AD Agencies
Leo Burnett consolidates Asia Pacific and Greater China regions
MUMBAI: Leo Burnett Worldwide chairman and CEO Tom Bernardin announced the consolidation of the agency’s operations across Greater China and Asia Pacific.
Leo Burnett Asia Pacific president Jarek Ziebinski will take charge as the chairman and CEO for the consolidated operation including China as of 1 September 2014. The regional chairman and CEO of Greater China, Eddie Booth, will retire after 15 years with the agency. Booth will continue to be with the agency until 31 December to see through the smooth transition of leadership.
Said Bernardin, “Eddie and I have been in talks regarding his plans to retire from the agency over the past year. After more than 20 years in the industry and 15 years of successful leadership at Leo Burnett in Greater China, Eddie has decided it’s time to retire from advertising. We want to thank him for his wonderful work building Leo Burnett Greater China to what it is today and wish him every success as he embarks on his new journey in life.”
In his new role, Ziebinski will continue to report directly to Bernardin and will split his time between Shanghai and Singapore. Leo Burnett China group CEO Donald Chan will be assuming additional duties to oversee Leo Burnett Hong Kong. Both Chan Leo Burnett Taiwan group CEO Margaret Huang will report to Ziebinski.
“The consolidation of Leo Burnett’s Asia Pacific and Greater China operations is a strategic decision to bring together the best of the network’s resources, talents and capabilities across these two important regions under one proven leader. The scale and efficiencies Leo Burnett will be able to achieve from the consolidation will enable the network to deliver greater value for our clients’ businesses in today’s environment of remarkable change and possibilities,” said Bernardin.
Continued Bernardin, “Jarek’s track record of success across two very different regions – central eastern Europe and Asia Pacific – at Leo Burnett speaks for itself. The growth and momentum he delivered for Leo Burnett in Asia Pacific over the past five years makes him the ideal candidate to take over the consolidated leadership of Leo Burnett in this region. Asia Pacific is a critically important region for the Leo Burnett global network and I’m confident that with Jarek at the helm, he will be able to help us deliver the best in the world, bar none.”
AD Agencies
Publicis Brazil’s creative chief Mauro Ramalho lands the jury chair at Abby Awards 2026
Mauro Ramalho brings 25 years of global advertising firepower to the new creative commerce, use of data and B2B category at Goafest
GOA: The Abby Awards 2026, powered by The One Club and The One Show, has appointed Mauro Ramalho, chief creative officer of Publicis Brazil, as jury chair for its newly launched creative commerce, use of data and B2B category. The announcement, made on 18 March, signals the awards’ intent to bring serious international muscle to a category that sits squarely at the intersection of creativity and commercial performance.
Ramalho is not a name that needs much introduction in global advertising circles. Over 25 years spanning three countries, he has worked at some of the industry’s most creatively restless addresses. At AKQA in San Francisco, he worked across McDonald’s, Nike, Fox, Target, Kraft Foods and GAP, and helped lead “The Lost Ring” for McDonald’s, one of the first alternate reality campaigns and among the most awarded projects of its era. He later moved to Organic in Toronto, bridging the Detroit and Toronto offices on Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, before spending over a decade building CUBOCC into one of Brazil’s most iconic and innovative independent agencies, which subsequently joined the IPG network.
A stint at FCB followed, where Ramalho led integrated work bridging online and offline, before he joined R/GA São Paulo as vice-president and executive creative director, stitching together the São Paulo office with New York, London, Portland and California on global clients including Verizon, Google, Meta, Samsung, American Express and Heineken. He now heads Publicis Brazil as its chief creative officer.
His trophy cabinet includes Clios, Effies, TikTok awards and MMA Smarties, and he has served on juries at the Andys, TikTok and the Lisbon Awards.
The Abby Awards 2026 is scheduled to take place at Goafest 2026 on 20, 21 and 22 May in Goa.
For Indian advertising, landing a jury chair of Ramalho’s calibre for a category built around data-driven creativity and commerce is a statement of ambition. Goafest just raised its own bar.
