BREAKING NEWS: Publicis Groupe announces details of its involvement at Cannes Lions 2018

PARIS – Publicis Groupe announced in June 2017 that it would shift its promotional budget away from industry events and awards shows until July 1, 2018 in order to focus on the development of its Marcel platform. The Groupe’s policy has been scrupulously followed throughout the year.  

For the sake of clarity and because this initiative began on the Croisette at last year’s festival, Publicis Groupe would like to share the detail of its involvement in the 2018 Cannes Lions Festival.  

Publicis Groupe has kept to its own strict rules concerning awards submissions and has not entered any work in this year’s Cannes Lions festival on its own behalf, bar one exception.

In support of creative excellence and out of respect for this awards submission pause, some of the Groupe’s clients and partners have taken on the cost of entering what they consider to be award-worthy campaigns developed by Publicis Groupe agencies. This represents 399 campaigns as of 9th June.

The only exception to this is BBH London’s “3 Billboards” campaign for Justice4Grenfell, the organization trying to get justice for the victims of the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster in London. Publicis Groupe is proud to support this cause and creativity for good at the Cannes Lions.

• 12 Publicis Groupe leaders have been invited to attend the Festival as Jury Presidents or as part of the awarding juries. Their presence will be financed by the Cannes Lions, in line with the Festival’s policy of covering the cost of all delegates, from any company, who serve on its juries. 12 additional Publicis Groupe leaders are members of the shortlist juries and will not be attending the Festival.  
• 12 members of the Publicis Groupe community have been invited by the festival to compete in Young Lions competitions after winning at regional stage competitions.
• 25 Publicis Groupe employees have been invited to attend Cannes Lions by their clients and by other industry partners.
• 15 Publicis Groupe employees have decided to attend the Festival by personally funding their trip.
• 20 Publicis Groupe account leaders will be participating in key client meetings taking place in Cannes- not attending the Festival. Their presence will be funded by Publicis Groupe.

Over the last year, Publicis Groupe has been building a partnership with the Cannes Lions’ digital offering “The Work”.

Thanks to this partnership, and through Marcel’s unique capabilities, Publicis Groupe employees will have the unprecedented ability to access pieces of award-winning work from 2001 to 2018 and intuitive ways to search over 200,000 creative campaigns by individual brands and agencies. 

At the invitation of the Festival, Publicis Groupe will present Marcel on Tuesday 19th June at 3:00 PM CET on the main stage of the Palais des Festivals. Carla Serrano, Chief Strategy Officer of Publicis Groupe, Nick Law, Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Groupe and President of Publicis Communications and Arthur Sadoun, Chairman & CEO of Publicis Groupe will present a beta version and discuss why it’s an important part of the company’s future‎.  

Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe said, “Twelve months ago, we took the decision to pause our investment in promotional industry events for one year. It was a difficult but necessary sacrifice at a moment when our industry is in need of radical change. 

It gave us the means, the focus, and perhaps more importantly, the sense of urgency, to reinvent the way we work and start building Marcel.

I would like to deeply thank our clients, whose commitment to creativity and to our relationship means we have been able to keep our promise that no work deserving to be judged this year would miss out. The investment they have made to ensure that what we are doing together is celebrated demonstrates their belief in our work and the creative value it delivers. I know I speak for the entire Groupe when I say we’re extremely grateful to them for their incredible partnership.

And of course, a big big merci goes to all of our people. The Groupe’s creative community has had to shoulder much of the weight of our decision to pause our promotions this year, and they have been outstanding during this period, which will come to an end on July 1st. Together our efforts have already resulted in the very successful unboxing of Marcel, so there is no doubt that it has all been worth it.

Finally, I want to say thank you to the Cannes Lions for inviting us to present Marcel at this year’s festival, and for their partnership through The Work. It will be only for a couple of hours but we are really looking forward to having the opportunity, one year later, to share why we believe that the decision we took was right for our people, our clients and hopefully for our industry. The Festival has always held a special place for Publicis Groupe, and we’re delighted to be coming back in 2019, stronger than ever.”