Publicis Communications: RICH STODDART NAMED CEO OF LEO BURNETT WORLDWIDE; TOM BERNARDIN MOVES TO CHAIRMAN ROLE

RICH STODDART NAMED CEO OF LEO BURNETT WORLDWIDE;
TOM BERNARDIN MOVES TO CHAIRMAN ROLE

Publicis Communications Announces Leadership Change To Propel Transformation

JANUARY 27, 2016 -- Arthur Sadoun, CEO of Publicis Communications, announced today an important leadership transition at Leo Burnett Worldwide.

Effective February 1, 2016, Rich Stoddart, 52, will take over as CEO of Leo Burnett Worldwide. Rich's current role is CEO of Leo Burnett North America and he will continue in that post. Tom Bernardin, 62, currently Chairman and CEO, will remain Chairman through June 2017. Both Bernardin and Stoddart also serve on the Publicis Communications ComEx and Stoddart is one of the U.S. country leads for the new organization led by Sadoun.

 "Leo Burnett is a leading force within Publicis Communications. We want to make sure that this brand and its unique culture are stronger than ever as we pursue our ultimate goal - to be the indispensable creative partner to our clients," Sadoun said. "Maurice Lévy and I are both confident that Rich is the best person to incarnate Leo Burnett on this new journey and lead the teams to great successes for our clients and our agencies. And we know we can count on Tom and his wealth of experience to actively help the Publicis Communications ComEx achieve its objectives."

Bernardin joined Leo Burnett Worldwide as CEO in 2004 and the following year hired Stoddart back to the agency to run Leo Burnett Chicago. Under Stoddart's leadership, Leo Burnett North America has seen significant growth and client acquisition, strong integration and collaboration across business units including Arc, Lapiz and Rokkan while delivering some of the most effective and integrated campaigns for clients including Allstate, GM, Kellogg's, McDonald's, P&G and Samsung.

"Rich Stoddart is an incredibly talented business leader, a tremendous champion for creativity and talent and my obvious successor," said Bernardin. "I'm very proud, after 11 years, to have been the longest serving Chairman and CEO of Leo Burnett Worldwide since Leo Burnett the man. After 40 years in the business, it is the perfect time to pass the reins to Rich. As Chairman of Leo Burnett, I will assist both Rich and Arthur in the continued success of Leo Burnett and of the new Publicis Communications."

"I'm so energized by the opportunity to lead this global company and the amazing talent within it during a time of unprecedented change, opportunity and reinvention," Stoddart said. "In partnership with Arthur and Tom, we will deliver upon the promise and potential of Leo Burnett - 'the best in the world bar none.' To me this means the very best talent, the very best work and the very best business results for our clients."

Stoddart will remain based in Chicago, the global headquarters of Leo Burnett.

About Leo Burnett Worldwide 
Leo Burnett Worldwide believes in using creativity to drive dynamic business change for its clients. Through a HumanKind approach to marketing, the agency puts a brand's purpose at the center of communications to transform human behavior. Part of Publicis Communications and the Publicis Groupe, Leo Burnett Worldwide works with some of the world's most valued brands including Coca-Cola, Fiat, Kellogg's, Kraft, McDonald's, Nintendo, P&G and Samsung, among others. For the past six years, Leo Burnett has been ranked #1 in "New World Thinking" by The Gunn Report and was named an Agency to Watch on Advertising Age's 2015 A-List. To learn more about Leo Burnett Worldwide and its rich, 80-year history of creating iconic brands, visit our site, Facebook page and follow us via @leoburnett.

About Publicis Communications
Publicis Communications is one of the four solutions hubs of Publicis Groupe, alongside Publicis Media, Publicis.Sapient and Publicis Healthcare. Led by Arthur Sadoun, CEO, Publicis Communications unites the Groupe's creative offering : Publicis Worldwide, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, BBH, as well as, Prodigious, a global production leader, and MSLGROUP, specialized in strategic communications. 

Present in over 100 countries, Publicis Communications aims to deliver transformative work to its clients and to attract the best talents in the industry. Publicis Communications draws upon the expertise of over 35,000 employees.

Contacts

Peggy Nahmany
VP, Director of Communications, Publicis Groupe
Peggy.nahmany@publicisgroupe.com
+33(0)1 44 43 76 91

Amy Cheronis 
EVP, Reputation & Communications, Leo Burnett  
amy.cheronis@leoburnett.com 
+1 (312) 220-5996

Biography - Rich Stoddart
CEO of Leo Burnett Worldwide

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Rich Stoddart is a proven marketing leader who drives growth and innovation for one of the world's most effective and most awarded communication companies, Leo Burnett.

Under his leadership the last 11 years, Leo Burnett North America has experienced significant growth and the acquisition of new accounts and top talent, while delivering some of the most effective, integrated and talked-about campaigns for blue-chip clients, including Allstate, Esurance, GM, Kellogg's McDonald's, Purina, Samsung and P&G, among others.

As CEO, Rich is recognized for his leadership in the development and the integration of shopper, digital, social and mobile capabilities that make these campaigns successful. Most notably, he has aligned Leo Burnett and sister shopper marketing services agency Arc, enabling the delivery of seamless, cross-platform ideas. Uniting the complementary strengths of Burnett and Arc together, as Leo Burnett himself said, "helps clients build a quality reputation for the long haul and generate sales for the immediate present." Rich has also helped engineer new business units within the Leo Burnett Group - from innovation arm Farmhouse to the agency's robust design offerings.

Chief among his personal success drivers is an unwavering focus on talent, which has helped the agency consistently win "Best Place to Work" accolades from The Chicago Tribune.

Rich began his career at Leo Burnett in 1985 working on the Hewlett-Packard account as a media buyer/planner. He then transitioned to account management, quickly rising through the ranks over the next 10 years to become account director.

He left Chicago in 1995 to join Fallon, a sister Publicis Groupe agency, as a member of its Minneapolis management team. During his time there, Fallon earned "Agency of the Year" honors from both Adweek and Advertising Age.   
Six years later in 2001, Rich joined Ford Motor Co. as manager of marketing communications. He successfully led all of Ford's agency relationships, CRM, web efforts, multi-cultural efforts and stewarded an annual budget of over $800 million. While at Ford, Rich was a recipient of the prestigious American Advertising Federation "Hall of Fame" Achievement Award, recognizing ad professionals under the age of 40 who have demonstrated outstanding career achievements.
Rich returned to Leo Burnett in 2005 as president of Leo Burnett Chicago and was named Leo Burnett Worldwide CEO in January 2016. He is also part of Publicis Communications's ComEx and has served on Leo Burnett's global leadership team for the past five years.

Outside the office, Rich lends his time and talents to the boards of The Off the Street Club, Carbon Media Group and Hasbro. In 2013, he was honored as the American Advertising Federation Multicultural Career Achiever Award recipient. He was chairman of the American Advertising Federation from 2013-2015.

Rich is a Dartmouth College graduate who, along with his wife and two daughters, is proud to call Chicago home.