Serviceplan strengthens creative leadership in Paris

The appointment reflects Serviceplan Group’s belief that human creativity remains a key differentiator for agencies and brands as artificial intelligence transforms the communications industry.

Serviceplan Paris has appointed Olivier Apers as Chief Creative Officer and Partner, bringing the former BETC creative leader into its leadership team alongside CEO and Partner Thomas Derouault as the agency strengthens its focus on creative excellence and growth in France.

Apers and Derouault will lead the agency with a shared emphasis on creative thinking, culture and business impact.

After more than 20 years at BETC, where he served as Vice-President in charge of Creative, Olivier Apers joins Serviceplan Paris with experience spanning brands, media, formats and disciplines. His work includes campaigns for CANAL+, McDonald’s, Leroy Merlin and E.Leclerc, earning recognition at Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, Clio and ADC. He has also served on juries at major industry award shows.

Thomas Derouault brings a background in creative work and agency management, having held roles at Havas 360, JWT Paris and Wunderman Thompson Paris. Together, the two leaders aim to establish creativity as a central element of the agency’s culture, client work and business strategy.

Thomas Derouault and Olivier Apers: “Creativity is the product and the service we sell. In the age of AI, our role is more than ever to cultivate creative intelligence: accelerated by AI, never replaced by it. Brands have access to more content, more data and more technology than ever before. What they need most is original thinking, creative judgment and ideas that people will remember."

Human creativity remains central to agency growth

Derouault sees Apers’ creative leadership as complementary to his own experience in agency management and business development.

Thomas Derouault: “Olivier and I are creatives first and foremost. He kept pushing the creative standard higher, while I progressively broadened my role into agency leadership and business. Today, we are bringing those two experiences together to build an agency where creativity runs through everything: the work, the culture and our clients' business."

The appointment also reflects Serviceplan Group’s wider position on the role of artificial intelligence in the creative process. While AI can support research, analysis and production, the group maintains that human imagination, judgment and creative ambition remain essential to producing distinctive work.

Serviceplan builds on international creative recognition

Serviceplan Group’s creative credentials include being named Independent Network of the Year at Cannes Lions 2025. The group also ranks as the leading independent network in the WARC Creative 100, with Serviceplan Munich among the world’s most creative agencies.

Alexander Schill, Global Chief Creative Officer, Serviceplan Group: “AI can generate options. It cannot create conviction. The more possibilities technology gives us, the more valuable human judgment becomes. Clients don't come to agencies because they want more ideas. They come to us because they need confidence in the right idea. Olivier embodies that combination of creative excellence, judgment and ambition, making him a perfect fit for where Serviceplan is heading – in France and globally.”

For Apers, the move offers an opportunity to build on his experience while pursuing a different professional challenge.

Olivier Apers: “After more than twenty years at the same great and incredible agency, I wasn't simply looking for a new destination. I needed an adventure different and ambitious enough to make me want to write a new story. With Thomas and Serviceplan, I found both the freedom to build and the means to match our creative ambitions."

House of Communication brings expertise together

Serviceplan Paris operates within House of Communication France, which brings together Serviceplan, Mediaplus, CMS and Plan.Net. The structure connects creative, media, content and technology expertise to support brands.

Thomas Le Thierry, President, Serviceplan Group France: “That is exactly what the House of Communication is about: bringing the best expertise together around one shared ambition. With Thomas and Olivier, creativity becomes more than ever the driving force behind that integration.”

www.house-of-communication.com

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