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IPG Names Philippe Krakowsky as CEO

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Advertising holding company

Interpublic Group of

Cos. has named its current operations chief Philippe Krakowsky as its next chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors.

He will succeed longtime leader Michael I. Roth on Jan. 1, IPG said Wednesday, implementing an anticipated succession plan. Mr. Roth will become executive chairman of the board.

Mr. Krakowsky, currently the chief operating officer of IPG and chairman of IPG Mediabrands, is tasked with helping the company continue to evolve for a future focused on digital advertising, data and technology.


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“Philippe is the right CEO for the next era at IPG,” Mr. Roth said. “He is a brilliant strategist and effective leader who has played a key role in developing our open architecture client service model, as well as modernizing our data, marketing services and media solutions. Our partnership over the years has been a key factor in our long-term success with both clients and our people.”

The holding company’s portfolio company owns McCann Worldgroup, IPG Mediabrands and FCB.

By appointing Mr. Krakowsky, who has been at IPG for 18 years, IPG is following rival holding companies in naming new leadership. In 2017,

Publicis Groupe SA

tapped Arthur Sadoun to succeed longtime chief Maurice Lévy. Last year,

WPP

PLC named Mark Read as chief executive officer, after the departure of founder and CEO Martin Sorrell.

The announcement comes as the holding companies battle the effects of the global pandemic and report third quarter earnings.

“The biggest risk to a recovery continues to be public health challenges, and as the headlines around the world recently have shown us, the risk of lockdowns in key markets is likely to continue for the foreseeable future,” said Mr. Roth during the company’s third-quarter earnings call Wednesday.

IPG posted third-quarter net revenue of $1.95 billion, a 5.2% decrease from the previous year. Organic revenue, a measure that strips out currency effects, acquisitions and disposals, decreased 3.7%. Analysts had expected a decrease in organic revenue of 7.9%, according to FactSet.

“As expected, that result continues to show the effect of the pandemic and global economic contraction, though perhaps not to the extent anticipated,” Mr. Roth said.

Mr. Roth touted IPG’s success in the health-care sector, as well as across the company’s media-agency and data divisions. But he and Mr. Krakowsky warned that the future is unclear.

“While there has been stabilization in the media marketplace, and digital channels have benefited from the improvement in macroeconomic conditions, there is still uncertainty, particularly in certain regions of the world,” said Mr. Krakowsky during the call.

Corrections & Amplifications

IPG named Philippe Krakowsky as its CEO. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said in the headline he had been named as chief operating officer.

Write to Alexandra Bruell at alexandra.bruell@wsj.com

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