Publicis Groupe appoints WPP's Coca Cola agency head Laurent Ezekiel

Laurent Ezekiel, Chief Marketing and Growth Officer at WPP and CEO of OpenX, the agency dedicated to the Coca-Cola account, is reportedly stepping down to join Publicis Groupe. While details of his new role have not yet been disclosed, a WPP spokesperson reportedly confirmed that his successor will be announced shortly. His new title and responsibilities at Publicis Groupe are not confirmed yet.

According to the media reports, his exit was confirmed in a memo from Coca-Cola’s global CMO Manuel "Manolo" Arroyo. 

Ezekiel joined WPP as CMO in 2019 from Publicis. His return to Publicis follows Coca-Cola’s $700 million shift of its North American media business out of WPP to Publicis, according to media reports.   

As the former senior account director at Grey Group, he worked across pan-European accounts, working closely with the Grey network before the group was acquired by WPP. He then joined Publicis Groupe as the senior account director, where he was elevated to president, North America & International for Digitas.