Three years after it acquired UK agency Octopus, Publicis Groupe is rebranding the B2B shop as Publicis Pro and rolling it out across the EMEA region, with an emphasis on Germany and France. A team of 60 people based in London will make up the core team, with more resources to pull on when needed.
Since it sold to Publicis in 2021, Octopus has won some pan-European clients including Sharp, Rolls Royce, software brand Smartsheet, and cloud communications company Twilio.
Demet Ikiler, Publicis Groupe’s EMEA CEO, is the man behind the move. He said: “We want to make Publicis Groupe a centre of excellence for B2B clients, and to better serve our existing B2C clients who require B2B expertise. By building out Publicis Pro across our key markets in the region, we are already uncovering exciting new growth opportunities.”
Jon Lonsdale, who started at Octopus back in 2001, is the CEO of Publicis Pro. He said: “This will allow us to offer clients more access to talent, tech and data as we scale and supercharge our existing offering across Publicis Groupe. Publicis Pro brings an exciting opportunity to launch new services, including AI tools, that are specifically designed for complex B2B audiences.”
Tom Pepper, Senior Director, LinkedIn, EMEA & LATAM, said: “The launch of Publicis Pro is a testament to how the industry has evolved to recognise the unique expertise needed in B2B, and at LinkedIn, we look forward to partnering with the team to drive value for their clients through our B2B-ready products and unique professional insights.”
