Publicis Groupe S.A.

is a French multinational advertising and communications company

that provides traditional advertising, media services, and specialized agencies and
marketing services to national and multinational clients.

This advertising company is one of the big four global advertising holding companies.
The “S.A.” that is attached to the name of the company means that it is a Société
Anonyme. It is, therefore, a public limited company that employs civil law. The
traditional advertising services of the company principally involve the creation of
advertising for products, services, and brands. It also include strategic planning involving
analysis of a product, service, or brand compared to its competitors through market
research, sociological and psychological studies, and creative insight. Its clients include
Becks, Coca-Cola, Hewlett-Packard, Carrefour, EADS, L’Oreal, LG, Orange, Procter and
Gamble, Nestle, Pernod Ricard, Renault, Sanofi Aventis Telefonica, Whirlpool, Siemens,
UBS, and Zurich.

In 2009, its revenue was €4.524 billion with an operating income of €629 million and a
profit of €403 million. As of 2009, the company employs 45, 400 people. In 2010, Net
sales are distributed geographically as follows: Europe (34.9%), North America (46.3%),
Asia/Pacific (11%), Latin America (4.8%) and other (3%). Its current president is
Maurice Lévy. The company conducts its operations in approximately 200 offices in 196
cities in 104 countries. It is one of the largest agency networks in Europe. It is also the
second most honored creative network in Asia. Publicis has strategic alliances with
Dentsu, Inc. Its headquarters is in Paris, France.

Publicis has set 3 goals to adapt to the modernizing era – to be a top 5 creative network,
to build a Publicis Modem into the world’s leading digital network, and to become the
choice of the next generation of clients and talent.

HISTORY:
The company was founded by Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet in 1926, when he was only 20
years old. He opened Publicis at 17 rue du Faubourg Montmartre. The name of the
company, Publicis is a combination of the French words for “advertising” and “six”,
Marcel’s favorite number.

Marcel knew the importance of the relationship that advertisers can create with
consumers. He established two important rules for modern advertising: “You cannot
deceive consumers, so you must show products as they are” and “You must find an
intelligent way for the product to ‘talk’ to consumers.” His new approach included
attention to others, respect, staying true to the product, customer satisfaction, quality and
creativity. The agency’s first clients were Parisian - Comptoir Cardinet, Fourrures
Brunswick and Lévitan. By 1929, three years later, the staff had tripled and the offices
moved to the Boulevard de Strasbourg. At 23, Marcel was already a millionaire and
bought his first airplane.

Under Marcel Bleustein, Publicis was already one of the market leaders. In 1930, Publicis
was the first advertising agency to use radio as an advertising medium and to understand
its unique capacity to reach consumers. Clients, such as André shoes and Max Factor,
flocked to Publicis. The agency soon gained a reputation throughout the country for its
creative campaigns. In 1932, following its explosive success, Publicis moved to 1
Boulevard Haussmann.

When the French government banned advertising on public radio, Marcel established his
own radio station known as “Radio Cité”. He developed the “Antennes de Publicis”
network and acquired movie theaters. Marcel Bleustein was also the first to introduce
advertising in movie theaters in France. In 1938, Publicis established “Régie Presse”, an
independent subsidiary selling advertising space for a range of major newspapers and
magazines.

During the Nazi occupation of France, Marcel was forced to leave Publicis and shut
down Radio Cité. He fled to London. Once the war was over, Marcel relaunched Publicis
with some of his old staff members and a few new recruits. He was tenacious and all his
clients returned, one by one, along with new advertisers. In 1946, Publicis moved to 65
Avenue des Champs Elysées. Régie-Presse extended its activities to the sale of
advertising space in public transport vehicles. In a pioneering move in 1948, Publicis
became the first French advertising agency to sign an agreement with the French Institute
of Public Opinion (“IFOP”).

In 1954, Publicis won its first major international assignment from Colgate-Palmolive,
followed by one for Nescafé – which would establish a long term relationship with
Nestlé. In 1951, Publicis moved up the Champs Elysées to number 75. In 1957, by
creating the New York-based 'Publicis Corporation', Publicis became the first French
company to foresee the future of advertising lay in international expansion.

In 1958, Publicis moved once again to 133 Avenue des Champs Elysées, the former
Astoria Hotel and Allied Forces Headquarters. At the end of the decade, Marcel created
the Fondation de la Vocation, to help disadvantaged young people achieve their dreams.
In 1967, when the first executive body of the European Economic Community was
introduced, Publicis opened an office in Brussels. In 1968, the first commercial broadcast
in France was created by Publicis for Boursin cheese with Jacques Duby. The spot broke
all 'recall records,' and even today people remember it. In 1970, 44 years after its launch,
Publicis was introduced on the Paris Stock Exchange.

In 1972, Publicis headquarters burned to the ground. However, operations went on. The
agency succeeded in meeting all its campaign deadlines, continuing work in temporary
space. One month later, Publicis launched its European expansion, buying the
international network of Dutch-based Intermarco and then the next year, Swiss-based
Farner. Thanks to its subsidiaries, Publicis became the undisputed front-runner in
Europe's advertising and communications sector, covering 14 countries under the
Intermarco/Farner brand name. Publicis moved back to 133 just 27 months after the fire.
Publicis continued to diversify beyond advertising into the fields of sales promotion,
market research and recruitment communication. Publicis became the first
communication agency to embrace the electronic age, with the creation of SGIP, the
company’s first investment in multimedia communication. Publicis ushered in the era of
global communications. In 1980, Publicis expanded to cover 12 additional French cities.
It also established Intelligences, Idées, Dialogues Conseil, Media Finance and
Mundoprint business units, and acquired a majority interest in Media System, specialized
in recruitment advertising. In 1984, Publicis united its international network under the
Publicis banner, regrouping 23 agencies in Europe and the United States.

By 1986, Publicis celebrated its 60th anniversary and launched TV6, the first French
music channel. Publicis was the first French agency to join the ranks of the world's 20
Top communications groups. In 1987, Publicis launched media company Optimedia, with
offices in France, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Publicis also reinforced its
advertising presence and specialized services in Europe. Publicis inaugurated a European
network of direct marketing agencies, later branded Publicis Dialog. In 1988, Publicis
entered into an alliance with FCB and Publicis-FCB became the largest European
network with one worldwide presence: Publicis’ 40 agencies in Europe and the United
States with FCB’s 176 agencies located in 40 countries.

By the 1990s, Publicis had a presence on five continents. Campaigns were waged on a
worldwide scale. It continued to develop its specialized units and opened offices in
Moscow, Warsaw and Prague. The company began to build its own global network and
became Europe's second-largest communications network in 1993 with its acquisition of
FCA-BMZ, France's fourth-largest communications network, with operations in 12
European countries and the United States. It also continued to expand in Canada, Mexico
and Brazil, and reinforced Northern and Eastern Europe. Founder Marcel Bleustein-
Blanchet passed away in 1996, leaving his daughter Elisabeth Badinter as Chair of the
Supervisory Board. Together, Maurice and Elisabeth built a genuine partnership upon
which the group’s future success was developed. In 1998, Publicis expanded further into
Asia, Latin America and North America. In 1999, a strategic alliance with Burrell
Communications, the largest ethnic agency for the Afro-American community, increased
Publicis' ability to manage cultural differences. The company now operated in 76
countries and 130 cities, and ranked among the world's Top 10 communications groups.

Publicis Groupe S.A. expanded to Manila around 1997. They acquired Basic Advertising,
which was then one of the top agencies in the market. Basic Advertising, which formed
in 1977, was renamed Publicis-Basic.

With regards to Corporate Social Responsibility, Publicis aims to improve the skill sets of
their workers, and ensure that the employees work efficiently and are happy with the
work that they do. They pay close attention to the welfare and progress of their
employees. The management of human resources remains highly decentralized, in order
to better respond to the specific needs of each agency in its own market, and to respect
the culture and policies of the major networks of the Groupe. The crisis of 2008/09 had
the Groupe pursuing two major strategies: improving technical knowhow and reinforcing
managerial skills.
Their environmental policy is to consume less and their objective is to reduce their direct
impact on the environment and participate actively in the preservation of the
environment.

http://www.publicis.com/
http://www.publicisgroupe.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publicis
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