We want to grow stronger in APAC: Jane Lin-Baden, Publicis Groupe

Publicis Groupe has seen a fantastic year globally with the US and European markets showing robust results in 2022 despite the slowdown. And yet there are expectations galore from the other side of the globe, the APAC market, says, Jane Lin-Baden, CEO, Asia Pacific, Publicis Groupe, who along with Anupriya Acharya, CEO, South Asia, Publicis Groupe spoke to Neeta Nair, Associate Editor of IMPACT Magazine during the former’s India visit. 

Below are edited excerpts of the interview

We've seen a slowdown happening in Europe and America. Do you think that has given an opportunity to the APAC market to set the pace for Publicis’ global growth?

Jane: The global market is highly interconnected, so APAC can’t be a replacement for some other region. Also, the USA and Europe performed very strongly in 2022. So, even though we say the economy is going down, actually, clients have been spending, and the industry is still growing.  This year, because we have pressure owing to the interest rates, we need to be very cautious. But there is some optimism around APAC which seems to be a region with resilience. Countries like India and China have bounced back from the lockdowns, and that resilience will sustain the region's growth in 2023. 

What was APAC’s contribution to the global revenues? 

Jane: Our largest market is still the US and then Europe. But APAC has shown really good growth, even though we don’t have the largest share of volume here. So, the expectation from APAC is not only on the growth, but also on how we bring a very interesting talent innovation into the group.  The importance of this region for the group is really high. Second, it is also critically important for all our clients. Look at India for instance, the largest economy with the youngest population. Clients see it as their key market. 

While the same holds for most holding companies right now, how soon do you see APAC becoming a leading market for the Group, much like North America?

Jane: We want to grow stronger in APAC. It’s our ambition to be as big as the US but the base is very different, so I don't see that happening soon.

In all the recent forecasts, we’ve seen digital overtaking the traditional mediums. As far as Publicis media clients are concerned, what is the breakup like and have you seen the contribution of Digital increase significantly for your Group?

Anupriya: That pretty much depends on the nature of the business and the client. The sector matters; whether they are a food and beverage company or a consumer company or doing CPG or automobiles. The consumer that they're targeting and the tasks that they're trying to achieve dictates what media rules for them. So, while on a general level, we can say that all of them have been doing digital, the split varies according to the sector. Second important factor is the life stage of the company or the brand that they are building. And third is, of course, the type of brand, whether digital or traditional. So, on one hand, you have the classic advertisers with their master brands that have been built over years and decades. They are now realizing that the consumer is changing their behavior towards digital, and are hence embracing the medium.  So, obviously we see the proportion of digital going up. 

On the other hand, there are these digital-first brands that started out digital and were only talking to that population. For them, the journey is very different. However, beyond a certain point, they have realized that they have exhausted everything that can be done on digital, and are now moving to the mainstream media like television. So, it's not a standard amount or percentage of digital to traditional. But the overall contribution of digital versus mainstream, has increased phenomenally, not only the media and the AdEx, but also the associated services that we provide. 

Starcom from Publicis Groupe topped the Media Agency ranking, generating $165m in revenue as per R3’s new business league for 2022. What separates Starcom from the other media agencies?

Anupriya: They have, pretty much, a global yet distinct culture like the creative agencies. And then there are things that are best kept at the central level to address. That’s where we have the Publicis Media layer. But outside of that, their clients, the way they pitch, their philosophies, are all unique. Starcom, for instance, has historically been more around human experience than around ROI. The other thing is also what kind of clients they are handling. Agencies are as good as the clients they handle. A lot of their expertise comes from there.

Coming to the creative side of the business, Publicis Milan has repeatedly topped WARC ratings as the best creative agency globally. As far as Asia Pacific is concerned, which of your agencies in these 12 countries can replace it as the best one? 

Jane: We definitely have high hopes from India. We just had phenomenal results with Leo Burnett here and also with the other agencies last year. It has the potential to evolve significantly in the creative space, globally. We play big in the culture space, and that’s where agencies like Leo Burnett work, to closely connect consumer insights with culture. But other markets are also showing interesting developments. Last year was really historical for us. 

So, the short answer would be Leo Burnett. 

Jane: Definitely, the award goes to Leo Burnett India.

Talking of the two big things for any agency - account wins and awards. Leo Burnett has been winning awards for the past many years, but we haven’t seen much on that front from others, especially BBH and Publicis Worldwide. Will that change at Cannes Lions this year? 

Jane: Hopefully.

Anupriya: The proposition and life stage of each of the agencies is a bit different. The kind of clients they handle and the businesses they go after is also pretty much anchored in their strategy. Are they doing this to ‘win awards’. No, all of this work is being done to ensure that our clients' brands win in the marketplace. Awards happen as a result of that. There are agencies which have some other priorities at this point in time, so they may choose to not enter their work, for example. And, maybe, do it the next year when the priorities change.  Having said that, we have seen that LKSS has done well at Spikes this year. If this conversation had taken place last year, it would have been only LB which would have fit like a glove on the winning-awards discussion, this year it is LKSS too, so every year the strategy changes.

Recently, we have seen a lot of tech talent coming back to the agencies. Are creative and media agencies still in the position to afford them? 

Anupriya: First, I think it's a myth that agencies don't pay well. We are not, as they say, ‘the most underpaid profession’. Agencies are great places to be in and we compensate our people very well.

Coming to the second part, on whether we are taking that talent back from the tech shops? Yes, we are, as and where it is required. It's a matter of the skill and the areas of expertise that we're building, not just about following a trend. There has been significant growth in areas that require a lot of data and tech, and so, we have been building some of these capabilities. Consequently, we see a lot of crossover of talent like Amaresh Godbole coming back from Google and Lalatendu Das joining us from McKinsey. 

Jane: I must add that, from the talent perspective, it is very important to take into consideration the state of the economy; when a particular industry is booming, hiring, the demand etc.  

Which areas are you directing your investments towards in the APAC region, and in India specifically? 

Jane: In APAC, we have seen a lot of investments in tech and data. Second is performance, and the third is commerce. Both are omnichannel.