Will Also Serve as Executive Vice President of Publicis Worldwide
PARIS – Global CEO of Publicis Worldwide, Arthur Sadoun, announced the appointment of Guillaume Herbette as CEO of MSLGROUP and Executive Vice President of Publicis Worldwide. The appointment is effective August 24, 2015.
Herbette, who currently serves as global Vice Chairman of Operations at FleishmanHillard, will succeed Olivier Fleurot, who moves into an SVP role within Publicis Groupe.
As well as leading MSLGROUP, Herbette is also tasked with partnering with Sadoun to create more seamless ways of working with all Publicis Groupe brands – such as Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, BBH, Starcom Mediavest Group, ZenithOptimedia, Publicis.Sapient and Publicis Healthcare Communications Group – to enhance the client offering across the communications spectrum.
In making the announcement, Sadoun, to whom Herbette will report, noted “Guillaume’s rich knowledge of the US market, global strategic vision, and valuable professional services experience are key assets that will contribute to MSLGROUP’s growth. Under his leadership, and with the support of Publicis Worldwide, I see a bright opportunity for MSLGROUP to lead the change within the PR industry, and for its clients, via an exclusive offering that combines influence, brand management and commerce.”
Publicis Groupe Chairman & CEO Maurice Levy said, “I’m very pleased to have Guillaume on board as this will accelerate MSLGROUP’s growth within our Groupe through better integration with all our entities, providing them with the necessary complement of PR. This close collaboration with Publicis Worldwide will lead to the development of models that will be applied to all the Groupe’s entities.”
In his role as CEO of MSLGROUP, Herbette will be responsible for overseeing all MSLGROUP entities, including the global events offering through Publicis Live, PBJS and Publicis Events, as well as strategic communication consultancies such as Kekst & Company, CNC and JKL.
Herbette brings over 25 years of relevant experience to his new role. After joining FleishmanHillard in 1998, he assumed jobs of increasing responsibility throughout the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. He later served as chief operating officer for the firm’s US Eastern and Western and Canada regions. He then assumed his Vice Chairman duties in 2010. In that role, he was responsible for FleishmanHillard’s overall operations and growth. Throughout his career, Herbette spent more than 10 years in the US.
Herbette began his career with PwC in 1991, in the company’s Paris office. From 1995 to 1998, he was part of the global professional services firm’s corporate finance group in New York, where he gained extensive experience in transactions, including mergers and acquisitions.
