Jarek Ziebinski replaces Michelle Kristula-Green as President of Leo Burnett Asia-Pacific

In a restructure at Leo Burnett Jarek Ziebinski (left), current CEO of Leo Burnett Central and Eastern Europe, will lead the agency’s Asia-Pacific region (excluding China). Ziebinski will take over from Michelle Kristula-Green, who has been named the Global Head of HR (a position located in Burnett’s Chicago headquarters). Patrick Venetucci, the company’s existing Global Head of HR, will step up into a newly-created Deputy Chief Operating Officer role – reporting to COO Tom Dudreck. A search is underway for Ziebinski’s successor in CEE.

“The individuals involved in this move are some of our best, most successful leaders, each with an extremely strong track record,” said Tom Bernardin, Chairman and CEO of Leo Burnett Worldwide. “These decisions demonstrate the importance of and our on-going commitment to talent mobility in our global economy.”

During his tenure as president of Leo Burnett CEE, Ziebinski expanded the agency’s geographical footprint from 11 to 16 countries, employing a total of 1,400 people. Over the last three years alone, he has increased the region’s consolidated revenue by more than 60% and doubled revenue in Russia. Under his leadership, Leo Burnett agencies in CEE were named Agency of the Year 42 times in their respective countries and won 13 Cannes Lions. Ziebinski himself has been named Ad Man of the Year and Ad Man of the Decade in Poland.

One of the Wall Street Journal’s “Women to Watch,” Kristula-Green was the first woman to run a multinational agency in Japan and the first woman to run an agency region in Asia. In addition to her business acumen, she is widely recognized by the agency network as a key driver of talent, having developed and implemented the agency’s most recognized talent programs. Because of her demonstrated capacity to groom talent, Kristula-Green will serve on a Publicis Groupe consultancy HR board in addition to her role as Global Head of HR.