Responsible consumption: listening to our clients’ customers
Social and environmental justice issues are at the heart of citizens’ concerns. More than ever, the expectations of civil society and stakeholders aspire to more responsible (concrete commitments of brands and companies in social and environmental matters), transparent (on raw materials, origins, manufacturing processes, etc.), sustainable (repairability, exchange, rental, etc.) and affordable consumption. In the disrupted and inflationary context of 2022, the question of price is central to the purchasing choices made by citizen-consumers.
Attentive social and societal listening to the needs and expectations expressed is central to the Groupe’s business lines. This explains the commitment of the Groupe’s agencies to the principles of free will and free choice, which must be respected in the design and production of communications. The intention is to avoid the intrusive nature of advertising, regardless of the distribution channel. For many years, several of the Groupe’s agencies have put in place systems for in-depth social listening, enabling studies to be carried out. In France, Free Thinking produced regular analyses, as in 2022, on the challenges of the middle classes; in the United Kingdom, Salterbaxter uses Progress Point.
Regarding education, Publicis Groupe has, for over ten years now, been a partner in MediaSmart, a European program (PubMalin in France, www.pubmalin.fr) designed to help primary school teachers teach 8-11 years old critical thinking skills relative to advertising, as part of a joint initiative with media representatives, teachers, consumer associations and regulatory authorities. The Groupe also participates in the MediaSmart Plus program aimed at high-school students and their teachers.
4.2.2 Responsible marketing: a unique approach
4.2.2.1 This policy is rooted in the Groupe’s history and values
Responsible marketing is based on key principles to be applied in any communication project: truth, decency, respect, honesty, societal responsibility. This must be translated into the form and the substance of the messages, while preserving a maximum amount of creativity. Publicis Groupe’s professional standards in terms of responsible marketing are based on a set of voluntary rules, some of which are specific to the Company and others are defined by professionals in forums open to stakeholders, in a logic of cooperation. Since 2009, Publicis Groupe has taken a position, formalized in an internal note from the CEO, on the fight against greenwashing, in the name of honesty and respect for clients, and to avoid any damage to the brands entrusted to us. Particular attention has been paid in recent years to the use of environmental arguments (green claims) in order to avoid any risk of greenwashing or confusion. With a view to constant improvement, the Groupe reviews its general responsible marketing policy each year, which is a public document available in the CSR Smart data section on www.publicisgroupe.com.
In this digital world, another principle is essential: the possibility for everyone to have control of their data and to be able to exercise the rights granted by the applicable regulations. This principle guides the technological choices and solutions offered to clients, so that the end user, client or visitor, has real control over their data. All end-users must be able to access, rectify or delete their own data, and even easily exercise their right to be forgotten, according to applicable legislation.
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) aimed at developing more precise indicators for responsible marketing. It addresses the major and operational challenges of the business lines to go beyond legal compliance. On this point, for all work product, regardless of the client’s sector of activity, a compliance review is conducted upstream with the legal teams, in order to validate a set of prerequisites, whether these are for regulatory compliance, the application of the Charters and/or Codes of Best Practice issued by the client’s sector and/or by the client itself. In 2022, internal work focused on production and media activities.
All of the Groupe’s business lines are active in terms of professional standards attesting to responsible marketing in action:
- for all business lines and therefore all teams, the need fortraining, to put practices into perspective and find solutions to make all activities the least impactful. There are different ways to progress: France’s approach is exemplary with the NIBI (No Impact for Big Impact) program, which is a training plan for all employees, in order to integrate new eco-design reflexes in all areas, or that of Publicis Sapient, which adapts its innovation approach according to its sectoral business practices,
- Creation: eco-creation and eco-design are at the heart ofthe 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 was introduced in France with sessions of the Make it Positive LAB, as part of the NIBI (No Impact for Big Impact) plan,
- Production, eco-production is a requirement and isspreading 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,
- Digital campaigns, whatever the country, creative teamsuse best practices when choosing, optimizing and/or compressing images – their weight being a critical factor when it comes to energy consumption – and even select ink-saving fonts. In the same way, computer code languages such as Java, JavaScript or C++ can make it possible to build websites and applications that consume less energy, for an equivalent quality of service for the user. Thanks to 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,
- Press relations and business lines influence: thanks to itsproprietary platform MSL Fluency, MSL US is continuing its studies on pay gaps between influencers based on gender and/or ethnic origins. In July 2022, MSL brought together all direct players in the influence business lines to work together on a roadmap that will make a lasting difference. In September, MSL UK published its “Just Influence” report exploring the situation in the United Kingdom, echoing the work carried out in the United States. In December 2022, a social listening of influencers made it possible to see that the subject of pay inequalities had greatly increased in visibility. This progress derives from the partnership established with The Influencer League, to build a training path enabling influencers to improve in terms of fair compensation;
- for Media business lines:
- Publicis Verified: this is Publicis Groupe’s proprietary program enabling a technological assessment of the services offered and the capabilities of the platforms and media, in relation to the standards defined by the Groupe. For more than ten years, the Publicis Verified team, has been responsible for verifying in which contexts the advertisements will appear (brand safety) and whether the traffic figures are accurate due to the share taken by automated processes (programmatic). The process is international and multi-criteria, covering more than 1,000 questions to ensure a certain level of quality, responsibility and safety; it is considered a certification of the supplier. Only 30% of partners were compliant during the initial review; 70% require at least two reviews. Publicis Verified works with all AdTech players to promote demanding standards, with third-party experts to cross-reference analyses (such as Truthset, Neuronian, Digitrust and many others), and adapts to the cultural nuances to be applied in the countries. In-depth work was carried out in 2021 and 2022 on diversity and inclusion standards,
- Publicis Lighthouse: Publicis Groupe clients have exclusive access to Publicis Lighthouse, the industry’s best-performing new verification solution using a combination of technologies and prior analyses to measure media based on ESG parameters. The spectrum covered ranges from the measurement of carbon emissions to the fight against disinformation to the logic of inclusion. Publicis Lighthouse harmonizes the measures and verifications of key players in the sector such as Zefr, Adelaide, Global Disinformation Index, Trustworthy Accountability Group, WIPO, ANA, 4A’s, Scope3 and Peer39,
- Once And For All Coalition: launched in 2021 at the initiative of Publicis Media US, this coalition is a consortium of more than 30 clients, the media, experts and professional organizations. The common objective is to build long-term relationships with media that are held by, and target, minorities or Groupes 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 with innovative content. Clients thus increased their investments with these media by 50%.
- In accordance with what was announced by Publicis Media at the launch of this coalition, APX Content Ventures in 2022 financed for USD 25 million, some twenty projects out of 167 proposals received, all from the “diverse-owned” media. Among them is the digital media program Fuse.tv entitled “We need to talk about America” composed of various elements: documentaries, debates and on-set programs on culture, education, lifestyles, etc. In addition to this investment component, hundreds of hours of programs were produced, in particular for Inside the Black Box in partnership with Crackle Plus and The General®; IMPACT with Gal Gadot in partnership with the National Geographic; and Big Boys Don’t Cry in partnership with Sky TV and Royal London. This investment contributes to the commitments of the Pause For Action plan taken in 2020 in the United States in favor of effective and concrete support for communities and minorities,
- Global Standards Council, since 2020, Publicis Media has hosted this Global Standards Council which meets in the form of monthly sessions open to employees and clients to take stock of current industry topics in terms of Brand Safety & Suitability, Brand Integrity and media quality. With internal and external experts, it brings together more than 90 clients in 25 countries, with the aim of general acculturation and sharing of best practices at an international level, with between 150 and 200 participants each month,
- Brand Integrity Workshop, launched in 2022, this workshop aims to align the responsible marketing strategy with the ESG objectives of the client and its brands. The planned actions are analyzed through a prism based on purpose, authenticity, trust and ethics. It is a tailor-made analysis tool promoting continuous improvement to promote sustainability,
- NewsGuard: this exclusive partnership gives all PublicisGroupe clients access to the “Responsible Advertising in the media” tool (“RANS” Responsible Advertising for New Segments), which allows them to include or exclude sites, in order to prevent their ads from unintentionally funding infox or misinformation or 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 Groupes together employee 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;
