Publicis Media has created a next generation board that will work with the company’s global executive group to address opportunities and drive transformation across the company.

Board members have the full support from local and global leadership, providing a real opportunity to influence the direction of all brands and practices within Publicis Media, challenge the status quo and implement global initiatives and projects.

Launched across 15 markets  – US, UK, Nordics, MENA, Singapore, DACH, Italy, India, Mexico, Australia, Poland, China, Russia, UK, Spain and France – the aim is to foster a spirit of collaboration across a group of high-performing individuals from around the world.

Each local board comprises of 8-15 employees identified as future leaders and representing diverse skillsets. They will work together to architect and activate medium to long-term deliverables that increase employee engagement and advance Publicis Media’s ‘Trust, Talent and Transformation’ vision.

The Australian next generation board members are Scott Ramsay, a Strategist at Starcom Sydney; Simon Schoen, Strategy Director, Zenith Melbourne; Bianca Wallis, Group Director of Content, Publicis Media; Imogen Bourke, Strategy Director, Starcom Melbourne; Alicia Jackson, Digital Director, Mediavest Spark Sydney; Emma Thomson, Digital Account Director, Zenith Sydney; Sophie Langton, Associate Client Director, Blue 449 Sydney; Jacqui Capel, Agency Strategy Director, Blue 449 Sydney; and Ryan Menezes, Director – Technology & Digital, Starcom Sydney.

Scott Ramsay recently travelled to London to attend the inaugural meeting of the next generation board.

A survey by Delloitte of over 7,700 millennials (those born after 1982) across 29 countries who are in full-time employment, found that millennials believe businesses need to do more to bridge the gap between current leadership and the new generation of business leaders. This effort looks to deliver on this front while also more deeply harnessing this group’s perspective for agency and client benefit.

Steve King, CEO, Publicis Media, said, “Our next generation of leaders are the future of this company. It is vital that they play a significant role in creating Publicis Media’s future, from both a talent and client perspective. The launch of the next generation board is about challenging and disrupting how we currently do things, to the benefit of all stakeholders. We had our first global board meeting earlier this month, which ran in parallel with the global Publicis Media board, and we were incredibly impressed with the proposals that were presented, some of which we have already started to adopt.  The energy and new perspectives that they bring are fundamental to our ongoing transformation and success.”

Publicis Media ANZ CEO Matt James said: “This initiative is a great way to engage our young talent in the group and give them a seat at the table when it comes to decision making and developing ideas to progress our company globally. With such a wealth of young people within our company in Australia, it was a tough decision to nominate board members, but I’m delighted with our representatives and look forward to seeing what they can achieve.”

Representatives from each of the local boards will meet four times a year to work on delivering specific global initiatives.  The first of these meetings took place earlier this month and the company is already acting on the proposal by next generation board to harmonise communication across all global talent through the use of innovative new mobile technologies.

Here’s what the Next Gen Board across the Asia Pacific thought:

• “I think one of the best parts about the next generation board is the permission from the business to challenge the thinking, of not just our local executive group, but also the most senior leaders in our organisation. I get to work with the top talent across Publicis Media on a weekly basis to try and solve operational issues that are affecting the entire industry, that’s pretty unique.  The hands-on experience and unprecedented access to senior leadership is something I am greatly looking forward to,” said Scott Ramsay, Strategist, Starcom Australia.

• “I found the idea behind the Next Gen Board rather revolutionary. This is a cool initiative by the company in its thoughts and actions to want a bold, disruptive change transforming employee engagement. The experience of being in London working on everyday challenges our company was facing and presenting our honest feedback/solutions to the global leadership team who listened and stayed open was phenomenal,” said Joanne Fu, Media Manager, Starcom Singapore.

• “This initiative further strengthened my faith in Publicis Media. I would have never imagined a day where a younger generation staff gets to propose changes to the company where it’s being implemented,” said Olivia Zhang, Senior Strategist, Publicis Media China.

• “It was an absolutely brilliant and enriching experience to collaborate with the sharpest minds from 15 countries and work on the organisational challenges. It was exciting that I could actually present my thoughts to the Global Executive Group and work towards bringing a real change at a local and global level. I am honoured to be a part of the very first Next Generation Board and I am really looking forward to the implementation of our proposal,” said Tanushree Radhakrishnan, Managing Partner, Performics.Resultrix in India.