Publicis Groupe talks to its culture, evolution and capability of its ‘connected platform’ model which is driving growth to New Zealand businesses and brands.
Since 2021, Publicis Groupe New Zealand has seen double-digit year-on-year growth, becoming the country’s second-largest marketing transformation group. This has been within the broader context of the company’s global performance, posting net organic revenue growth of 5.4% in the first half of the year. Consistently outperforming the market, its market capitalisation has cemented its position as the most valuable agency holding company in the world.
The Publicis ‘connected platform’ and single country P&L model has largely been attributed to its success. And now as the company approaches its 100-year anniversary in 2026, its big play into AI will see it create what it claims is the industry’s first ‘intelligent system’.
Here in New Zealand, the Groupe’s growth and momentum has been driven by its connected platform of marketing transformation specialisms, capabilities and capacity that allows it to create bespoke and modular client solutions at speed, for a seamless end-to-end experience.
The Groupe’s leading resident agencies in Aotearoa include MBM, ranked number one in RECMA’s key measure of ‘dominance’ in NZ’s media agency sector; the industry’s latest media innovator, Spark Foundry; the recently reinvigorated full-service creative stalwart Saatchi & Saatchi; and digital, data and customer experience specialist Digitas.
The power of the connected platform
Much of Publicis Groupe’s reported success can be attributed to its unique commercial structure – having a single country P&L model. In Australia and New Zealand, that sees its 20-plus agencies report into one Groupe ANZ CEO, Michael Rebelo, and closely connected Country Leadership Team. The single P&L model has been effective in removing agency brand silos to drive true collaboration among them, and focus solely on unlocking exponential growth for their clients.
Publicis Groupe NZ’s Chief Connections Officer and Saatchi & Saatchi CEO, Mark Cochrane, said: “It is enabling us to genuinely create connected solutions for any client challenge or retained partnership, plus provide additional project value and capabilities that our CMO, CDO and CIO partners require as they focus on accelerating and unlocking their growth plans, especially in this tricky economic environment.”
The Groupe’s connected clients include the likes of Westpac, Toyota, Auckland Airport, Southern Cross Travel Insurance and Z Energy. Client engagement and ways of working can take many different forms, with its agencies able to adapt and configure seamlessly to differing client needs, big or small.
While Westpac is a fully connected end-to-end model and team, Toyota has a long-standing retained brand-led, communication, media and customer CRM experience structure which includes other agencies outside of Publicis.
Westpac NZ has been a Publicis connected client since 2022. Last year, it partnered with Saatchi & Saatchi, Digitas and Spark Foundry, and at times other modular capabilities such as with sustainability consultants Salterbaxter, and PR experts HerdMSL.
Westpac NZ’s Head of Customer and Performance Marketing, Tanja Jujnovich Rawal, said: “Working in partnership with the Publicis Groupe Connected Platform has been fantastic. Not just how they unlock the brand, but how they have helped us reimagine our customer experience, using data to redefine how we engage with our customers. Their way of working is outstanding, orchestrated around delivering a unified and more meaningful brand experience.”
Meanwhile, Z Energy’s Head of Marketing, Debbie Byrom, says the Groupe’s connected model has enabled the brand to develop strong integrated solutions, and “made it easy to evolve our partnership over time to best suit our needs – from brand and retail work and weaving this through the line into customer strategy”.
The leading brands locally
Digitas is globally known for its data-driven and creative tech-focused approach. Its customer-focused client roster includes Westpac, Toyota, Z Energy, Samsung and McDonald’s. Combining data smarts, creative technology, and a heritage of creating personalised 1:1 connection, the agency helps clients deepen the relationship with their customers and drive greater value to their business.
Its recently appointed Head of Strategy, Meredyth Dale-Gandar, emphasises how collaboration is baked into the connected business model, structurally and culturally. “If we are investing in connected thinking upfront and making sure we are delivering connected outcomes at the end, we are bridging that space between the brand promise and the customer experience. I would say that is the innate cultural desire among all the agencies within the Groupe,” she said.
MBM is New Zealand’s homegrown challenger which had grown to become the country’s largest independent agency before it was acquired by Publicis Groupe in 2019. Its CEO Lee-Ann Morris says: “Publicis has supercharged MBM’s strengths, providing greater access to tools, technology, scale, industry thought leadership, new product capabilities, training and ever-richer insight which directly benefits our clients. While we are a local team of 115 talented passionate people, we have the backing and brain power of over 1,800 across Australia and New Zealand”.
Morris adds that MBM’s growth has come from its willingness to embrace challenge. “We continue to embrace our unique standalone identity within the Publicis ANZ brands. As such, we retain our licence to be bold and this is reflected in our positioning ‘Think Beyond’. This urges us to consider fresh ideas and possibilities that extend beyond what is currently known or conventionally done. That means being curious, brave and taking intelligent risks. Constantly striving to Think Beyond has been the heart of our collective success,” she said.
The recently reinvigorated and fast-growing Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand has a long legacy of creating culturally led brand strategy, ideas and stories that help brands become famous in Kiwi culture and micro cultures.
As a full-service creative company sitting fourth on Campaign Brief’s 2023 Hot List, it has continued to evolve its creative, content, craft and production capabilities, working with the likes of Toyota, Westpac, Z Energy, Chorus, Heineken, DB Export, NZOC and global trading platform brand Pepperstone across all parts of the brands’ ecosystems.
Cochrane said: “I believe our connected way of working, culture, capability and community now powers up Saatchi’s creative belief ‘Nothing is Impossible’. Insight and ideas come from the integrated hard and soft data systems and processes, as well as media and customer thinking in real time. It provides further possibilities to genuinely unlock impact, and wider imagination for our clients’ businesses and brands.
“The Groupe’s production capabilities now available from a craft, post-production and creation point of view, are also exciting and more cost efficient – especially with our continuous commitment to developing AI craft tools,” he said.
Publicis’ latest agency addition, Spark Foundry New Zealand, has achieved remarkable success in the last three years. This year, the agency came home with a Bronze Cannes Lion as part of Samsung’s agency team, for its ‘Samsung Different’ work. Spark Foundry has also won two Gold and two Silver Beacons locally for Samsung ‘Flip Your Perspective’.
Managing Director Nicky Greville says: “The No 1 reason for our success is our people; they are an exceptionally talented group of specialists and worthy of every praise that comes their way.
“At Spark Foundry, we talk about having the spirit of a startup and the soul of the powerhouse. The powerhouse includes the support, expertise and infrastructure that comes with being part of a network. Our startup spirit is powered by our strong vision and values, which have seen us win a raft of new business and awards in the past three years since launching the agency.”
The Groupe’s connected proposition is also supported by a number of specialist agencies and units. This includes Publicis Media Exchange (PMX), its media investment and intelligence practice; sustainability consultancy Salterbaxter; digital business transformation consultant Publicis Sapient; corporate reputation specialists Herd MSL; and its widening content, activation and influencer network through Breakout Room and Saatchi Studios.
Ahead of the AI curve
Publicis Groupe has actively invested in AI and technology both for its people and clients. Marcel, its global community and utility platform driven by AI, has been crucial in bringing together the 100,000-plus strong Publicis community and capability offering.
The company is believed to have a growing advantage in the area of AI, not just due to the $300 million global investment it has made, but also due to its organisational, cultural and technological integration through its ‘Human+’ philosophy.
Publicis claims it is now uniquely positioned to fully harness the power of AI, to become an ‘Intelligent System’ company capable of connecting every data point, from across every expertise, business unit and geography – and putting them into the hands of all of its people.
Powered by a connected culture
Structural connectedness brings huge dividends when it comes to company-wide culture, too. By bridging the space between the brand promise and the customer experience, Cochrane says Publicis Groupe ensures that creative thinking is at the heart of all our disciplines, specialism and crafts.
He adds that what galvanises Publicis is the three-phased integrated ‘Make it Right – Make it Magic – Make it Work’ model. It is used to orchestrate the entire New Zealand team on connected client projects, new business solutions and globally. Each brand understands its role in each phase of the process; be it integrated insight, strategy, creativity, execution, production and measurement and delivery.
Cochrane sums up the company’s connected culture with a sporting metaphor: “The analogy we use is, sometimes you play for your club – your agency brand. And sometimes you also play for your country – the Groupe. Thinking this way, shifting between agency and Group level becomes easy. So, when we are working on Westpac, we may be Saatchi people from the creatively led side of things, but we’re also part of a bespoke team working with our colleagues at Spark Foundry or with Digitas. Culturally, a core tenet that we try to adhere to is that our teams work together because they want to, not need to.”
Connected culture
Publicis Groupe’s Head of People and Culture, Jayde Hill, says its business strategy works in concert with its people strategy and is focused on three key areas: Growth, Magic, and Connection.
These pillars form the basis of the Groupe’s ethos, ‘Vive La Différence’, which expresses how the business values each individual and celebrates differences in identity, background, culture, and experience.
“This ethos is embedded into our operations through competitive paid leave policies, our flexible working approach launched prior to the pandemic and policies around internal mobility and mental and physical wellbeing,” Hill said.
Supportive and inclusive paid leave entitlements include Gender Affirmation Leave, Domestic and Family Violence Leave, Fertility Treatment Leave and Miscarriage Leave. Recognising that menopause can result in physical and emotional challenges that impact women’s productivity and wellbeing, last year Publicis ANZ introduced 10 days paid Menopause Leave.
Its ‘Working with Cancer’ policy ensures employees facing a life-threatening illness are provided with financial support – securing their job and salary for at least one year.
The company also acknowledges differing beliefs by providing flexible working for some public holidays, allowing people to switch a public holiday day for another date that’s important for them to celebrate.
As part of its ‘Towards Net Zero’ climate strategy, Publicis launched the Écologique employee resource group last year, focused on driving sustainable practices, in support of the organisation’s global target to reach net zero by 2040.
Its ‘Work Your World’ initiative allows staff to work from any Publicis office in the world for up to six weeks each year. It also supports employees interested in exploring internal mobility to other Groupe agencies, both in New Zealand and abroad.
“At Publicis, our focus is on creating careers, not just jobs. Our constantly evolving learning and development programme is aimed at providing people with the right tools to foster connection while accelerating their individual learning. Last year, we launched a new toolkit to support employees through a best-in-class career
planning process.
“To date, 15% of our Groupe’s new hires were made through employee referrals,” Hill said.
This was first published in the 2024 September-October NZ Marketing Magazine issue. Subscribe here.
