• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, October 7, 2013

Publicis Veteran Arthur Sadoun has been promoted to CEO Publicis Worldwide, the agency confirmed Monday.

The agency had been without a CEO for several years. Sadoun had been managing director of the agency, working alongside Jean-Yves Naouri, who has been executive chairman since 2011 -- a responsibility he added to his existing duties as COO of the parent company.

Sadoun will now report to Maurice Levy, CEO of Publicis Groupe. “This appointment comes as a natural step in Arthur’s career path within our group,” stated Levy. Sadoun, Levy added, “will pursue the work begun by [Naouri] aiming to make Publicis Worldwide the Groupe’s most performing network, while reinforcing the positioning ‘Lead the Change’ which he initiated.”

Sadoun joined Publicis Groupe in 2006 as CEO Publicis Conseil. In 2009 he was elevated to CEO Publicis France. The 14-year agency veteran spent the first half of his career at Omnicom Group, where he was president of TBWA Paris before jumping to Publicis.

“Publicis has built its success on three core values, innovation, client obsession and entrepreneurship,” stated Sadoun. “It is my task, in a world of radical change, to ensure that these values are live stronger than ever and that we meet the challenge of leading change in our industry for our clients,” stated Sadoun.

Naouri will now focus on his parent company COO duties, which include oversight of the Publicis Healthcare Communications Groupe,  Rosetta, production platforms group Prodigious, emerging markets including China, Shared Service Centers, IT, Procurement, Insurance and Real Estate.