Publicis Groupe Announces UK Country Leadership Team Headed by CEO, Annette King

Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40] announces today the appointment of a leadership team for Publicis Groupe UK.

The new leadership team will include Chief Operating Officer, Jo Coombs; Chief Growth Officer, Anna Campbell and Head of Talent, Paula Cunnington. They join Chief Financial Officer, James Barnes-Austin who started in June this year. All will report directly to CEO of Publicis Groupe UK, Annette King.

Jo Coombs joins from Ogilvy where she was the UK CEO of OgilvyOne. Jo has worked with brands including British Airways, American Express, Unilever, Boots, BT, British Gas and the UK Government to establish long-lasting consumer and business-to-business relationships, drive business results and build strong brands. In her new role as Chief Operating Officer, Jo will help drive the country model, working closely with the solution hub and agency leads, fostering even greater collaboration across all talent at Publicis Groupe UK to optimise, and where relevant, reinvent the client offering. Jo will also be exec sponsor on key pitches for Groupe UK and help integrate specialist offerings with a focus on data, content and dynamic creativity.

Anna Campbell will join from OMD Worldwide, where she led Marketing & Business Development, overseeing 65 markets across the EMEA region. There, she reengineered the function and running of pitches, resulting in successes including the global wins of Disney and Liberty accounts, plus Tourism Ireland and Trip Advisor. In her new remit as Chief Growth Officer, Anna will work closely with the solution hub and agency leads in the UK on prospecting and business development opportunities, identifying existing client need for additional expertise within the business and leveraging Publicis Groupe’s creative, tech and data capabilities. Anna will also be focused on further bringing to life the Power of One in the UK to help deliver its unique integrated offer to clients.

Paula Cunnington joins from Dentsu Aegis Network where she was UK&I Chief People Officer. Paula brings a range of experience from media, consultancy and financial services having also held roles at Barclays Group, Santander and Accenture. As Head of Talent for Publicis Groupe UK, she will be responsible for leading a strategic talent plan across Groupe UK, working closely with the solution hub CTO’s, and focusing on fostering culture to further build a collaborative, progressive and inclusive environment across Publicis Groupe UK building on work to date to make it a best-in-class example of how to put talent at the heart of an organisation to succeed.

Annette King, CEO of Publicis Groupe UK, commented: “I am delighted to bring Jo, Anna, Paula and James together to create what I hope will be a truly game changing UK Country leadership team. They have such a diverse set of skills and experience which I am certain we can put to great use in service of our clients, our UK solutions hubs and agency leaders and our people.” 

Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, said: “I am delighted that the combination of the Publicis Groupe country model and Annette’s personality and drive has attracted a leadership team to drive our unique Power of One proposition in the UK. We can count on this line up to deliver on our promise to clients of a desiloed integrated service platform that will accelerate their business growth.”

The Publicis Groupe UK leadership team appointment aligns with Publicis Groupe’s country model rollout in eight key markets: North America, the United Kingdom, France, DACH (Germany, Switzerland and Austria), Northern & Central Europe, Southern Europe, Asia Pacific & Middle East/Africa, and Latin America.

Publicis Groupe UK is made up of over 5,500 employees and 32 agency brands that sit within the solutions hubs: Publicis Communications, Publicis Media, Publicis.Sapient and Publicis Health.