Publicis Media

Publicis Media is the media-planning and -buying solutions hub of Publicis Groupe, organized in December 2015 when the Groupe consolidated its prior media operations into one of four solution hubs (alongside Publicis Communications, Publicis Sapient, and Epsilon). The network’s front-door agencies are Starcom, Zenith, and Spark Foundry, each backed by the combined buying power of Publicis Media Exchange (PMX) - the Groupe’s global trading desk - and the digital-performance practice Performics.

The strategically distinctive piece is the wiring to Epsilon. Since the July 2019 close of Publicis’ $4.4 billion Epsilon acquisition, Publicis Media has been the activation surface for Epsilon’s people-based identity graph - the deepest first-party identity stack inside any of the big-four agency holdcos and the asset Publicis cites most often in explaining its run of organic-growth outperformance. In December 2024 Publicis Groupe formalized that integration by promoting Dave Penski - then CEO of Publicis Media - to Global CEO of Publicis Connected Media, a broader unit combining Publicis Media with Epsilon, PMX, Influential, and the Groupe’s digital experience agencies. Long-time media chief Steve King departed Publicis at the end of 2024 after nearly four decades.

For competitive context: Publicis Media is one of the four major holdco media networks, alongside Omnicom Media Group, WPP Media, and IPG Mediabrands. The November 2025 close of the Omnicom-Interpublic merger reordered the holdco scoreboard - and the holdco-vs.-direct-advertiser fault line is increasingly visible in standards bodies; see our coverage of the IAB Tech Lab PGC launch for the seating chart.