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.”

A decade of leadership at Publicis Groupe

Lizzie holds extensive experience of working within Publicis Groupe.

She first joined the company in 2014, where she held a role as Global PR and Communications for Publicis Worldwide – now Leo. Spending more than six years in this role, Lizzie led global PR and communications across executive and creative profiling, campaigns, internal communications, social media and awards. 

From there, she took on a role as Global PR and Communications Director for Publicis Communications, where she was responsible for leading the creative reputation of Publicis Groupe agencies, before becoming Head of Head of International Communications and PR across EMEA and APAC for Publicis Groupe Global. 

In this role, she oversaw international corporate communications, media relations, executive profiles for agency and clients, crisis and reputation management.

Lizzie left Publicis Groupe in February 2024 for a role as Chief Communications Officer for the Middle East Communications Network (MCN), where she established its communication and marketing function. 

In this role, she says she worked closely with her team to create partnerships, proprietary research and initiatives she was “immensely” proud of. 

“From bringing Cannes Lions’ See It Be It to the region, and championing greater gender equality in the creative industries; to launching the MCN Student Academy and inspiring more Saudi talent into our industry through to collaborating with The Economist to bring macroeconomic intelligence into marketing strategy, an approach that proved so successful it became a blueprint for the global network,” she wrote on LinkedIn.

“All while helping shift behaviours, encourage collaboration and create smarter ways of working to bring new growth opportunities for clients, people and business.” 

‘Transformational growth’ for the company

According to Lizzie, she is rejoining Publicis Groupe at “an exciting time,” for the Middle East region, which she says has a “clear vision to drive transformational growth for both clients and talent”. 

The company’s operations across the Middle East have been driving growth for the wider organisation as of late – in 2025, the Middle East and Africa region had net organic revenue rise by 10.8%, nearly double the group’s overall organic growth rate of 5.6%. 

“I’m delighted to return and contribute to this journey, in a region that I’ve long admired and come to call home,” Lizzie says. “Bassel has an inspiring ambition, and I look forward to working alongside him and the team to accelerate growth and build on the company’s continued success."