In 2021, Publicis Groupe began structuring work around a proprietary program entitled P.R.I.S.M.S. (Publicis Groupe Program for Responsible, Inclusive and Sustainable Marketing Standards) intended to develop more accurate indicators to more accurately measure the approaches put in place in the various business lines to promote responsible marketing. These areas of work include:
- for all business lines and therefore all teams, the need for training, to put practices into perspective and find solutions to make all activities the least impactful. There are different ways to make progress: France’s approach sets the example with the We are Positivers program, which is a training plan for all employees to adopt new eco-design reflexes in all areas, or that of Publicis Sapient, which adapts its approach and innovation paths according to its sectoral business practices;
- for creative business lines: eco-creation and eco-design are at the heart of the work carried out by the teams. This is based on a voluntary approach aimed at being fairer and more efficient while limiting the amount of resources to be deployed. An ad hoc training program which is was introduced in France with sessions of the Make it Positive LAB, as part of the NIBI (No Impact for Big Impact) action plan;
- for production business lines, eco-production is a requirement and is spreading in particular in the subsidiaries directly concerned such as Prodigious. This means, from the start of the project, a rigorous approach to each stage of production (including pre-production and post-production) in order to identify the least impacting options;
- for digital campaigns, whatever the country, creative teams use best practices when choosing, optimizing and/or compressing images – their weight being a critical factor when it comes energy consumption – and even select ink-saving fonts. For their part, technical teams find low-energy solutions in terms of the languages used i.e. Java, JavaScript or C++ so that the website and application built uses less energy, but offers users the same service quality. As a result of the Low-Tech Web by Design approach taken by engineers and developers, it is possible to cut energy consumption by a factor of five, in the knowledge that consumption always depends on the final medium (screen type, age of computer, tablet, smartphone, etc.) and the generation of electronic processors that it contains;
- for press relations and influencers: thanks to its proprietary platform MSL Fluency, MSL conducted two studies in 2020 and 2021 highlighting the pay gap between influencers based on gender and/or ethnic origins. The agency has established a Influencer Pay Index in order to better manage the remuneration of influencers and ensure equal treatment. MSL has established a partnership with The Influencer League, to build a training course enabling influencers to improve their content and their negotiation abilities;
- for media business lines:
- Publicis Verified: this involves checking in a medium the environment in terms of content (brand safety), where the advertising is placed due to the involvement of automated processes (programmatic). For over 10 years, with Publicis Verified, Publicis Groupe has set up an internal Groupe team whose role is to verify the environments in which the advertisements will appear and whether the traffic figures are accurate. This is a question of quality, responsibility and operates as a certification. This team operates 24/7 and works with local, specialized and certified third-party companies that carry out the same type of control in order to have a precise market-by-market approach (see press release of January 13, 2020);
- NewsGuard: this exclusive partnership gives all Publicis Groupe clients access to the “Responsible advertising in the media” tool (“RANS” Responsible Advertising for New Segments), which allows to include or exclude sites, in order to prevent their ads from unintentionally funding infox or misinformation/disinformation sites. The NewsGuard team performs constant manual checks without using algorithms, in a transparent manner based on its nine journalistic criteria;
- TAAG: Technology And Activation Group groups together employees digital advertising experts, working 24/7, duly trained throughout the year on the latest innovations from partner platforms and able to intervene quickly according to standardized processes;
- Once and for All Coalition: launched in 2021 at the initiative of Publicis Media, this coalition is a consortium of many partners in the sector including customers, media, experts and professional organizations, with the common objective of building long-term relationships with the media targeting minorities or groups of under-represented populations. The challenge is to support these media partners, whose voice must be heard more widely, thanks to open source tools and best practices, enabling them to strengthen their economic strength. At the same time, Publicis Media announced that it was committing USD 25 million through various support projects led by APX Content Ventures;
- for two years, Publicis Media has set up a Global Standards Council, in the form of monthly sessions open to employees and clients, to take stock of current industry topics in terms of Brand Safety and media quality, with internal and external experts, to promote general acculturation and sharing of best practices;
