Julia Neumann joins Le Truc after two years at Johannes Leonardo, where she was chief creative officer and spearheaded creative work for Kraft Heinz, Instagram, Uber and Volkswagen.
Publicis Groupe’s creative collective Le Truc has named Julia Neumann partner and chief creative officer, effective immediately.
Based in Publicis’ New York headquarters, Neumann will report to Carla Serrano, global chief strategy officer of Publicis Groupe and president of Le Truc.
Neumann joins Le Truc after two years at Johannes Leonardo, where she was chief creative officer and spearheaded creative work for Kraft Heinz, Instagram, Uber and Volkswagen. She said she was drawn to Le Truc rather than “another rinse and repeat CCO role.” Neumann left Johannes Leonardo in May.
Le Truc, which launched in 2021, is an ad hoc creative service that collaborates across all Publicis Groupe agencies. Over the last year it has worked on key Publicis clients including Visa, Campbell, Pfizer and LVMH, the last of which hired Publicis to handle its media business earlier this year.
Neumann rounds out the creative leadership quartet at Le Truc, which includes Founding Partner and Chief Creative Officer Andy Bird, partner and Chief Creative Officer Marcos Kotlhar and Founding Partner and Chief Design Officer Bastien Baumann.
Serrano attributed the need for four leaders to client demand for diversity of thinking and creativity, as well as the necessity for “different types of leaders for different briefs.”
“It’s not about accounts, it’s about meeting the challenge,” Serrano said. “What do we think is going to be an appropriate kind of leadership? And it goes to one or two of the Le Truc people.”
Neumann said she brings a range of tone with work that is typically “smart and insightful with a wink of humor.”
“The idea that we can create impact without the blueprint or rule book and lean into that flexibility and fluidity is exciting,” Neumann said. “That’s just how my brain works, and it keeps me on my toes.”
