In 2021, Publicis Groupe began work 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 products, 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 2023, internal work continued 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 for training, to put practices into perspective and find solutions to make all activities the least impactful as possible. 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 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 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 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 is spreading in particular in the subsidiaries directly concerned, such as Prodigious. This means a rigorous approach to each stage of production (including pre‑production and post‑production) from the start of the project in order to identify the least impacting options (see Section 4.3.8.5);
- 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 to energy consumption – and even selecting 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 its proprietary 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 professions to work together on standards for the industry in terms of equal pay. In September, MSL UK published its “Just Influence” report exploring the situation on compensation for influencers 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 is the result of the partnership established with The Influencer League to build a training course enabling influencers to defend their interests and be better compensated. In July 2023, MSL US continued its work to highlight specific barriers, slowing the emergence of new designers from the broadest diversity. The agency proposed six best practices for a fairer world of influence.
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. This review carried out by this team aims to be independent and agnostic in order to determine the best professional standards to be followed. For more than eleven years, the Publicis Verified team has been piloting this international and multi‑level assessment in more than 15 media categories, examining their offerings and testing technical platforms as well as services. In each category, the team focuses on more than 500 data points for very detailed analysis. The Verified team then informs agencies and clients of their work on Adtech and Martech. This certification makes it possible to validate the contexts in which the brands will appear (brand safety). Out of the hundreds of suppliers in the industry, only 90 have now completed the full assessment and obtained Publicis Verified certification. The annual reassessment process takes into account the evolution of suppliers and industry standards, ensuring that existing partnerships meet the needs of advertisers and the demanding standards of Publicis. Publicis Verified not only works with external and independent technology and data partners to promote the best technology standards across the industry. Extensive work has been carried out since 2021 to cover the areas of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR or ESG), integrating environmental and social issues notably on diversity and inclusion, as well as the ethical use of data and integrating artificial intelligence and systems to combat the various biases of automated systems;
