GLOBAL – Publicis Groupe today announced that after the Publicis Groupe Supervisory Board’s meeting on Tuesday chaired by Elisabeth Badinter, the propositions for reorganization by Chairman and CEO Maurice Lévy has been approved and will take effect in January 2016.
The decision comes after a series of reflection process, brainstorming sessions with the P12 or the group’s Executive Committee which culminated in a seminar including 350 of Publicis Groupe’s leaders, world-class speakers, clients, digital entrepreneurs, VCs and academics last September.
“Businesses all over the world, no matter their industry, are continuously faced with the upheavals brought on by digital and the constant evolutions affecting our society, the way we work, communicate and consume. In order to better advise and serve its clients, Publicis Groupe has decided to radically modify its business model by putting the client at the heart of its organization,” Publicis Group said in a press release.
Instead of working with worldwide networks separately, the new model will be harnessing on the “Power of One” – “All Publicis Groupe capabilities will be available to each of its clients – in a simple, flexible and efficient way.”
With the clients at the heart of this new business model, Groupe will now gauge its performance based on client service. To achieve this, a Chief Client Officer, who will be responsible for the entire range of services and skills that the agency can offer, will now be assigned to lead each client regardless of discipline or country.
Above the teams of Chief Client Officers is a Groupe Chief Revenue Officer, a newly created role that Starcom Mediavest Group CEO Laura Desmond will be taking on. Publicis Groupe also mentioned in the press statement, “The mission will be to simplify the way clients access the range of solutions, without duplication or delay, and to accelerate the Groupe’s growth and development.”
The Groupe’s disciplines will now be organized across 4 Solutions hubs available to the Chief Client Officers:
Publicis Groupe also acknowledged that its footprint is “often too fragmented” which is why some countries that are outside of the 20 countries where Groupe generates more than 90% of its revenue are not given equal attention. To address this shortcoming, Groupe has created Publicis ONE which will be headed by Jarek Ziebinski as Chief Executive Offcer. “In the Publicis ONE countries, all entities will be reunited under one roof and one management team. This will ensure a better coordination of all client services while respecting strictly confidentiality rules. These structures will attract great talent, both through their scale and comprehensiveness.”
Apart from Publicis ONE, committees, which will be led by a Groupe representative, will also be set up in the main countries where Publicis Groupe operates to optimize coordination and best take advantage of Groupe’s assets. The first committee, to be set up in the US will be led by Groupe Chief Revenue Officer Laura Desmond.
Groupe’s governance is still composed of a Director including Maurice Lévy, Chairman & CEO; Jean-Michel Etienne, EVP – Chief Financial Officer; Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner, General Secretary; and Kevin Roberts, Head Coach of Publicis Groupe, and now, with the same responsibilities, is the Directoire+ Laura Desmond, Chief Revenue Officer, Publicis Groupe; Alan Herrick, Chief Executive Officer, Publicis.Sapient; Steve King, Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Media; Arthur Sadoun, Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Communications; and Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Strategist, Publicis Groupe.
Groupe also mentioned that it will be rethinking P12 soon, “in order to better adapt to the evolution of the company.
Watch this message by Chairman and CEO, Maurice Lévy:
