WPP’s Chief Marketing Officer and CEO of Open X, Laurent Ezekiel, is set to exit the holding company to rejoin Publicis Groupe, his former employer of 16 years. While the exact details of his new role at Publicis remain undisclosed, his departure was confirmed in an internal memo from Coca-Cola’s Global CMO, Manuel “Manolo” Arroyo.
Ezekiel originally joined WPP from Publicis in 2019, stepping into the global CMO role before assuming leadership of Open X in 2021. His appointment followed WPP’s landmark Coca-Cola win, for which he helped create a bespoke agency model designed to unify services across creative, media, production, social, influencer, and more.
Manuel Arroyo praised Ezekiel for being instrumental in “architecting” Open X and for building an “integrated, agile modern marketing team” comprising talent from WPP agencies across global markets. A WPP spokesperson confirmed that a successor will be announced shortly.
Despite Ezekiel’s departure, WPP remains committed to its partnership with Coca-Cola. In May, the beverage giant reaffirmed its broader relationship with the holding company, highlighting strategic initiatives such as Studio X—a production hub for localized marketing content at scale.
Ezekiel’s return to Publicis follows a series of recent account realignments favoring his new employer. In March, Coca-Cola shifted its North American media business from WPP to Publicis as part of a $700 million consolidation. Mars also appointed Publicis to manage its $1.7 billion global media account, while Paramount made a similar switch.
The leadership change comes at a turbulent time for WPP. Earlier this month, the company issued a profit warning due to weakening client spend and intensified competition in new business pitches. CEO Mark Read will step down in September, with Microsoft’s Cindy Rose slated to take over as CEO.
Ezekiel’s exit underscores the ongoing shakeups within the marketing services landscape, as agency networks evolve to meet client demands in an increasingly integrated and performance-driven era.
