Publicis Media CEO Toby Barbour to depart
Publicis Media’s CEO Toby Barbour is leaving the business, Mumbrella can reveal.
Barbour was promoted to the role, which oversees the likes of Starcom, Zenith and Spark Foundry, in July, after a stint as CEO of Starcom.
Barbour has been with the holding group for over six years
Mumbrella understands the role will not be replaced, with CEOs of Publicis’ media agencies reporting directly into the ANZ CEO for Publicis Groupe, Michael Rebelo.
Rebelo thanked Barbour for his leadership, integrity and commitment over his six and a half years with the business.
“In the time he has been chief executive of Publicis Media, Toby has galvanised the leadership team across Australia and New Zealand, brought in two new world-class CEOs to lead Spark Foundry and Starcom, and forged a clear direction and purpose for our media agency brands to set them up for success and growth as we continue to evolve our business. We wish Toby the best of luck for the future,” he added.
The world-class CEOs Rebelo is referring to are Nick Keenan, the former leader of Red Rooster who was announced as Starcom’s new CEO last week, and Imogen Hewitt, who came across from her position of managing director of Havas Media Group in September to take on the CEO position at Spark Foundry.
Barbour said: “In my years at Publicis Media and Starcom, I’ve been fortunate enough to be in leadership positions enabling business transformation as part of the broader Publicis Groupe vision. I firmly believe Publicis has the right vision for future growth, and I wish them every success.”
Barbour’s next move is not yet clear.
