The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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By Ishbel Macleod, PR and social media consultant

April 9, 2014 | 2 min read

“Innovation and creativity can come from anywhere. I don’t see the small, new start-ups as a threat, but as an opportunity,” Maurice Lévy, chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, said at MIPTV.

In his keynote, Lévy was asked for his view on innovative small companies, after Sir Martin Sorrell described these as the biggest threat to the advertising industry at last week’s Advertising Week Europe.

He added: “They push the envelope, which is important for us because they’re new kids on the block creating something fresh and new. We have to look at this and question ourselves: Are we still in the race? Shall we reinvent something? Shall we question the way we work? I don’t think that this is a threat. Maybe it’s a threat for Sir Martin because he feels a bit fatigue, but as far as we are concerned we see this as a fantastic opportunity.”

Saying of the advertising world “I’ll be in it forever,” Lévy suggested that Publicis may be seen as coming from the ‘Jurassic age’ of advertising, but mentioned that they are still ‘leading the pack’.

Digital is the key change in the advertising world, he said, saying that this makes communication “more complex”.

“We know since forever that there’s the possibility to avoid advertising. When you look at people trying to avoid it, you see that it’s a very small number.

“Interactivity is the holy grail: we send the message and can get something back. What’s important is to send the right message. Digital is helping us target exactly the right cluster of people we want to address.”

So what should agencies do? “We need to make advertising interesting. We’re using all our creative tricks to get their attention, to retain it, to deliver the message to the point where we can change their behaviour in favour of the brand.”

Start Ups Sir Martin Sorrell Maurice Levy

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