Publicis Media names Matt James as CEO, Chris Nolan as COO + Pauly Grant as chief talent officer

Publicis Media has today announced the appointment of its Australia and New Zealand leadership team with highly experienced media executives Matt James named as chief executive officer, Chris Nolan as chief operating officer and Pauly Grant as chief talent officer.

Following the reorganisation of Publicis Groupe’s media capabilities announced last month, James and Nolan will assume oversight and leverage the scale and capabilities of global agency brands Starcom, Zenith, Mediavest and Match|Blue 449 across Australasia.

Both James who is CEO of Zenith and Nolan, CEO of Starcom, will continue to work closely with clients and establish the Publicis Media practices of data, technology and innovation; business transformation; analytics; research and insight; business development and communications; content; trading and buying and performance; across the four agency brands, supporting the leadership to create greater value for their clients and people.

Says Gerry Boyle, regional CEO for APAC, Publicis Media: “Publicis Media was launched with the vision to get to the future first and in Matt and Chris we have two dynamic and incredibly talented leaders who will ensure we do just this. I’m excited to be working with both of them as we deliver on our promise to invent modern approaches to gain efficiency, create greater collaboration and effectiveness and drive new levels of scale and client value.”

James has worked in the global media business for more than 25 years. He became CEO of ZenithOptimedia last year after more than four years at Mi9 and Nine Entertainment Co. He arrived in Australia from Starcom UK where he was managing director and has extensive global media agency experience.

Says James: “I am incredibly excited to be leading the transformation of the Publicis Groupe’s media capabilities. The launch of Publicis Media in Australia and New Zealand creates a contemporary business construct for our brands and practices. I’m delighted to have Chris in partnership, he is a fantastic operator and highly respected leader. The opportunity for us to unite our assets and harness the considerable talent across our businesses under Publicis Media will ensure we continue to offer our clients a comprehensive, progressive and dynamic proposition.”

Nolan has worked at Starcom for more than ten years joining as managing director of Melbourne and rising to become national CEO, a role he has held for the past three years.

Says Nolan: “The opportunity to grow our client business by bringing together all the capability across our four brands under Publicis Media is a great one. Publicis has made a significant investment in the leadership team across Australia and New Zealand and I am proud to be part of that team.”