Universal Registration Document 2021

Relationships with start-ups

• VivaTech (created by Publicis Groupe and Les Échos group). In five years, VivaTech has become the leading startup and tech event in Europe, and is recognized worldwide as a powerful catalyst for business transformation, startup growth and innovation for the common good. Every year, VivaTech brings together the top business leaders, start-ups, investors, researchers and thinkers from all over the world in Paris for a unique experience combining inspiration, networking and the discovery of innovations. Since 2021, VivaTech has been enhanced with a digital platform that brings together an even wider community of innovators. The last edition in June 2021 reached 112 million people in 149 countries, and attracted 140,000 visitors on site in Paris and online, including more than 1,300 journalists. The 2021 edition placed a special focus on women with the creation of the Female Founder Challenge. The objective of this program is to develop financing opportunities for women entrepreneurs and to facilitate their access to Venture Capitalists (VCs). The participants all receive an online training and the five finalists are offered meetings with VCs. The 6^th edition of VivaTech will take place from June 15 to 18, 2022, in Paris and online (www.vivatechnology.com)
• some of the Groupe’s digital agencies have an internal Lab which aims to create the optimal testing conditions for multi-disciplinary teams, particularly with regard to augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and everything relating to the Internet of Things (IoT) or Metavers. Technical partners and academics have joined forces for projects to co-develop innovative solutions,;
• since 2012, Publicis Groupe has been a partner of the Iris Capital fund. This fund supports 40 or so companies with an overall revenue totaling euro 1.4 billion and a total headcount of 7,300 people. Iris Capital focuses on firms with strong potential to radically transform their sector, specializing in Industry 5.0, the Internet of Things, Cyber Security, 5G networks, as well as Artificial Intelligence, Big data and the Cloud (see www.iriscapital.com).

4.2.9 Relations with other stakeholders

These include stakeholders other than employees, customers and citizen-consumers. All stakeholders are invited to send their comments or questions to the Groupe’s CSR Department: csr@publicisgroupe.com.

4.2.9.1 With shareholders and investors

The Company has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1970. It is one of the companies selected for the CAC 40 index. Detailed information on shareholders is provided in Section 8.2 of this document.

The Investor Relations Department (see Section 8.4.2 of this document) oversees everyday relations with investors and shareholders via numerous meetings and exchanges in various countries. The Investor Relations Department and the CSR Department work closely together with respect to ESG (Environmental-Social-Governance) or SRI (Socially Responsible Investments) requests from shareholders, investors, management companies or ratings agencies.

The press releases and presentations circulated throughout the year are accessible on the Groupe’s corporate website, in the Investor Relations’ section.

4.2.9.2 With the media

The media and the platforms are key Groupe partners: they are the suppliers that agencies deal with on a daily basis in different countries. Publicis Groupe has always been very committed to media pluralism and is often engaged in supporting media diversity and respect for media neutrality. The Once and for All Coalition is an illustration of this (see Section 4.2.2.1).

In a completely separate manner, the Groupe Communication Department supports the Company’s official corporate publication schedule. Agency communication focuses on projects that they have completed for clients and on campaigns and awards. The Groupe’s Communication Department also keeps all stakeholders informed. Employees, shareholders, the general public and institutional investors are informed via different communication tools (media, website, social networks, newsletter, etc.).

4.2.9.3 With consumer and environmental protection associations

In every country where the Groupe operates, these associations are key stakeholders in the local ecosystem. The agencies are called upon to work with a large number of these on communication projects. Particular attention remains focused on organizations fighting against social and racial injustices. The climate emergency has favored more regular discussions with environmental or biodiversity (fauna and flora) protection associations so as to reach agreements to cooperate with certain clients and industrial or service companies (see section 4.2.2 with examples in France or the United Kingdom)