Publicis Groupe global CSO Carla Serrano with Leo leadership Marco Venturelli, Agathe Bousquet, and Gareth Goodall
Publicis Groupe is combining its Leo Burnett and Publicis Worldwide agencies into one creative network called Leo, continuing a wave of consolidation taking place across the industry.
Leo will bring together 130 agencies and 15,000 employees—8,000 from Leo Burnett and 7,000 from Publicis Worldwide—across 90 countries under a single leadership team, forming the largest creative network within the Groupe. Previously, Leo Burnett was Publicis’ biggest creative agency network.
The Publicis Worldwide name will dissolve, except in certain markets with potential client conflicts, such as France, which will retain individual shops like Publicis Conseil, Marcel, and Publicis Luxe.
The Creative Agencies to Watch in the Omnicom-IPG Merger
Industry experts agree that consolidation among the new holding company’s creative networks will be inevitable.
Industry insiders predict that Omnicom Group’s takeover of Interpublic Group (IPG) will likely lead to the consolidation and elimination of legacy creative agency brands.
Omnicom announced on Monday (Dec. 9) that it is acquiring rival holding company IPG, creating the world’s largest advertising group. The new company will be called Omnicom, and leadership anticipates it will cut $750 million in costs within the first two years of closing.
Omnicom CEO John Wren told ADWEEK that “anybody out there who is servicing revenue through either IPG or Omnicom…your jobs are safer this morning than they were last night.”
But industry observers anticipate the combined company will follow the pattern of rival holdcos by consolidating agency brands.
