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Publicis Worldwide, Leo Burnett merge; Burnett erased, Leo remains

As big tech gets a bigger ad spending pie, such consolidations will become common.

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Shreyas Kulkarni
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Leo Burnett now Leo

Just as the dust settled on Omnicom’s acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG), French rival Publicis Groupe announced the merger of its creative networks, Leo Burnett and Publicis Worldwide, to form a new “constellation” called Leo.

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“In this era of infinite data and increasingly powerful AI, we know that the role of humanity, original ideas, and creativity is actually more important than ever,” remarks Arthur Sadoun, chairperson and CEO, Publicis Groupe, in the video announcing the launch of Leo. 

His words are a not-so-subtle acknowledgement of the power tech goliaths such as Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, and increasingly AI wield when it comes to advertisers’ allocation of their ad spend budget.

Pureplay digital advertising (excluding CTV and digital OOH) is projected to grow by 10% and account for 72.9% of total advertising in 2025 and 76.8% in 2029, says media buying giant GroupM’s end-of-year global advertising forecast in its annual This Year Next Year report. 

In India, technology and e-commerce companies such as Google, Meta, Amazon, and Flipkart collectively earned advertising revenues exceeding Rs 60,000 crore in FY24, a 9% surge from Rs 55,053 crore in FY23, reported Business Standard. 

Advertisers are increasingly turning to technology companies that offer self-serve tools and features that empower them with the ability to personalise ads and track them quickly.

The rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is adding to these challenges; brands can now easily produce campaigns themselves instead of relying on external agency partners to create ads whose impact isn't exactly measurable.

A report from consultancy giant Bain in December 2024 said top retailers, including Amazon and Walmart, experimented with AI-powered targeting campaigns during the holiday season, and they enjoyed a 10% to 25% increase in ad spend returns.  

Therefore, it is not surprising to see agency holding companies consolidate and run lean agency teams while they battle big tech for advertisers’ wallets. 

Sadoun says Leo is the meeting of the “human vision of the Leo Burnett network and the innovation of Publicis Worldwide”. He further describes the new entity as “HI meets AI”, which is “human insights and ideas amplified by the data and technology to do more, faster, everywhere”. 

Leadership of Leo
Publicis Groupe CSO Carla Serrano/ Leo co-presidents Marco Venturelli & Agathe Bousquet & CSO Gareth Goodall

When WPP merged creative agencies Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R to create VML, a creative company, in October 2023, the agency holding company said, “It will be equipped to support clients on creative brand growth strategies and transformation initiatives, all powered by best-in-class data operations, technology platforms, and partnerships with leading technology companies.”

All this feels awfully similar to the Hollywood trope of humans starting to rally against the big bad machines. For the advertising agencies, it's not just about revenue but also about survival. 

Who’s heading Leo? 

As per the Publicis Groupe chief, Leo brings together 15,000 agency creatives in 90 countries under a single leadership. The same team that made Publicis Conseil—an international creative agency and a founding entity of Publicis Group—the Cannes Lions 2024 Agency of the Year—will lead Leo. 

Marco Venturelli and Agathe Bousquet will act as co-presidents, and Gareth Goodall is the chief strategy officer. Andrew Bruce, CEO of Publicis Groupe Canada, will also take on the additional role of chairman of Leo North America.

Here in India, Amitesh Rao is the CEO of Leo Burnett, and its two chief creative officers are Vikram Pandey and Sachin Kamble. Coming to South Asia, Rajdeepak Das serves as the chairman of Leo Burnett and Publicis Groupe’s chief creative officer. 

Paritosh Srivastava serves as the CEO of Publicis Worldwide in India; Oindrila Roy is its managing director, and Aman Mannan is the national creative director. 

Leo Burnett founder
Leo Burnett on when he wants his name to leave his agency's door.

Name-dropping, literally 

One of the most unfortunate aspects of such mergers is the disappearance of iconic names, and Burnett is the latest casualty. When VML was created, three legacy names—J. Walter Thompson, Young and Rubicam, and Wunderman Thompson— disappeared. 

In India, people were accustomed to calling Leo Burnett just Burnett; that will have to change, or perhaps it will not. 

The decision-makers at Publicis Groupe, however, feel otherwise. A statement after a clip showing Leo Burnett stating, “When to take my name off the door”, reads: “Leo, your name will be on more doors than ever.”

Shakespeare once wrote, “What’s in a name?” Sometimes, it’s everything. 

‎Publicis Worldwide Publicis Groupe
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