Universal Registration Document 2021

A very large number of media accounts were up for tender. According to RECMA, there have been tenders for over USD 20 billion worth of billings this year. Publicis Groupe was one of the most exposed of the major communication groups. However, the Groupe consolidated its position with its clients (Coty, Citi) and gained prestigious accounts such as Taco Bell, VF, Visa and Etihad. There were some losses, including the “US Media” accounts for Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola.

Publicis Groupe continued its tactical acquisitions strategy, with a view to completing its operational networks, both in expertise (content, commerce, behavioral analysis) and geographical scope (South Africa, Israel).

As announced at the end of 2015, the work to implement the new structure was completed by mid-2016. This structure abandons the holding company model, in order to develop a company operational architecture based on the Connecting Company concept. Highly modular in structure, the Connecting Company model of Publicis Groupe is unlike any other platform in its genre, and offers clients plug & play access to state-of-the-art services. It means a complete rethinking of our approach:

• make clients the priority - the entire transformation of Publicis Groupe was designed and carried out in order to place our clients at the heart of our operations. Their requirements and objectives help us determine which solutions should be offered to them, to ensure their success and growth;
• a fluid model - just one person - the Global Client Leader or Country Client Leader - to be the sole point of contact and account manager who can draw on our pool of almost 84,000 talented employees and break down silos, the legacies of the past and longstanding habits;
• working in harmony - we have consolidated our income statements and removed all operational hurdles
• modular organization - the main advantage of our new structure is not just the depth and breadth of our capabilities, but above all our ability to adapt to any situation and to individual client requirements, with an open architecture that offers our global partners plug & play access where required. This modularity is fundamental; it opens up new opportunities for innovation and helps us keep pace with the rhythm of change that currently shows no signs of slowing down;
• comprehensive offering - by bringing together our creativity, our intelligence and our technological expertise, we are able to present ideas to our clients on how to carry out their own transformations and ensure a consumer experience unlike that offered by any other agency or holding company on the market.

Prestigious clients including USAA, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Walmart Stores and ASDA all recognize the strength of The Power of One solution. Reinvigorated by this initial success, work is underway to get all our employees to buy into this new approach and promote The Power of One solution to all existing clients.

Two events that took place in 2016 have made Publicis’ history. The goal of the first, Viva Technology Paris, run in association with the Les Échos group was to stage a global event in Paris that would bring together start-ups and major stakeholders in the digital industry. This event, held on June 30, July 1 and 2, 2016, attracted 5,000 start-ups, dozens of large industrial groups and investors, and included over 300 conferences with the biggest names in the global high-tech sector. With over 45,000 visitors in three days, Viva Technology proved a great success and underscored the pre-eminent place of Publicis Groupe in the global digital economy. This annual event returned for its second edition on June 15, 2017, just before the Cannes Lions Festival. On the occasion of its 90^th anniversary, Publicis Groupe launched a project named Publicis 90. This idea was to provide 90 projects or start-ups with financial aid and the support of the Groupe’s digital experts. After an initial phase of stringent selection over a period of several months, the winners were selected from among the 3,500 contestants from 130 countries and received their awards at a ceremony held during Viva Technology.

At the beginning of 2017, the Publicis Groupe Supervisory Board appointed Arthur Sadoun as Maurice Lévy’s successor as Chairman of the Management Board. Since June 1, 2017, Maurice Lévy has been a member of the Supervisory Board, which he now chairs. Arthur Sadoun chairs a Management Board strengthened by the addition of Steve King, CEO of Publicis Media, who joined forces with Jean-Michel Etienne, Executive Vice-President – Groupe Finance and Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner, Secretary General.

2017 was marked by two themes: going further with integration and faster in the execution of the strategy prepared by Maurice Lévy. Our ambition is to become the leader in the convergence of marketing and operational transformations, through the alchemy of creativity and technology. For this, the Groupe has created two new decision-making entities, the Executive Committee and the Management Committee. Several talented people joined the Groupe during the second half of 2017: Véronique Weill, as General Manager, with responsibility for Re:Sources, IT, real estate, insurance and mergers and acquisitions, Agathe Bousquet, as Chairwoman of Publicis Groupe in France, Emmanuel André in the newly created position of Chief Talent Officer (CTO). Annette King has been appointed during the second quarter of 2018 as CEO of Publicis Groupe in the United Kingdom, where she will supervise the Groupe’s activities in this market.

After breaking the silos and organizing itself into Solutions, the Groupe has gone a step further by implementing an organizational structure by country, with the aim of providing clients with a fully integrated offer, from advertising to marketing, consulting, and media, with data at its core. The deployment of this organization has begun in France, the United Kingdom, China and Italy.