Renouncing the Legacy to Reinvent: The Leo Burnett Case

LEO: The Day Publicis Dropped the Burnett 
And why this is less about nostalgic drama and more about strategic survival 

Does the name Leo Burnett ring a bell? Of course it does. He was the creative who transformed advertising with a red apple in the reception area and a “Humankind” philosophy in his mind. Today, his agency — the same one that signed iconic campaigns for 90 years — is now simply called LEO. No surname. No nostalgia. And to some, no soul. 

This move is part of a strategic decision by Publicis Groupe: merging Leo Burnett with Publicis Worldwide to launch a new global creative network under a single name — LEO. It’s not a rebranding. It’s full-on surgery. Over 15,000 creatives across 90 countries now operate under one unified banner. A creative constellation, as they like to call it. 

A funeral disguised as a birth? Maybe. But maybe it’s also the opposite: a brutally honest response to a market where holding on to legacy names and fragmented structures no longer equals creativity — it equals redundancy. Like it or not, even creative icons must evolve if they want to stay in the conversation — and in the budget. 

The Logic of Killing Surnames 

This isn’t new. We’ve seen it before: JWT became Wunderman Thompson, which later folded into VML. Y&R vanished into VMLY&R, which also became VML. Euro RSCG dissolved into Havas Worldwide, and eventually, just Havas. 

Now it’s Leo Burnett’s turn. And what’s most interesting is not the disappearance of the surname, but what the new name stands for: 
A full integration of creativity, data, and artificial intelligence, under the promise of solving business problems with human ideas amplified by technology. Sounds good? Sure. Sounds like holding company speak? Also true. But that doesn’t make it false. 

LEO, as a brand, simplifies. Unifies. Centralizes. It makes sense to CFOs, fits into COOs’ spreadsheets, and aligns with CMOs’ KPIs. And if it works, it’ll make sense to creatives too — the ones who still believe a strong idea can change a brief… or at least a slide deck. 

And the Other Surnames? On Standby 

Meanwhile, another headline is shaking the industry: Omnicom has announced the acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG). Which means agencies like DDB, McCann, FCB, MullenLowe may soon face their own makeover — or, in the worst-case scenario, their own epitaph. 

Rumors already suggest DDB could disappear as an independent network, and McCann Worldgroup might become simply McCann. The goal? Consolidate under three or four global brands and stop competing against cousins in every pitch. 

The industry calls it “efficiency.” Finance teams call it “synergy.” But those of us who’ve worked in agencies know what it really is: branding in Game of Thrones mode. Just replace swords with quarterly reports. And kings with century-old brand names. 

Relevance Beats Nostalgia 

This isn’t about mourning lost names. It’s about understanding why they’re being retired. Brands live (and die) like any other product. And in the business of creativity, selling the same thing with the same old label is just as risky as not selling at all. 

Agencies, long champions of “reinvent or die” for their clients, are now having to take their own medicine. Because the market no longer rewards tradition — it rewards relevance. Agility. The ability to merge creativity with technology in real time. And often, that doesn’t fit into three surnames or a logo from the ’80s. 

A Tearless Epilogue 

LEO isn’t just a name change. It’s a statement of intent: the ideas are still alive, but the context demands new structures to bring them to life. Yes, it hurts to watch a name like Leo Burnett fade. But perhaps the best way to honor that legacy is not by keeping the name, but by ensuring its creative spirit continues to breathe in a system that still believes in the power of a great idea. 

Because yes — branding has its own cemeteries. But not everyone who changes their name dies. 
Sometimes, they just reinvent themselves to write the next chapter.