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FCB India spins gold in PR specialist agency of the year at Abby Creative Awards by One Show
GOA: Day two of Goafest 2025 witnessed FCB India absolutely demolishing the competition in the public relations category, proving that sometimes the best way to handle PR is to simply be brilliant at it.
The agency swept to victory as ‘public relations specialist agency of the year’ with a frankly ridiculous haul of 66 points, built on four golds, three silvers, three bronzes and two merits. It was the sort of performance that left rivals wondering whether they’d accidentally entered a different competition entirely.
Leo India managed a respectable runner-up spot with 38 points, courtesy of three silvers, four bronzes and two merits—though one suspects they might have preferred trading some of that bronze for a bit more gold. Tribes Communication rounded out the podium with 26 points, bagging one gold, two silvers, one bronze and a merit in what can only be described as a thoroughly balanced performance.
The others made their presence felt too. BC Web Wise nabbed 10 points with one silver and one bronze, whilst Grey group and Mudra Max each scored eight points—Grey group with a single gold and Mudra Max with two bronzes. Meanwhile, ^a t o m network, Godrej Enterprises group, and Social Panga – Higa Digital all managed six points apiece, proving that in the PR game, every point counts.
Even the laggards got their moment. Grey Alchemy picked up four points with a bronze, whilst boAt Lifestyle and Digitas each secured two points with a merit—hardly earth-shattering, perhaps, but better than going home empty-handed.
The Abby Creative Awards 2025, powered by The One Show, continued their relentless march through specialist categories, with broadcaster, digital specialist, design specialist, mobile specialist, technology specialist, and direct specialist awards all up for grabs.
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WPP appoints Estée Lauder’s Anne-Isabelle Choueiri as chief transformation officer
Former Estée Lauder executive to lead operations, technology and culture overhaul under WPP’s three-year growth plan
LONDON: WPP has appointed Anne-Isabelle Choueiri as chief transformation officer in a newly created role tasked with delivering the group’s Elevate28 strategy.
Choueiri joins from The Estée Lauder Companies, where she led enterprise-wide strategic initiatives, including the “One ELC” operating model and major upgrades to enterprise marketing, data and analytics capabilities. She also led the redesign of enterprise technology teams and served on the company’s AI taskforce, driving AI strategy, adoption and value realisation across the business.
At WPP, she will be responsible for designing, implementing and embedding the operating model behind Elevate28, the company’s three-year growth plan unveiled in February 2026. She will lead efforts to improve innovation, efficiency and integration across WPP’s client offerings, with a focus on delivering agile, outcome-driven solutions and measurable growth.
Choueiri will oversee organisational transformation across the group, working closely with product and enterprise technology teams to deploy AI, data and technology to build new capabilities and improve operational performance. She will also work with the people function to embed cultural change, strengthen an agile performance mindset and support talent development across the organisation.
Before joining Estée Lauder, she held senior roles across consulting and digital agencies, including at Accenture, Masaï (a Bain & Company spin-off), and Kearney, with experience spanning strategy, data and digital marketing transformation.
Cindy Rose, chief executive officer of WPP, said Choueiri brings a strong track record of leading large-scale transformation across operations, technology and culture, adding that her appointment will help accelerate the group’s next phase of growth under Elevate28.
Choueiri said WPP’s strategy represents an ambitious opportunity to reshape how the company operates and delivers for clients, adding that she looks forward to building integrated solutions and fostering a culture of innovation and change.
She will be based in New York and will join WPP’s executive committee.
