MercerBell co-founder Nick Mercer departs the agency and Publicis Groupe, following David Bell
MercerBell co-founder Nick Mercer has announced he is leaving the customer experience agency and Publicis Groupe.
Mercer’s departure follows that of co-founder and executive creative director, David Bell, who announced he was stepping back from the agency last month.
Mercer’s departure follows his co-founder David Bell stepping back from the agency last month
Mercer and Bell founded the agency in 1999. In 2016 MercerBell was acquired by Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi. In October 2018, managing director Julie Dormand was promoted to CEO, moving Mercer into the role of agency chairman.
In January 2019, Mercer also picked up the role of head of data spine for the Publicis Groupe ANZ.
Mercer said the decision was difficult, but cited health issues and spending time with his family as the motivation.
“It has been a hard decision to leave the Publics Groupe, but at the moment, due to health reasons, my priority must lie with my family. Nikki, my wife, and I are taking a year out and will go and live in France for the next few months, and then go travelling and pursue other interests,” Mercer said.
“It has been an absolute honour and pleasure to establish and grow MercerBell, and I am immensely proud of all the staff, clients and strategic partners we have worked with for over 20 years. Additionally, over the past 12 months, I have relished the opportunity to be a part of Publicis Data Spine, and I wish the talented team every success in the future.”
Publicis Group ANZ CEO, Michael Rebelo, said working with Mercer was a career highlight.
“Nick Mercer has resigned from his position as the Country Lead of Data Spine and Chairman of MercerBell, and has taken the decision with his wife Nikki to take some time off in the South of Francem,” Rebelo said.
“I’ve had the career highlight of working with Nick, acquiring his agency MercerBell, then seeing him take on new challenges within the Publicis Groupe after the acquisition was successfully completed.
“Nick has been an admired and respected leader in the industry for more than 30 years. For many of those who have had the opportunity to work with him, he has been described as a world-class expert in his field, an inspiring leader, a class act and true gentleman. It’s been an honour to have worked with Nick these past five years.”
Earlier this month, it was announced MercerBell had found a replacement for David Bell as ECD in Vaughan Townsend.
A class act.
Keep well Nick.
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Well done Nick. An amazing achievement and legacy. Enjoy the next chapter mate, so well deserved.
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Thanks Rich travel well mate
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