Publicis Groupe merges Leo Burnett and Publicis Worldwide to form Leo

Publicis Groupe is kicking off 2025 by combining Leo Burnett with Publicis Worldwide and calling it Leo. According to the company, this comes as global brands and challenges “require outsized creativity” to drive scaled transformation, personalised content and connected brand experiences.

In a statement, Publicis adds that the combined entity Leo will see an expansion and redesign of the Leo Burnett logo, and unites the firepower of one of the most iconic first names in advertising with the roar of a lion. It will have a global creative force of 8,000 creative minds from Leo Burnett and 7,000 from PWW.

Leo is led by Marco Venturelli and Agathe Bousquet who will act as co-presidents, and chief strategy officer Gareth Goodall. Together they are responsible for Leo’s global creative community and culture, that will be activated at the country level through the Power of One. Andrew Bruce, CEO Publicis Groupe Canada, will also take on the additional role of Chairman, Leo North America.

The Leo unit joins Publicis Groupe’s creative roster, alongside Saatchi & Saatchi, LePub and BBH.

Carla Serrano, global CSO Publicis Groupe said :“Through Leo we are doubling down on our strategy of strong creative brands, connected to the industry’s only data, media and tech ecosystem. With Publicis as the global group brand we all rally to, we are now accelerating on the Power of One, turning two networks into one constellation.”

“At Publicis, we have demonstrated time and again the power of the Power of One. Leo’s global spirit will live and breathe at the local level, with outstanding creative and strategic talent turbocharged by best-in-class data and technology through our country model, to create truly bespoke models for its clients,” added Bousquet.

Venturelli added: “We’ve never had so many tools to better understand people and connect with them. Nevertheless creativity still is, and forever will be a messy human process. Leo will be a true global community of creative and strategic talents, connected together for a more human way of creating at scale.”

Arthur Sadoun, CEO of Publicis Groupe commented: “I have had the privilege of leading both Publicis Worldwide and Leo Burnett. Since then, other iconic names have disappeared, but I have never believed that creative efficiency should mean fewer brands and fewer operations. It is about big ideas from creative minds that are nurtured by strong agency culture, to have an impact on our clients’ business. In today’s world it is also about more collaboration and more access to capabilities. That’s exactly what Leo stands for. By unifying the spirit and talent of these global creative communities, Leo will be bigger, stronger and on more doors than ever.”