29 execs with the most power at advertising giant Publicis

• Publicis is the third-largest advertising company by revenue, with clients including Disney, Kraft Heinz, and Samsung.
• It's outperformed bigger rivals WPP and Omnicom in recent months thanks to a string of new business wins.
• Insider identified 29 of the most powerful executives at Publicis leading its rebound.

Publicis, with advertising and PR agencies like Saatchi & Saatchi, MSL, and Epsilon, is the third-largest ad holding company by revenue.

It's long trailed bigger rivals WPP and Omnicom, but has outperformed both of those companies in recent months thanks to new business wins including Kraft Heinz, Sephora, Hulu, and L'Oréal.

Publicis still faces the challenges of a massive network built on traditional TV and print advertising as it tries to navigate the rapid shift toward online shopping that accelerated during the pandemic.

Insider identified 29 of the top executives leading Publicis under CEO Arthur Sadoun with a focus on the US, which provides around 60% of the company's revenue.

They include:

• Maurice Lévy, who stepped down as CEO after 30 years in 2017 but is still the most powerful person at Publicis. He has veto power over key decisions and advises CEO Arthur Sadoun while working closely with Elisabeth Badinter, Publicis' largest shareholder and daughter of founder Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet.
• Steve King, the third most-powerful executive at Publicis who oversees the media-buying side of the company and has extended his responsibilities since being named COO, leading efforts to globalize its content production, e-commerce, and offshoring practices.
• Helen Lin and Amy Lanzi, who became more prominent during the pandemic as clients moved money to e-commerce platforms that promise better proof of return on investment. They are the company's top connections to social media and retail giants like Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Target.
• Renetta McCann led the company's response to last summer's George Floyd protests and oversees all DE&I work across agencies. Insiders describe her as "Publicis royalty," and she previously made history as the first Black VP and media director at agency Leo Burnett.

Read the rest of the story here: Meet the top executives leading advertising giant Publicis' turnaround as it takes on rivals WPP and Omnicom

Read more of Business Insider's coverage of Publicis here:

• Publicis spent $30 million to build Marcel, an AI tool that was supposed to 'break the industry.' Instead, it's been hampered by confusion, ridicule, and delays
• The biggest ad holding companies were battling for Samsung's advertising business, but now its agency review is on hold
• Memo from Publicis Groupe explains why it froze raises for all 20,000 Sapient employees despite beating its financial forecast