Coca-Cola's Agency Head at WPP, Laurent Ezekiel, Transfers to Publicis
In a surprising move, Laurent Ezekiel, the former Chief Marketing Officer and CEO of WPP's bespoke Coca-Cola agency, Open X, has announced his departure from the company. Ezekiel is rejoining Publicis Groupe, where he previously spent 16 years, including as President of Digitas North America & International.
This decision comes after Publicis Groupe's recent win of Coca-Cola’s $700 million North American media business, which was previously handled by WPP. The move follows a series of significant account shifts involving Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola's global CMO, Manuel "Manolo" Arroyo, confirmed Ezekiel's exit in a memo to Coca-Cola employees. Arroyo praised Ezekiel for his role in "architecting" the WPP Open X marketing model, which has been praised for its initiatives such as StudioX, a hub that allows Coca-Cola to create thousands of assets tailored for local markets.
In May, Coca-Cola renewed other major elements of its WPP contract, expressing confidence in the future of Open X. However, the company has not yet provided an immediate comment regarding Ezekiel's departure.
WPP is currently working to identify a successor for Ezekiel. Meanwhile, Publicis Groupe has declined to comment on the specific details of Ezekiel's new role within the company.
This news comes at a challenging time for WPP, as the company has issued a shock profit warning and Mars and Paramount have moved their media briefs from WPP to Publicis Groupe. In a surprising turn of events, Microsoft executive Cindy Rose will replace Mark Read as WPP CEO, effective from September.
[1] Ad Age [2] The Drum [3] Campaign US [4] Marketing Week
- The departure of Laurent Ezekiel, who was previously the CEO of WPP's bespoke Coca-Cola agency, Open X, may have financial implications for WPP as he joins Publicis Groupe, which recently won Coca-Cola’s $700 million North American media business.
- With Coca-Cola's StudioX, a hub that enables the creation of thousands of assets tailored for local markets, Ezekiel's role in architectureing the WPP Open X marketing model showcases his significant contributions to the business sector, specifically in the realm of asset production.
