Publicis Groupe unveils A1 tool Marcel – advertising by app

We live our lives via mobile apps these days it seems and now we’ve got a big agency group that’s going to do business that way.

Publicis Groupe has unveiled a beta version of its AI-powered Marcel gizmo which gives all 80,000 employees access to everything (well probably not everything but most of the stuff in the archives and beyond) to assist their transformation to the ‘Power of One.’ Its answer to Siri and Alexa perhaps, developed with Microsoft.

Publicis boss Arthur (‘never knowingly undersold’) Sadoun says: “The need for reinvention is stronger than ever. At Publicis Groupe, we haven’t waited to act. We have broken the divide between data, creativity and technology. We have broken our silos through the ‘Power of One.’ Today, we are breaking the barriers between talent and opportunity with Marcel.”

Here’s a techie (you can tell that by the white shoes) explaining how it works.

Mustn’t mock though, it may well be jolly useful. Publicis is even promising that it will cut down the time spent on time sheets and other disagreeable tasks.

Sadoun’s “transformation” at Publicis is as much to do with saving money. Thousands of people chattering away to Marcel will reduce the need for lots of desks and chairs.