Publicis Groupe HK names new head of creative technology

Publicis Groupe Hong Kong has appointed Rhys Turner (pictured) as its inaugural head of creative technology, effective immediately. He reports to Christopher Lee, chief creative officer at Publicis Groupe Hong Kong and Tom Kao, CEO of Publicis Groupe Hong Kong. 

The role is created to accelerate the creative transformation and the integration of AI and technology across the Groupe. Turner's appointment signals the growing scope of the 'creative technology' role - it is becoming more than just a discipline that drives innovative creative campaigns, but a discipline that shapes future agency processes, too.

In his new role, Turner will have a dual focus: he will work closely with creative teams to deliver transformative work for clients; while harnessing the power of AI and scaling innovation across the Groupe.

He also joins Publicis Groupe APAC’s creative tech collective: a community of 20+ creative technologists and approximately 200 innovation specialists from around the region, led by Laurent Thevenet, head of creative technology, APAC.

Originally from Australia, Turner has spent 20 years working at the intersection of emerging technologies and creative practice, exploring synergies between art and engineering. With experience across agency, client and production, he has worked on projects all over the world from Saudi Arabia to Istanbul and Shanghai.

He began his career teaching electronic media before gravitating towards interactive and digital advertising, dabbling in everything from video game and app development to UX, coding and experiential design. In 2023, Turner left design and technology company T&DA, based in Sydney, to join Chanel in Hong Kong as Innovation Technologist APAC.

“We look forward to the impact that Turner will bring, pushing cutting-edge tech and AI-led creativity and amplifying the chemistry between creative, media, data, tech, and production. Creative tech is becoming more than just a discipline that drives creative campaigns – it's also becoming the glue that connects people from various backgrounds to help shape talent in this age of AI, with the ambition to keep raising the bar,” said Kao.

“Turner is here to supercharge our fluency in data, tech, AI and more. We’re not just looking to Turner to create innovative commercial solutions for our clients, but to apply his love for art and code as well as his curiosity to always make things smarter across all disciplines at Publicis Groupe in Hong Kong,” said Lee.

Turner added: “The fun part of being a creative technologist is constantly experimenting with tools and technologies, and then acting as an informant to agencies, suggesting fresh approaches for everything from strategy to ideation and execution. Publicis Groupe Hong Kong is enjoying huge momentum, and I’m excited to be part of its evolution.”

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