Publicis Groupe makes North Asia leadership moves

Publicis Groupe announced a series of personnel changes in its North Asia region, which it formed in July with Jane Lin-Baden at the helm:

• Longtime Publicis leader Bertilla Teo, who was appointed co-CEO of Publicis Groupe Greater China in January, will take a sabbatical of unspecified duration to focus on her twin newborns. The company indicated that she will return in a new role following the break. Michael Lee, appointed as co-CEO for Greater China alongside Teo in January, continues in his role.
   
• Katie Xie, formerly HR executive director for North Asia at Walt Disney Company, joins as chief talent officer for North Asia. She will lead the HR and talent efforts for the five markets in the region starting at the end of September. At Disney, Xie served all the company's lines of business including consumer products, studio, digital, media, gaming, publishing, Disney English and Disney Store.
   
• Andy Ho joins as global client partner for Publicis Groupe China. He has 22 years of experience in automotive, FMCG, and technology and has held leadership positions including group strategist at Dentsu Aegis Network China, key client president of Beijing Dentsu, and MD of Mcgarrybowen China.
   
• Finally, the company is promoting Irene Chang from managing director to CEO of Publicis Media Taiwan.

Xie, Ho, Chang and the Publicis Media Greater China leadership team will report to Lin-Baden, who serves as Publicis Groupe's North Asia CEO as well as the group's APAC managing partner.

In a release, Lin-Baden said talent is mission-critical, and praised Xie's 20+ years’ experience growing cross-cultural teams, building organisational capabilities, driving business transformation and facilitating talent-centric development. "I look forward to working with Katie and the North Asia leadership team to build a workplace with an inclusive, innovative and high-performance culture" Lin-Baden said.

Chang has led the Taiwan team to recent account wins including FarEastTone, McDonald’s, Estee Lauder Group and Pernod Ricard Group in a challenging market over the last three years and "fully deserves the recognition”, Lin-Baden said.  

Lin-Baden expressed happiness for Teo and her expanded family, and said she looks forward to welcoming Teo back when she is ready to return. “We are very grateful to Bertilla for her leadership and contribution over the last 10 years,” she said. “During this time, she has built a solid media team, accelerating our capabilities and strengthening relationships with clients and partners."