Publicis Worldwide appoints Johan Vakidis as chief creative officer for Publicis China

Johan Vakidis is joining Publicis China as Chief Creative Officer. Vakidis has 18 years of experience in China and unique digital marketing experience.

In this newly created role, he will be tasked with leading multidisciplinary creative teams across Publicis Worldwide, Nurun, Publicis Wangfan, Publicis Commerce, Publicis Vivid, Publicis Life Brands, and 133SH. Vakidis will report to David Gompel, COO of Publicis Communications and CEO of Publicis Worldwide, Greater China.

“I am delighted Johan has accepted to partner with me, as his unique talent and reputation for cutting-edge creative ideas will accelerate the momentum of The Power of One, to offer fully integrated creative solutions for our clients”, said Gompel (pictured below right). “His energy and creative leadership will be instrumental to help our clients lead the change in the world’s most digital market.”

Vakidis joins Publicis from the Walt Disney Company, where he had creative oversight on digital. He has worked in China for the last 18 years and speaks fluent Chinese. He was previously at R/GA, where he set up and led a diverse team of creatives; AKQA; and Ogilvy One, driving ground-breaking work for clients such as Nike, Adidas and Volkswagen. Throughout his career, he has won numerous awards including Cannes, One Show, Clio Awards and various other accolades.

Vakidis said, “I cannot think of a better time to join Publicis and come back to the agency world, as this is the most exciting place to lead the transformation of our industry. I look forward to creating great experiences with world class teams for our clients at Publicis.”

In his role, Vakidis will work with clients such as Nestle, Heineken, Pernod Ricard, L’Oreal, Tencent, Huawei and more.