Publicis Worldwide Appoints CEO of UK Group and Nordics

Publicis Worldwide announces the appointment of Guy Wieynk to Chief Executive Officer of UK Group and Nordics. Wieynk will report to Arthur Sadoun, CEO of Publicis Worldwide. 

Wieynk will be based in London and will oversee Publicis UK’s operations including: Publicis London, POKE, Publicis Chemistry and Publicis Blueprint; as well as Publicis Nordics’ operations including: Finland’s Skaandali Publicis, Publicis Norway’s Kitchen and Publicis Denmark’s Reputation. Wieynk will be a member of the Publicis Worldwide Global Management Board, chaired by Arthur Sadoun. 

After 16 years focused on building AKQA globally, Wieynk is recognized worldwide as a leading light in the digital industry. In his final role as international Vice President, Wieynk presided over offices across Europe, Asia and North America. He originally joined AKQA London in 1998 and was promoted to manage the New York office, followed by Europe, and finally International in 2012. During this six-year period the International group trebled in revenue; opened five offices; and won over 300 major awards, including 18 ‘Agency of the year’ titles by the London office alone. Wieynk has consistently demonstrated business and marketing acumen for agencies and clients, having worked with some of the world’s greatest brands including: Coca-Cola, EDF, Heineken, Microsoft, MINI, Nike, Nissan, and VW. 

Arthur Sadoun stated, “I am so pleased that the new Publicis Worldwide journey has enabled us to attract such an incredible talent. Guy’s appointment is another sign of our commitment to making Publicis UK a leading country in Publicis Worldwide. This follows the acquisition of POKE and the announcement of Dylan Williams as the Chief Strategic and Innovation Officer. 

Guy will lead a great talent pool, composed of Karen Buchanan, Andy Bird, Nick Farnhill, Nik Roope, Mike Welsh and Geri Richards, that ensures Publicis UK shines in our three major areas of expertise: strategy, creativity and technology. The network is focused on a digital transformation to best service our clients and his experience will be extremely valuable in accelerating this.” 

Guy Wieynk added, “I look forward to applying my learnings from building one of the most successful digital businesses in the world to a wider range of strategic and creative services at Publicis UK and Publicis Nordics. It is incredibly exciting to have the opportunity to define our strategy for growth; reinforce and develop the network’s digital capabilities; and most importantly, ensure we realise our potential to deliver great results for our clients. It is an honour to become a member of the Publicis Worldwide Global Management Board, and I really value Arthur’s trust in me for the role. ”