Publicis Worldwide appointed Carla Serrano as CEO of Publicis New York, AdAge reports. She will report directly to Publicis North Americ CEO Andrew Bruce, who had been filling the role of New York CEO temporarily.
Serrano has served as chief strategy officer, North America since arriving at the agency two years ago and Bruce pointed to her strategy and leadership experience as reasons for the appointment, as well as a desire to fill the role from within the agency. Before joining Publicis, Serrano served as CEO for Naked Communications. Prior to that she was a planning director and then president for Berlin Cameron, which followed a stint at TBWA\Chiat\Day where she was eventually elevated to the position of chief strategy officer.
“We’re trying to build the leadership team to be client-facing and focused on them and working alongside them,” he said, adding that her strategy background will “translate into the level of the work we create.”
“Integrating strategy in everything we do is a big part of the plan,” Serrano added. “The industry has shifted so much over the last decade, where every client is going through some kind of transformation. Given the kinds of issues the clients are facing, leadership with a strategic bent to it is more in tune with the kind of problems that we as an industry are being asked to solved.”