Publicis Groupe has elevated four senior executives to its management committee, known as the “Directoire,” in a bid to boost its future leadership. The announcement comes as Publicis Groupe's supervisory board renews the mandate of Arthur Sadoun as chairman and CEO for the next four years.

Publicis Groupe Chief Strategy Officer Carla Serrano, CEO Publicis Sapient Nigel Vaz, CEO Publicis Media U.S. Dave Penski, and President of Publicis Groupe France Agathe Bousquet are all being promoted to an enlarged management committee to be known as the “Directoire Plus.” 

Serrano, Vaz, Penski and Bousquet join Secretary General Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner and Chief Financial Officer Michel-Alain Proch at Publicis Groupe’s most senior level, reporting to Sadoun.

Chief Operating Officer Steve King is stepping down from the Directoire to take the new role of chairman of Publicis Groupe Europe, with responsibilities for European clients and mentoring future leaders. He will not be replaced in his current role. In a statement, Publicis Groupe Chairman of the Supervisory Board Maurice Lévy thanked King for his work, saying: “His career is that of a great professional who has always had the success of clients and teams at heart, while representing our values.”

The new Directoire Plus will meet every two weeks for the first six months and then every month for the rest of Sadoun's next four year mandate. The changes were confirmed at a Publicis Groupe board meeting today in Paris.

“I have decided that for this new chapter we needed to have a new management team that is represented by a new generation of leaders, who can take us into our second century and lead the creative commercial revolution," Sadoun told Ad Age in an interview. “We are clearly putting operational leaders at the top of the organization with a vision of where the industry and market are going."

He added the new group "incarnate what is next, but they are also proven leaders who have been very successful in what they do." Each brings something specific to the mix, he said. "I believe we have the right blend of modern creativity with Carla, media with Dave, digital technology with Nigel, and the Power of One with Agathe."

The decision sees a new team of leaders ascend the ladder at Publicis and is also a confirmation that Sadoun, who has been treated for cancer this year, will continue in his role. 

It also comes after a strong year for Publicis Groupe. The holding company reported 10.3% organic revenue growth and a 21% increase in net revenue to €5.9 billion for the second quarter in July. Publicis, which was named Ad Age's Holding Company of the Year earlier this year, has picked up new business including Mondelez's $500 million media account, PepsiCo’s media in China, LVMH’s media in the U.K. and France and AB InBev’s global media. 

Sadoun explained the changes to employees in a video, in which he said: "Four years from now, it will be 100 years since Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet created Publicis. If we want our company to be next-century ready we have to stick to our DNA, and continue to dare, create and innovate, while always putting our people first. That is why as we continue to help our clients transform through digitization and personalization, we must also embrace and lead what will shape the future of our business: the new age of commerce."