Annette King, CEO of Publicis Groupe UK, has been chosen as the new chair of the Advertising Association (AA).
She will replace PHD’s Philippa Brown who has finished her three-year term and ushered in initiatives like Ad Net Zero and All In alongside the industry’s reaction and recovery to the pandemic.
As chair of the Advertising Association, King will support its strategic direction, carry on its joint initiatives with the IPA and ISBA like Ad Net Zero and consult on regulatory issues like the Online Advertising Programme and report into the AA’s board on behalf of industry members.
She will maintain the AA’s focus on talent, public trust, inclusion, climate action and key lobbying issues for the industry.
In the role, King will work closely with AA CEO Stephen Woodford and AA president Alessandra Bellini, who is Tesco’s chief customer officer.
King became CEO of Publicis Groupe UK in 2018 and is responsible for 25 media, advertising and specialist agencies and 5,000 people.
During her time in the position, she has introduced flexible working, a mental health programme, a menopause policy, family-friendly policies and disability and trans-inclusion policies.
King also chairs the global board of the BBH network and prior to this she was CEO of Ogilvy UK for four years.
She said: “The AA is an impressive organisation with an agenda to drive change. The work the AA is doing on diversity and inclusion and climate change, and in other important areas, is very close to my heart and something I’m committed to accelerating.”
