Publicis Groupe Middle East announced the appointment of Chris Solomi as Chief Digital Officer, a strategic step in the Groupe’s ambition to accelerate its connected media ecosystem and marketing transformation for clients across the region.
In this newly created role, Chris will lead the scaling of Publicis Groupe Middle East’s identity and data proposition, enhancing its ability to deliver greater value for clients through person-first intelligence. His mandate will also include expanding the Groupe’s end-to-end retail media offering and strengthening the rollout of Epsilon’s capabilities across the region – all underpinned by its proprietary first-party identity solutions.
With more than 20 years of experience across agency, supplier, and client-side leadership roles, Chris brings deep expertise in performance marketing, ad tech, programmatic, data, analytics, and commerce. He has spent 14 years in the MENA region, including a decade at Omnicom Media Group, where he most recently served as Chief Digital Officer, overseeing digital media, analytics, technology, and commerce practices. He also contributed to regional industry development as Acting Vice Chairman of IAB MENA.
“Publicis Groupe Middle East’s growth over the last five years has been remarkable, with acquisitions such as Epsilon, Lotame, Mars Company, Influential, and most recently Chain Reaction uniquely positioning the Groupe to offer solutions no one else can”, said Chris Solomi, Chief Digital officer for Publicis Groupe Middle East. “Combined with the incredible leadership team under Bassel Kakish, joining was an opportunity I couldn’t resist. I’m most looking forward to growing the Connected Identity and AI business for our clients across the region and helping them bring together identity, AI, and creative services to gain a real advantage in their marketing.”
Bassel Kakish, CEO of Publicis Groupe Middle East & Turkey, added “Chris is a valuable addition to our leadership team. His experience across client, agency, and supplier sides gives him a unique perspective that will be invaluable as we continue to accelerate our connected media ecosystem and retail media proposition. We’re confident he will play a key role in helping us deliver even greater value for our clients as they accelerate their transformation journeys.”