MAM
Publicis Media restructures organisation
MUMBAI Publicis Media CEO Steve King has unveiled structure and leadership appointments for the organization. “We are driven to get to the future first,” said King. “Publicis Media is a fresh opportunity to simplify our organisation, invent more modern approaches to gain efficiency, introduce structures for greater collaboration and effectiveness, and drive new levels of scale and client value.”
“The new Publicis Media imagined by Steve King is fully equipped to fit the future and best serve our clients,” Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO Maurice Lévy endorsed, “A leaner and simpler structure will bring more value to our clients and will further accelerate our growth.”
Publicis Media’s structure will cover Top 20 markets, organised by three regions and led by Regional CEO for the Americas Tim Jones, Regional CEO for EMEA Iain Jacob, and Regional CEO for APAC, Gerry Boyle.
At a global management level, Adrian Sayliss will become CFO for Publicis Media, Séverine Charbon will become the Chief Talent Officer for Publicis Media, and John Sheehy will oversee Global Clients for Publicis Media.
Publicis Media will consolidate its six global agency brands: Starcom, Mediavest, Spark, Zenith, Optimedia and Blue 449 into four global agency brands namely Starcom, Zenith, Mediavest | Spark and Optimedia | Blue 449. Starcom and Zenith will each continue to operate as global agency brands while Mediavest | Spark will be a third large global agency brand and Optimedia | Blue 449 will be brought together to form a powerful global challenger brand.
Each agency will be led by a Global Brand President with Lisa Donohue as Global Brand President for Starcom, Vittorio Bonori as Global Brand President for Zenith, Brian Terkelsen as Global Brand President for Mediavest | Spark, and Andras Vigh as Global Brand President for Optimedia | Blue 449. These
Global Brand Presidents will be responsible for leading clients, driving growth and enabling best work.
Additionally, there will be four US CEOs with Chris Boothe becoming CEO of Mediavest | Spark,
Dave Ehlers of Optimedia | Blue 449, Lou Rossi continuing at Zenith and Lisa Donohue continuing as US CEO for Starcom until a successor is named. All US brand leadership will report into Tim Jones, CEO of Americas.
Dave Penski will become Chief Investment Officer for Publicis Media in the U.S. overseeing all media investment and media vendor partnerships. He reports to Jones. Publicis Media’s U.S. consolidated investment power, estimated at $39 Billion and 33% market share, makes Publicis Media the largest media buying entity in the U.S., according to RECMA’s most recent Overall Activity Ranking Report.
Powering Publicis Media will be seven centralised ‘Global Practices’ that standardise approaches, scale quickly and deliver connectivity, consistency, that span geography, agency brands and clients.
These Global Practices will be:
• Data, Technology & Innovation led by Stephan Beringer
• Content led by Belinda Rowe
• Trading & Buying led by Simon Pardon
• Performance led by Michael Kahn
• Business Development & Communications led by Lauren Hanrahan
• Business Transformation led by Richard Hartell
• Analytics, Research & Insight led by Steve Simpson
In this new model, the agency network names of Starcom Mediavest Group and ZenithOptimedia Group are retired to better enable a flatter organisational structure. Publicis Media will deliver client value through combined scale and capabilities of our media agency brands.
VivaKi capabilities will be fully integrated into Publicis Media’s Global Practice model. Performics will remain Publicis Media’s global performance marketing brand and scale across all agency brands.
The reorganisation of Publicis Groupe’s media capabilities into a Publicis Media hub is part of Publicis Groupe’s transformation efforts previously announced. Publicis Groupe is organised into four Solutions hubs—Publicis Communications led by Arthur Sadoun, Publicis Media led by Steve King, Publicis.Sapient led by Alan Herrick and Publicis Health led by Nick Colucci—which are connected through a Chief Revenue Officer organization, led by Laura Desmond, which will deliver client satisfaction across Publicis Groupe’s entire range of services.
MAM
Deep Chhabria steps up to APAC creative lead at Netflix
Veteran marketer expands role from India+SEA to oversee creative across Asia-Pacific after four-plus years at streamer.
MUMBAI: Deep Chhabria is levelling up at Netflix proving that when it comes to creative partnerships, he’s got the whole binge-watching region on speed dial. The streaming giant has elevated Chhabria to APAC creative lead, expanding his remit beyond his previous focus on India, South East Asia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Having clocked over four years with Netflix, he’s been the mastermind behind some of the platform’s most talked-about brand tie-ups in the region.
Standout collaborations under his watch include the Stranger Things 5 x Instamart mash-up, the cheeky Ba***ds of Bollywood activations with Boat and Airtel, Squid Game 2 hook-ups featuring Knorr, 5 Star, and Swiggy, plus the 4700 BC x Netflix play. He’s also driven key distribution deals like Netflix on Vi and Airtel Prepaid, blending content buzz with real-world accessibility.
With roughly 14 years in the game, Chhabria’s CV boasts stints at top agencies such as BBH India, Ogilvy & Mather, and Saatchi & Saatchi honing the craft that makes ads feel less like sales pitches and more like must-watch episodes.
Outside the office, he’s no stranger to the spotlight, a tutor at Miami Ad School in Mumbai, where his students have scooped gongs at Portfolio Nights, The One Show, and D&AD. Oh, and he’s a stand-up comedian who’s notched over 500 gigs across India and the US, even landing spots on Comedy Central India because apparently juggling global campaigns and killer punchlines is just another day at the desk.
The promotion underscores Netflix’s push to keep its APAC creative edge sharp amid fierce competition in the streaming wars. For Chhabria, it’s less a step up and more a wider canvas ready to script the next chapter of binge-worthy marketing magic across the region.
