General Management

Chief Executive Officer

Swiss nationality. Born 1953.

After completing an apprenticeship in advertising and qualifying for the CFC in 1972, Mr Rohner went on to obtain his diplomas as advertising technician in 1974 and advertising manager in 1979. He completed his training by attending management courses in Switzerland (IMD, HSG) and abroad.

Mr Rohner has been CEO of PubliGroupe since 1 July 2002 and a member of its General Management Committee since 1994.

He has held the following positions within the group:

• Director of Publicitas Promotion Network (Europe/Asia/Latin America) from 1999 to 30 June 2002.
• Group Marketing Director from 1994 to 1999.
• Marketing Director and member of the Management Committee of Publicitas Ltd., from 1990 to 1994.
• Head of Strategic Marketing Publishers of Publicitas in Lausanne, from 1985 to 1989.

Previously, he held the following positions outside the group:

• Member of the management of the Tages-Anzeiger Group and Director of publication of the women’s magazines, annabelle, Femina and Voilà, from 1982 to 1985.
• From 1980 to 1982, he was a member of the planning group on the management of the Tages-Anzeiger as Head of the Electronic media project.
• Head of marketing services, Tages-Anzeiger Group, from 1976 to 1980.

Mr Rohner has seats on the Boards of Directors of several companies in which PubliGroupe has shareholding interests and currently holds the following other positions:

• Chairman of SAWI, since 1999.
• Member of the board of economiesuisse, since 2003.
• Member of the GfM (Swiss Marketing) committee, since 2005.
• Member of the Foundation Board of IMD, Lausanne, since 2002.

CEO, Media Sales
Swiss nationality. Born 1950.

Mr Schmidli holds a Federal Diploma in Business Management.

He has been a member of the PubliGroupe General Management since 1998 and CEO of the business segment Media Sales since 1 January 2008. He has held the following positions within the group:

• Chief Executive Officer of the PubliDirect division following the acquisition of LTV Yellow Pages Ltd. by PubliGroupe in 1996 and until 31 December 2007.
• He also headed up the PubliPresse division from 1 November 2007 until 31 December 2007.

Previously, he held the following positions outside the group:

• Head of the “professional magazines” sector at “Verlagsgruppe Bertelsmann International” in Munich, from 1988 to 1996.
• Director, LTV Yellow Pages Ltd., controlled at the time by the Bertelsmann Group, from 1984 to 1996.
• Salesman, then regional director and director “non-copying” division at Xerox Switzerland, from 1973 to 1984.

Mr Schmidli sits on the Boards of Directors of a number of companies in which PubliGroupe has a shareholding interest.

CEO, Digital & Marketing Services 

Swiss nationality. Born 1966.

Mr Kaiser holds a first degree in Economics from St. Gallen University. He completed his studies at the Harvard Business School. Mr Kaiser has been a member of the PubliGroupe General Management since 1 July 2006. He has been CEO of the Digital & Marketing Services business segment since 1 July 2008.

He has held the following position within the group:

• Head of the Group’s Business Development department from 1 July 2006 until 31 December 2007.

Previously he held the following positions outside the group:

• Hubert Burda Media (Germany): development of new business models in the digital sector and creation of an investment portfolio for Burda Digital Ventures GmbH from 2000 to 2006. Director of Burda Wireless GmbH from 2003 to 2006.
• Bertelsmann Ltd (Germany: member of the Management Committee of AZ Bertelsmann Direct (today part of Arvato Ltd). Director of several business units in the fields of direct marketing, online services and international marketing from 1995 to 1999.

Mr Kaiser sits on the Boards of Directors of several companies in which PubliGroupe has a shareholding interest.

CFO, Director Finance & Controlling
German nationality. Born 1956.

Mr Schmidt holds a first degree in Economics (University of Heidelberg) and an MBA (University of North Carolina / Chapel Hill). Mr Schmidt has been Finance Director (CFO) and a member of the  PubliGroupe General Management since 1 August 2003. He previously held the following positions outside the group:

• CFO of the Swiss Dairy Food Group, from 2001 to 2003.
• Head Finance Europe & MEA , Novartis Consumer Health Ltd., from 1995 to 2001.
• Finance Director, Swiss Pharma SAE, in Cairo, from 1991 to 1995.

Mr Schmidt sits on the Boards of Directors of a number of companies in which PubliGroupe has shareholding interests and currently also holds the following further mandate:

• Member of the Board of Directors of Gebro Pharma AG, Liestal, since 2006.

Head of Human resources

French nationality. Born 1955.

Mrs Schleipen is a graduate of ESC Rouen (1977) with specialisation in “International Business ”. Mrs Schleipen is CHRO (Chief Human Resources Officer) and has been a member of the PubliGroupe General Management since 1 May 2005. Mrs Schleipen has chaired the PubliGroupe pension fund since October 2006 and represents the group in the GEM (Multinational Companies Grouping). She previously held the following positions outside the group:

• Senior HR Consultant, Vice-President, Dresdner Bank Geneva, from 1997 to 2005.
• Commercial attaché then Head of the Internal Service, Swiss Wire, Olten, from 1990 to 1995.
• Commercial employee, Elektro-Apparatebau AG, Olten, from 1989 to 1990.
• Career interruption to raise her two children.
• Management Assistant, Compagnie Financière Michelin, Basel, from 1977 to 1982.

Director Consultas, MediaConnect and iware

Swiss nationality. Born 1948.

After completing an apprenticeship in advertising at Publicitas Porrentruy and obtaining his CFC in 1968, Mr Nicoulin went on to spend his entire career with the group. Mr Nicoulin has been a member of the PubliGroupe General Management since 1997, with responsibility for information technology and technological developments. He has held the following positions within the group:

• Head of the logistics department and member of the Publicitas Management Committee, Lausanne, from 1987 to 1997.
• Head of the Information Systems Planning Department, Publicitas Lausanne, from 1973 to 1987.
• Head of Administration, Publicitas St. Gallen, from 1967 to 1973.

Mr Nicoulin sits on the Boards of Directors of several companies in which PubliGroupe has a shareholding interest and currently holds the following other positions:

• Member of the Executive Committee of the Swiss Telecommunications Association since 2000.
• Member of the Municipal Council (Executive) of Echallens local authority (VD) since 2006.

Director Headquarters

Swiss nationality. Born 1956.

Mr Briod is a law graduate of Lausanne University and continued his training by gaining experience at the law courts in Vaud Canton and in the legal service of “GKN International Trading” in London from 1979 to 1984. He went on to join PubliGroupe. Mr Briod has been in charge of Group Headquarters Services since 1994, comprising the General Secretariat, financial communication and relations with investors, together with the legal service. He has been a member of the PubliGroupe General Management since 1991. He has held the following positions within the Group:

• Secretary General of Publicitas Holding (now PubliGroupe) from 1989 to 1990. In addition to those duties, he was Financial Director of the group from 1991 to 1993.
• Jurist-Management Assistant, Publicitas Holding, from 1985 to 1989.

Mr Briod sits on the Boards of Directors of several companies in which PubliGroupe has a shareholding interest.

CIO, Information & Communication Technology
British citizen. Born 1967.

Mr Blackwell studied economics and business management at the University of St. Gallen and went on to obtain a diploma in Information Technology from the University of Neuchâtel. Mr Blackwell has taken over responsibility for the Information & Communication Technology department and has been a member of the PubliGroupe General Management since 1 January 2008. Previously, he held the following positions outside the group:

• Vice-President EMEA Consulting Department, Agile Software Corporation, from 2005 to 2007.
• Senior Executive Sales & Delivery, Supply Chain, Accenture/CPGmarket, from 2003 to 2005.
• Senior Manager Enterprise Software Solutions, BearingPoint S.A., from 2001 to 2003.
• Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer, Vertical*i Inc., from 1999 to 2001.
• Senior Manager, Head of Enterprise Information Systems, Andersen Business Consulting, from 1993 to 1999.

CEO Search & Find

French nationality. Born 1960.

After obtaining his baccalaureate (type D), Mr Michel took many courses of in-service training, mainly in the fields of sales and management. He has spent his entire career with LTV Yellow Pages Ltd. Mr Michel is CEO of Search and Find and has been a member of the PubliGroupe General Management since 1 January 2008. He has held the following positions with LTV Yellow Pages Ltd. (acquired by PubliGroupe in 1996):

• National sales director and member of the management from 1997 to 2007; CEO of Amitel S.A. (France) from 1997 to 2007.
• Regional director from 1988 to 1997.
• Head of sales from 1982 to 1988.
• Staff member of the external service, from 1981 to 1982.

Mr Michel sits on the Boards of Directors of a number of companies in which PubliGroupe has a shareholding interest.

CEO Custom Publishing

British nationality. Born 1965.

Ms Woo holds a diploma in Business Management. Ms Woo is CEO of Custom Publishing and has been member of the PubliGroupe General Management since 1 January 2008. Ms Woo spent her entire career with the group since 1986. She has held the following positions within companies of the group:

• Managing Director of Emphasis Media Group, Asia, from 2001 to 2007.
• Managing Director of MCIM, an in-flight media specialist company in Asia, from 1999 to 2000.
• Managing Director of Martin Clinch & Associates, Hong Kong, from 1995 to 1998.
• Ms Woo sits on the Board of Directors of several companies in which PubliGroupe has a shareholding interest.