Publicis Creative hires Susie Nam as US CEO as Andrew Swinand departs

Publicis Creative has tapped ex-Droga5 CEO Susie Nam as its U.S. CEO as Andrew Swinand leaves the role to “pursue other opportunities,” according to a spokesperson.

Swinand, who is currently CEO of Publicis Creative U.S. and Leo Burnett, will depart in the spring. He has been with Publicis Groupe for six years, joining in 2017 as CEO of Leo Burnett and adding oversight of all of Publicis Creative in 2021.

Nam will step into the role on Monday (Dec. 4), co-leading alongside Swinand for her first few months on the job. She will oversee the business for all Publicis U.S. agencies including Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, Fallon, BBH, Team One, The Community and Turner Duckworth. 

She will report to Publicis Groupe’s chief strategy officer Carla Serrano. 

Nam joins Publicis after exiting her post as Droga5 Americas CEO in May. At the time of her departure, she had been at Droga5 for 15 years, joining only three years after the agency was founded. 

She had served as CEO of Americas since November 2021, two years after the agency was acquired by Accenture Interactive, and was replaced by Dan Gonda, the former president of Droga5 New York.

At the time of her departure, Droga5 had undergone several leadership changes, including exits by a handful of senior executives since the acquisition by Accenture such as Droga5’s co-chief creative officer, Tim Gordon, who left in July 2022 after 14 years at the agency. His counterpart, Felix Richter, left for Mother London in March 2022 after 11 years. Other turnover included Droga5 London’s CCO Dave Kolbusz, who left after a seven year tenure, and Jonny Bauer, Droga’s former global chief strategy officer, who departed after 13 years.

Nam nor Swinand were not available for additional comment.