LONDON — John Farrell, who previously led Publicis Groupe's marketing services division, has taken on a non-executive chairman role at UK agency Octopus Group.

The appointment comes as Octopus continues to build out its 'brand to sales' proposition, after growing 10% last year to more than £6m in fee income. Farrell brings particular global insight into marketing and advertising, having previously worked at Publicis and D'Arcy Worldwide.

Currently, Farrell also serves as non-executive director or chairman for a number of agencies, including Four Communications, Albion, DWA, Cognifide, Acceleration, DNX OgilvyOne and John Brown Media.

"Octopus Group is run by a passionate bunch of people and comes with a great industry reputation as one of the agencies to watch for the future so I’m excited to join the team," said Farrell. 

"Their 'brand to sales' methodology is really getting them noticed and they’ve used it to deliver some fantastic programmes that are helping their clients in the technology and B2B sectors achieve their commercial goals much quicker. They’ve got ambitious plans for 'brand to sales', and I’ll be working with the leadership team to make them a reality."