Publicis Groupe has hit back at WPP CEO Cindy Rose’s recent remark about big ad accounts moving on “handshake deals,” that is, without a pitch. Rose didn’t mention Publicis specifically in her remarks but the French-based holdco has won business from Coca-Cola (below), then Pepsico and, before that, Rose’s old employer Microsoft without a pitch.
In what amounts to an open letter Publicis says: “Global companies don’t hand over their “data, media, and tech keys over a friendly espresso. It takes months of hard testing by marketers, engineers, data architects, and procurement teams.
“Skipping an old-school pitch circus isn’t skipping the due diligence. It’s clients knowing what they need and testing us to the limit.”
Will Rose respond? Her PR team will tell her not to (WPP still isn’t growing although its recovery story has been well received.) Publicis, though, currently has an open flank as its $2.2bn *LiveRamp “data collaboration” acquisition has been criticised, not least by relatively small but noisy advertiser Liquid Death.
Let battle commence.
*Here’s what Publicis says about LiveRamp.
