Publicis Groupe benefits from shift in marketers’ priorities

The Paris-based advertising holding company, which owns agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett and Zenith, said 2021 served as a period of rebound after its business with marketers was hit heavily by the pandemic in 2020 .

Publicis said it expects to deliver organic revenue growth of between 4% and 5% in 2022. Organic revenue offsets the effects of currency fluctuations, acquisitions and disposals.

The company is helping marketers address what chief executive Arthur Sadoun calls the two biggest disruptions they are facing: “the shift from cookies to identity and the shift from paid to proprietary media.”

Alphabet Inc. Google plans to block user-tracking technology called third-party cookies in its Chrome browser from next year, prompting many marketers to look for other means to target customers. Social media, commerce platforms and branded content have given brands new potential avenues to reach customers, meanwhile, audiences for some paid advertising channels such as traditional TV commercials have declined.

Publicis’ revenue for 2021 was €11.74 billion, equivalent to $13.27 billion, up 8.8% from €10.79 billion in 2020. Publicis said organic revenue in the fourth quarter grew 9.3% compared to the year-ago quarter and was up 5% from the same quarter. 2019

The company’s results come ahead of earnings reports from ad holding company peers such as Interpublic Group of Cos and Omnicom Group Inc.

UBS Research said in a note last month that the industry experienced rapid growth from the pandemic between 2016 and 2020 due to factors including pricing pressure and increased competition.

The UBS note states, “Arguably over the past 12 months, industry growth has been positively driven by strong demand for media … and non-communication services such as e-commerce, technology, experience, data and business transformation.” The demand has picked up.” ,

This story has been published without modification to the text from a wire agency feed