Following on from a series of country-level appointments around its network last week, Publicis Communications Global CEO, Arthur Sadoun has announced key leadership appointments in Australia and New Zealand.

Michael Rebelo (pictured above) is appointed as CEO for Publicis Communications ANZ, in addition to his current responsibility as CEO for Saatchi & Saatchi Australia and New Zealand. He will report to global chief operating officer, Loris Nold, and will focus on driving transformation and ensuring that global and local clients are given full access to the Groupe’s network.

Andrew Baxter has been appointed as chairman of Publicis Communications in addition to his current responsibility as CEO of Publicis Worldwide.

Baxter also reports to Nold and along with continuing to drive growth for clients, will focus on collaboration with other Publicis Groupe solutions hub, including Sapient Inside and the ramping up of Prodigious. 

Melinda Geertz will take the newly created position of CEO for Leo Burnett Australia following her stint as CEO of Leo Burnett Melbourne. Geertz will work closely with Rebelo to continue to grow the agency across Australia and ensure the right connectivity between the Melbourne and Sydney operations, led by Pete Bosilkovski.

Sadoun said of the appointments: “Australia and New Zealand are key markets for Publicis Communications; these appointments will allow us to further harness the Power of One to deliver to all of our clients seamless end-to-end solutions that draw on our world-class expertise and resources, no matter where they may be located.

“I know I can count on Mike, Andrew, Melinda and the teams to accelerate on the great momentum they’ve already been building through the recent wins of Tiger Beer global, H&R Block, Caltex, Spirit of Tasmania and Betfair, to name just a few.” 

Nold added, “I am thrilled with the appointments of Mike, Andrew and Melinda. They are great leaders and thanks to them, our momentum is very strong in Australia and New Zealand. I am convinced that with all of them we will see great acceleration for the benefit of our clients.”

Michael Rebelo commented, “Creativity remains one of the great accelerators of driving transformation in business. I’m looking forward to working with our Publicis Communications teams to deliver this for our clients across Australia and New Zealand.”

Andrew Baxter commented, “CEO’s, CMO’s and CIO’s want agency partners to help them solve big and small problems in a multitude of different ways. And that means agency leaderships teams need to be unencumbered by old systems and processes, so we rally our teams to do the right thing by the brand every single time. That’s what’s exciting about these announcements, and I’m looking forward to working with Mike and Melinda on delivering that for our clients.”

Melinda Geertz commented, “I’ve spent years focused on building Leo Burnett in Melbourne with my wonderful colleagues, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved. And now I have the opportunity to work more closely with Pete and our amazing Leo Burnett Sydney team, who are a creative force to be reckoned with. It’s a dream job. Together, we have so much talent and firepower, and I’m excited about what lies ahead. I’m also looking forward to plugging into the group’s broader capabilities – for the good of our clients.”