Bateman’s Promo Reflects Larger Role at Publicis

Publicis/Bloom here continued its management transition last week with the elevation of client services director Mark Bateman into a new role.
Bateman was promoted from senior to executive principal in his post atop the account service department. The title change reflects his expanded duties since the early 1997 retirement of chairman Paul MacMahon and the appointment of co-chairmen Steve Price and Seth Werner.
“It expands Mark’s role beyond just worrying about the account service area,” said Price. “It’s more a reflection of what he had been doing without the recognition.”
Bateman, 38, said he will remain involved in new business efforts in addition to his client services role. “Because of the nature of our company–we’re a horizontally lean organization–and the fact we’ve all worked together for so long, it doesn’t seem things have changed [that] much,” he said.
Bateman has been at the shop since 1984, when he arrived from D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in New York.
Price downplayed talk that the move signals plans to establish a new senior creative slot under Werner, also the agency’s executive creative director. Sources said in recent months the agency was recruiting for such a post, but Price has declined to confirm or deny that.
“It doesn’t preclude one, nor does it suggest we will have one,” said Price. The agency is not attempting to develop a structure “where [account service and creative areas] each has an executive principal.”
Price, however, added: “We are continuing to look for more talent in pretty much all areas.”