Laurent Ezekiel, WPP’s Global Chief Marketing Officer and CEO of Open X, is set to leave the holding company to rejoin Publicis Groupe, his former employer of 16 years.
His departure, confirmed in an internal memo from Coca-Cola’s Global CMO Manuel “Manolo” Arroyo, marks a significant leadership shift. While his new role at Publicis Groupe has not yet been disclosed, Ezekiel’s return comes after years of deep association with both global brands and agency transformation.
Ezekiel joined WPP from Publicis in 2019 as Global CMO and later, in 2021, took over as CEO of Open X—the bespoke agency created to manage Coca-Cola’s global marketing business. He was credited with “architecting” Open X and building an integrated, agile marketing team uniting talent from across WPP agencies worldwide.
A WPP spokesperson said that a successor for Ezekiel will be announced soon, affirming that the company remains fully committed to its global partnership with Coca-Cola. In May, Coca-Cola reiterated its confidence in WPP, highlighting initiatives such as Studio X, a production hub designed to deliver localized content at scale.
The move comes at a time of flux for WPP, which recently issued a profit warning amid declining client spend and intense competition. CEO Mark Read is set to step down in September, with Microsoft’s Cindy Rose taking over as the new CEO.
Ezekiel’s return to Publicis comes after several major account wins for the group, including Coca-Cola’s North American media business, Mars’ $1.7 billion global media account, and Paramount’s realigned global media business.
This leadership change underscores the fast-changing dynamics of the advertising and marketing services sector, where agency networks are restructuring to deliver more integrated, performance-driven solutions to global brands.
