Publicis Reinforces US Leadership, Names US COO

In a move it is positioning as a further investment in its country model, Publicis added members to its U.S. leadership team and appointed a chief operational officer for the region. Publicis appointed Tim Jones as chief operating officer, Publicis Groupe Marketing Services U.S. In the new role, Jones will lead the creative, digital experience, media and health businesses in the U.S., tasked with driving interagency collaboration and client growth. A Publicis veteran of nearly three decades, Jones served as Publicis Media Americas CEO for the last five years. With Jones taking on the COO role, Dave Penski will take on leadership of Publicis Media's agency brands and capabilities in the U.S. as CEO, while retaining global leadership responsibilities for PMX. Also a Publicis veteran of over two decades and current global chairman for PMX, Penksi was previously COO for Publicis Media U.S. The holding company also added two new members to its country-model management body in the U.S., with Penski and Publicis Groupe chief inclusion experience officer Renetta McCann both joining the ComEx team. Chaired by Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun, other members of the management team for U.S. operations include Epsilon CEO Bryan Kennedy, Publicis global CSO Carla Serrano, Leo Burnett global CCO Liz Taylor and Publicis Sapient CEO Nigel Vaz. A longtime veteran of the Publicis network, McCann spent nearly a decade with Leo Burnett, serving as U.S. chief talent officer before taking on her current role in 2018. As chief inclusion experience officer, she leads client partnership globally to ensure DEI is part of the core of their businesses and practices. She now leads all DEI initiatives across every level of Publicis within the U.S., following the departure of chief diversity officer Ronnie Dickerson Stewart. The appointments follow closely on the heels of Publicis' reporting Q4 and 2020 organic revenue declines that exceeded analyst expectations and a return to organic growth in the U.S. Sadoun announced the holding company was reimbursing volunteer pay cuts taken by 6,000 managers last year, based on the strength of its performance. The last month of 2020 brought some good account news for the holding company in the form of Disney expanding its relationship with dedicated unit Publicis Imagine to include U.S. media responsibilities for Hulu and Visa selecting Publicis and Widen+Kennedy as its global creative agencies of record. "By reinforcing our U.S. ComEx, we are formalizing a leadership team that has already been working closely together over the past 12 months to steer our operations in our largest market through the Covid crisis and to growth in Q4," Sadoun said in a statement. "As the world faces ongoing difficulties caused by the pandemic, the U.S. ComEx will ensure we continue to prioritize the mental and physical health of our people, advance our DE&I agenda, strengthen our structures and accelerate our unique model connecting data, creativity, media and tech to drive growth for all of our clients in a platform world."