Universal Registration Document 2023

Responsible consumption: listening to our clients’ customers

Social and environmental justice issues are at the heart of citizens’ concerns. More than ever, 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 (reparability, exchange, rental, etc.) and affordable consumption. In the disrupted and inflationary context of 2023, 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; 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 year‑olds 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.

Listening to consumers also means finding technical solutions to meet their expectations in terms of content authenticity. Publicis Groupe is a member of C2PA (Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity). In order to provide large‑scale solutions to this problem for publishers, content creators and consumers, this Consortium has developed technical specifications to establish the provenance and authenticity of data flows thanks to the contribution of expert partner organizations, like the Project Origin Alliance and the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI). These C2PA design guidelines and specifications are available at https://c2pa.org/principles/.