This program has enabled the Groupe to develop inclusive tools from the media planning stage and for media purchasing, including the Inclusive Buying Protocol (IBP). This tool is unique in the market and makes it possible to align the inclusion objectives of a communication campaign with the demographics of the brand’s potential customers. This tool ensures better coverage of all target population segments, corrects any bias resulting from automated purchasing mechanisms, such as with programmatic advertising, and complements the multicultural aspect of a campaign. The IBP, which enables a more granular approach to the audiences sought, has been deployed in the various Publicis Media tools in the United States.
In 2022 and 2023, through its dedicated Inclusion Investment Funds, the Groupe will have invested USD 30 million in the creation of 32 projects, representing 390 hours of content, alone generating more than 500 million additional views. Some content continues, such as “6 Minutes to Glory” with a season two. In October 2023, the Coalition met to take stock of the rest of the initiative, with nearly 150 participants and 32 clients/brands represented.
This investment contributes to the commitments of the Pausing For Action plan taken in 2020 in the United States in favor of effective and concrete support for communities and minorities.
4.3.8.5 Responsible Marketing & Technology in action in agencies and with clients
1) Publicis France
Within the France Executive Committee, a country‑wide CSR Department was created in 2019. A community of 60 CSR ambassadors was set up, meeting twice every month to share, learn and disseminate common actions within the agencies. Since 2020, Publicis France has been the leading network in the country in terms of number of CSR agencies labeled "Active Agencies of the AACC" in partnership with Afnor Certification, with 11 agencies (out of 13 eligible), including ten at the highest level. Publicis Live was ISO 20121‑certified. These efforts should also be compared with actions to promote diversity (see Section 4.2.4.1).
In 2023, Publicis France continued to make CSR transformation a major strategic challenge, both internally and with its clients, in particular with its responsible communication program No Impact for Big Impact (NIBI), including the Positive Media Project think tank. Inspirational Positive Talks are regularly offered to all employees and are often open to clients. They address issues of responsibility such as “The war on greenwashing is declared” and “The new challenges of representation in communication.” In July 2023, a whole day was dedicated to “New Narratives and Collective Imaginations” to get all employees on board and make people understand where our responsibility lies.
France makes its work and interviews with experts publicly available on the platform www.positivebypublicis.com, for the sake of sharing with the industry.
Regarding the NIBI program, 2,700 employees have been trained internally by the end of 2023, with a program available in French and English on Marcel. More than 19 clients are engaged in the process of transforming their communication, and 41 others were made aware of NIBI (representing 87% of the Top 30 clients in France), with more than 800 people trained.
Publicis France continued to work on diversity and inclusion issues in representations with partners such as Singularist and Icono'clash, as well as with partners acting in the “Behind the camera” business lines, such as Sequences Clés and the Collectif 50/50. NIBI tools have been updated and shared with other countries.
In 2023, a Playbook for more responsible communication was launched, bringing together our committed communication actions and responsible solutions to support our clients in their positive transformation. It can be requested at the following address: nibi@publicis.com.
Publicis France continued to actively participate in the collective actions of the sector with the AACC, UDECAM, the CPP and the UDM, and also by getting involved in the work initiated by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the General Secretariat for Sustainable Development. For example, Publicis has played an active role in raising awareness of the Climate and Resilience Act’s Climate Contracts by leading by example and writing its own in June 2022, but also by encouraging its clients and other agencies to publish their Climate Contracts via client webinars and at AACC.
Publicis Conseil has published its 4th CSR Strategy and Action Plan report and worked with its Expert Stakeholder Committee (including four clients, one representative of the ARPP, two representatives of NGOs, one representative of an Inclusion & Diversity association, one representative of Responsible Digital Services, two representatives of Media and one representative of a student association), which meets twice a year.
2) Publicis UK
- In 2023, Publicis UK continued its work on measuring the environmental impacts of all its activities. The internal Green Council accelerated the ongoing transformation. A training program made it possible to raise all teams' awareness of climate issues, enabling everyone to understand the challenges of individual and collective scope. In the form of three interactive and dynamic Peptalk sessions, employees were able to be trained and motivated, and ask all their questions to experts and management. This determination was also seen in the internal communication materials, covering and detailing inspiring internal and external initiatives.