Publicis expands Le Pub to APAC and Latin America with Heineken as first global client
Publicis Groupe has announced a major expansion of creative agency Le Pub, opening offices in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Singapore and China.
Le Pub is opening an office in Mexico City, as well as in Brazil and China / Unsplash
The agency - launched in 2020 following the merger of Publicis Italy and teams from Publicis’ data, media and technology teams - will piggyback on the global Heineken business to expand its footprint.
Bram Westenbrink, global head of Heineken brand, said in a statement: “Over the last 18 months, Le Pub has helped further Heineken’s relevance and topicality. Its expansion will drive further impact across more of our key markets; ensuring a proven data model combined with world class creativity that powers campaign localisation at scale.”
Last year, Publicis saw significantly more growth in Latin America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa than the US or European markets. Latin America had organic growth of 16.8%, almost twice that of North America.
Le Pub Mexico, based in Mexico City, will be led by chief creative office Diego Wallach and chief strategy officer Isabella Mulholland; the former was responsible for Mexico’s second-ever Cannes Grand Prix last year. Le Pub Brazil, based in Sau Paulo, will be led by CCO Felipe Cury, managing director Ana Heranndes and head of strategy Silvia Paes. Offices in Singapore, Shanghai and Cape Town are set to roll out over the next two months.
Bruno Bertelli, global CEO of Le Pub and CCO of Publicis Worldwide, said the expansion would bring the Le Pub model to new markets. “We live in a world where the interaction with brands and the path to purchase is seamlessly integrated into our everyday experiences.
“In a cookie-less world, brands have to enrich people’s lives to be accepted into everyday culture and this is where creativity is critical to add a premium value to clients. Le Pub is born out of an eclectic community of people, who thrive on connecting creativity with culture and we are excited to see its organic growth globally.”
As well as Heineken, Le Pub’s clients include Coca-Cola, Diesel and Netflix. Milan-based Bertelli was named the top chief creative officer in the world in this year’s World Creative Rankings, buoyed in part by his agency’s work for the Dutch brewer.