnett Worldwide, was tapped as chairman of Publicis Spain; and Franklin Tipton, cd at Omnicom Group's Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, became ecd, Publicis Mojo Melbourne.