Citi, Carhartt, McKinsey: This Week's Top Five Stories

Publicis Groupe Middle East Appoints its First Ever CMO

Publicis Groupe Middle East has appointed Lizzie Dewhurst as its first-ever Chief Marketing Officer, following a period of growth in the region. 

In this newly created role, Lizzie, who holds more than two decades of marketing and communications leadership experience across Europe, the US and the MENA region, will lead marketing and corporate communications for the Groupe across its Middle East operations. 

It also marks a return for Lizzie, who previously held the role of Head of International Communications and PR for Publicis Groupe. 

“Lizzie spent close to a decade within the Publicis Groupe ecosystem in global roles, and we’re excited to bring that experience to this region,” Bassel Kakish, CEO of Publicis Groupe Middle East and Turkey, says of the appointment. “She understands our business, our clients and the industry, and that combination will matter as we continue to transform how we work across the Middle East. 

“We’re excited to welcome her back to the Groupe to further accelerate our marketing and communications ambitions for the next phase of growth.”

Who are Publicis Groupe's key partners?

Adobe

Publicis Groupe maintains a long-standing strategic alliance with Adobe, integrating Adobe’s Experience Cloud and creative tools across its global marketing and data operations. The collaboration empowers Publicis agencies to drive content supply chain transformation, combining real-time data insights with automated creative assembly. By pairing Epsilon's proprietary identity solutions with Adobe Experience Platform, Publicis enables enterprise clients to deliver hyper-personalised customer experiences at scale, streamlining omni-channel marketing campaigns and optimising end-to-end digital asset management across global markets.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Publicis Groupe, through its digital transformation hub Publicis Sapient, maintains a deep multi-year strategic collaboration agreement with AWS. This partnership focuses on accelerating enterprise cloud modernisation and leveraging advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. Together, Publicis and AWS build custom generative AI solutions, using Amazon Bedrock and SageMaker. The joint efforts allow global brands to securely modernize legacy technology infrastructures, drive personalised customer interactions and unlock value from complex data ecosystems.  

Microsoft

Publicis Groupe partners closely with Microsoft to drive enterprise-grade artificial intelligence and cloud-based digital marketing services. Integrating Microsoft Azure, OpenAI models and enterprise AI tools into Publicis’ core operations enables the network to build predictive analytics engines, automated ad generation tools and robust agentic AI platforms. This alliance empowers shared clients to streamline operational workflows, secure sensitive customer data and scale generative AI applications reliably, bridging the gap between raw technological capabilities and measurable business growth across global markets.  

Salesforce

Publicis Groupe collaborates extensively with Salesforce to integrate client relationship management, marketing automation and artificial intelligence directly into enterprise revenue and service decision flows. Combining Salesforce Data Cloud capabilities with Publicis Sapient’s engineering expertise, the partnership delivers unified, real-time customer profiles across complex global organisations. This integration enables brand marketers to orchestrate automated, context-aware service journeys, optimise dynamic audience segmentation and drive measurable commerce conversion across digital channels while maintaining strict data governance.  

Citi Bank to Increase Brand Loyalty With New Acquisition

Citibank is personalising its customer experience.

The bank’s Consumer Cards business – which serves more than 70 million customers – has announced that it is acquiring commerce media and rewards platform Kard Financial. 

This platform was created to help banks and fintechs deepen customer engagement through personalised offers, with financial institutions currently looking to deepen customer loyalty amid rising competition.

“We’re focused on helping customers get more value from their everyday spending,” says Abhinav Anand, Citi’s Head of Value Cards, Lending and Commerce. “Kard has built advanced capabilities that complement our vision for the future of commerce and loyalty. 

Carhartt Celebrates Next Chapter of 'Made Possible' Campaign

Carhartt, one of America’s leading workwear brands, has previously partnered with the Buffalo Bills American football team.

Now, as the team prepares to kick off their next era at the newly completed Highmark Stadium, they have secured a partnership once again.

Carhartt’s “Made Possible” campaign has frequently followed the stadium’s construction story and the dedication required to complete such a large-scale project.

Celebrating this new monument, Carhartt is spotlighting the people who worked hard behind the scenes to bring audiences the new Buffalo stage. It also recognises the tradespeople across the nation who supply the game’s essential elements.

McKinsey Q&A: AI Anxiety in the Marketing Industry

AI is changing marketing – and not everyone is confident about what that means for their futures. 

According to research from McKinsey, 87% of marketers say they are excited about the possibilities AI creates, while  57% report feeling anxious about what AI means for their roles.

Discussing this anxiety – as well as how marketing leaders can best redesign their workflows with AI – is Jennifer Stanley, a McKinsey Partner and Head of the company’s Growth, Marketing and Sales Practice across the UK. 

Jennifer, who works predominantly with B2B companies on sales acceleration, account-based marketing and go-to-market transformations, exclusively tells Marketing Chief the ways she sees AI transforming the marketing industry.

Vuori Appoints Carey Collins Krug as New CMO

Effective Monday 5 October, Vuori has appointed Carey Collins Krug as its new Chief Marketing Officer.

She succeeds Karen Riley-Grant, who has been in the role since 2024 and has brought over 25 years of marketing experience to the role.

Commenting on her new role, Carey says: “Vuori has a rare combination of brand clarity, product strength and deep consumer connection. The foundation is already there – a powerful brand and an engaged community. I am thrilled to build upon this momentum and scale globally with intentionality and consistency.”