AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

Publicis, Google Take Things to the Next Level - Advertising Age

Levy and Search Giant Plan a Future Together. Sorrell: What Else Is New?

The announcement was vague and heavily PR’d, but it was clear Publicis wanted to deliver this message: We’re over “frenemy.”

Publicis chief Maurice Levy and Google CEO Eric Schmidt last week outlined a plan to create products to make agency life more efficient. While the statement was ambiguous, it did introduce a plan to exchange talent, embedding Google engineers within media-planning and -buying groups and bringing agency executives to the Googleplex to get a crash course in internet technologies.

And while the deal may have been instituted at the holding-company level, it will be implemented among Publicis Groupe’s creative and media shops.

“We’ll start with small groups in various places in global capacity to learn about workflows, processes and what are true pain points agencies are having,” said Penry Price, Google’s director-North America sales, who was at Publicis’ Paris headquarters with Mr. Schmidt and spearheaded the agreement with North America President-Advertising and Commerce Tim Armstrong. “We want product folks and engineers to understand this, not just account folks. What products need to be built for agencies to help them scale?

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