PUBLICIS GROupE, S. A. A Case Study by Andrea Hartford Matt Sumner INTRODUCTION Publicis Groupe is one of the largest advertising agencies in the world. Part of the Big Four advertising agencies, Publicis has some tough competition. Although Publicis was started by one man eighty years ago, Publicis has transformed into a multi-billion dollar advertising media mogul with subsidiaries worldwide. Their holistic approach and unique way of solving advertising problems has helped them rise to the top. HISTORY In 1926 at the age of 20, Marcel Bleustein started his advertising business, Publicis, in Faubourg Montmartre, Paris (Publicis USA, 2006). Bleustein’s business was a new way of going about advertising. He thought that the most important aspect of advertising was creating a relationship with the consumer. Bleustein kept values that he used everyday when running his business: attention to respect, staying true to the customer’s product, customer satisfaction, creativity and total quality (Publicis USA, 2006). Some say that Bleustein’s way of thinking was way before his time, and that the concept of creating relationships with the consumers was something that the advertising market did not adopt until almost 70 years later then Bleustein. With Marcel Bleustein’s innovative way of thinking, it is no surprise that Publicis quickly became one of the most successful advertising agencies. By 1930 Publicis had made headlines for being the first advertising agency to use radio as an advertising medium (Publicis USA, 2006). Soon after Publicis had paved the way for advertising in this new medium, the French government banned advertising on public radio. This did not deter Marcel Bleustein. He soon decided that the only way to prove that radio was a powerful advertising medium was to create his own radio station and use it for advertising. Bleustein soon created “Radio Cité” (Publicis Group, 2006). Bleustein did not stop after starting his own radio station. He continued his endeavors and by 1940 he had started up his own network, “Antennes de Publicis,” acquired movie theaters, and established “Régie Presse” which was an independent subsidiary that sold advertising space for numerous major newspapers and magazines (Publicis USA, 2006). The second World War brought hard times for Publicis. Marcel Bleustein closed his new advertising business, shut down his radio station and joined the French resistance. When the war came to an end, Marcel changed his name to his resistance name: Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet (Bramhall, 2006). With the war over, Bleustein-Blanchet wanted to relaunch his business, but the bulk of the money his business had previously made was depleted. He was starting over. However, Publicis still had the loyalty and trust of many of the same customers that the The PUBLICIS Mission Publicis’ mission is to create amazing relevance for a company or brand at every important point of contact and connection. Our approach is called “La Holistic Difference” and our passion is to challenge conventions, barriers, and problems with fresh, innovative solutions. company was started with. Bleustein-Blanchet moved the Publicis business to a more central spot and set up shop on the Champs Elysées (Bramhall, 2006). It was here that Publicis acquired many high profile clients such as Colgate-Palmolive and Timor. Bleustein-Blanchet’s Régie-Presse also expanded to offer the sale of advertising space to public transportation vehicles (Publicis USA, 2006). In 1957 Publicis made French history when they decided to expand by creating a branch, the Publicis Corporation, in New York City. Publicis soon landed even larger accounts with L-Oréal and Renault. In 1972 the Publicis building in France burned to the ground.Soon after, in 1975, Maurice Lévy was named CEO of Publicis (Publicis USA, 2006). Many have said that Lévy was given this title after Bleustein-Blanchet saw him salvaging records from the burnt building. By 1986, the company’s 60th anniversary, Publicis had 23 agencies K E Y S ubsidi A ri E S in Europe and the United States and Publicis was the first French agency to A D VE rtisin G be in the world’s top 20 communication * Beacon Communications (Japan) groups (Bramhall, 2006). * Fallon Worldwide (US) * Kaplan Thaler Group (US) In 1988 Publicis expanded and formed * Leo Burnett Worldwide (US) an alliance with the Chicago-based * Publicis Worldwide communication company: Foote, Cone * Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide (US) & Belding Communications (Bramhall, ME di A S E R V ic E S 2006). After five years this partnership * Médias & Régies Europe ended when Publicis also acquired * Starcom MediaVest Group (US) France’s Groupe FCA. Foote, Cone & * ZenithOptimedia (UK) Belding Communications then created sp E ci A li ZE D AGE nci E S a new holding company known as True A nd MA rk E tin G S E RV ic E S ( S AM S ) North Communications. By the early * Arc Worldwide (relationship marketing & promotional campaigns) 1990’s Publicis Groupe had locations * Bromley Communications (US, multicultural advertising) on five continents and had acquired * Lápiz (US, multicultural marketing) many additional high profile clients such * Manning, Selvage & Lee (US, public relations) as Whirlpool, Coca-Cola and L-Oréal. * Medicus Group (US, health care marketing) * Nelson Communications (US, health care marketing) Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet, founder of * Publicis Dialog (sales promotion and direct marketing) Publicis, died in 1996 and his daughter, * Rowland Companies (US, public relations) Elisabeth Badinter was named chair of the supervisory board. Soon thereafter a feud developed between his daughters, Elisabeth Badinter and Michele Bleustein- Blanchet. The feud ended with Bleustein-Blanchet selling her shares of the company to Badinter, giving Badinter control of Publicis (Bramhall, 2006). Publicis continued its success, ranking in the world’s top ten communication groups in 1999. By 1999, Publicis now had locations in 76 countries and 130 cities. Publicis continued acquiring other agencies, buying the U.S. firms Hal Riney & Partners and Evans Group as well as the successful advertising networks of Saatchi & Saatchi, a British agency. Publicis then bought advertising agency Fallon McElligott, marketing firm Frankel & Co., and media buyer DeWitt Media ending 2001 with strong positions in various media markets (Bramhall, 2006). In 2002 Publicis secured their position as one of the top four advertising conglomerates in the world by acquiring Bcom3. Publicis stays true to Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet’s core values placing their clients’ customers in the center. Publicis still believes that creative ideas and thoughtful, unconventional solutions are what make the company stand apart from others. They use a holistic approach that focuses on the whole result and is driven to get results for their customers that will enlighten them and make them think in innovative ways. M A RKET S S E RV E D / P ROD uc T S O F F E R E D Publicis has expanded to be one of the largest communication firms in the world. With all of it’s acquisitions over the years Publicis has expanded its offerings to contain more than just advertising. Through their numerous acquisitions, Publicis has become an advertising, media services and specialized agencies and marketing services group (SAMS). Publicis and it’s acquisitions provide advertising in print, interactive web media, television, and radio as well as direct marketing, target marketing, branding, and other sales promotion services (Publicis USA, 2006). Publicis has acquired several SAMS that help cater to their clients’ myriad of specialized needs. For example, Bromley Communications specializes in targeted multicultural advertising campaigns, while the Rowland Company’s provides strong is public relations services and Nelson Communications focuses on health care marketing. Brand Out of Advertising Home The thought process for the new look for PowerBar’s campaign “Be Great” Direct along with a print ad for their new Pria Events Brand Idea bar for women and the new package Marketing design for the original PowerBar Be Great Interactive In-Store Sports Marketing CASE STUDY: POWERBAR Although Nestlé’s PowerBar has paved the way for nutrition bars it was suddenly being pushed aside by competitors and as a result, sales have declined for the once leading nutrition bar. PowerBar originally targeted the “serious athlete”, but soon became known to a wider audience, and the brand messaging focused more on avoiding failure (Publicis USA, 2006). When Nestle approached Publicis for help they performed a case study and realized that PowerBar was still better targeted towards the “serious athlete” and they started a new campaign to revitalize the company. Using the new tag line “BE GREAT”, PowerBar focused on individual athletes and gave it a personal edge relating PowerBar with the athlete’s top performances (Publicis USA, 2006). Instead of talking about the product, they let athletes tell their stories about the challenges of performing at their best and used this inspiration as it relates to sports nutrition. This campaign revitalized PowerBar and featured print, public signage, direct mail, collateral materials and a web site. For each new client the Publicis try to create a new campaign that will fully embody the message of their client and convey that message effectively to the product’s target market. FINANCIAL INFORMATION * Fiscal Year-End December 2004 Sales (mil.) $5,181.0 1-Year Sales Growth 6.7% 2004 Net Income (mil.) $284.0 1-Year Net Income Growth 50.3% 2004 Employees 36,000 1-Year Employee Growth 2.4% * figures taken from Hoover’s Online K E Y C L I E NTS Being one of the four largest advertising conglomerates in the world, Publicis is able to meet even the most demanding of clients’ needs by providing a plethora of advertising and media services. Some of their clients include BMW, Champion, Denny’s, GlaxoSmithKline, Hewlett Packard, Nestle, and Proctor & Gamble to name a few.