Interview: Maurice Lévy, ceo Publicis (page 1 of 2)

Q. Publicis is now the world's fourth largest advertising group. In a recent interview, you said that you would rather be a challenger than the biggest company in the world. What did you mean by that?

A. Talking about goals when we've just reached fourth place is a bit theoretical. First, we have to confirm our position. We started in France as a small French company, and France isn't a leading marketing country. So we must be modest. But at the same time this has made us fighters. We are real challengers - that's our strength.

We're not winning because we have lots of money or lots of important clients, but because we always look ahead. We're trying to catch up with the leaders by trying to be the best. This state of mind is essential. We shouldn't be arrogant and say, 'We're number four, but we won't be for long.' Of course, that doesn't mean we don't want to grow.

Q. Will growth come from new acquisitions?

A. It will initially be a question of winning new clients and finding new budgets for our various units. We are lucky to have great brands in all sectors. With names like Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi and Leo Burnett; Zenith, Starcom Media and Optimedia in the field of space buying; Medicus or Nelson in the health sector; and several brands in promotion, we have extraordinary potential. We will get stronger when we finish our integration program. We have a consolidation program that will comprise acquisitions.

Q. Why did you get rid of one of your brands?

A. For several reasons. First, today, there isn't a single network or a single group in the world that can allow itself to have four brands. Moreover, all the other groups have three brands. No brand or network has reached a level at which it can do without providing supplementary services. It is thus necessary to supplement on the geographic level or in terms of the penetration of certain markets. We have to consolidate Saatchi, Publicis and Leo Burnett.

Finally, in view of the fact that D'Arcy lost quite a few budgets, I thought it would have been quite difficult for it to set out to conquer. So, all the conditions were there for us to undertake an operation that had never been done in our field: completely dismantling a network to round out three others. To date, it's been successful.

Q. What do you think the future holds for the communications and advertising sectors?

A. Business will change profoundly, contrary to what happens normally. As far as we're concerned, business won't change on the surface because we'll continue with ads, marketing thinking, customer relations operations and distribution. What will change profoundly is the technology - at the level of the media, the Internet and customer relations. There will be significant changes, the extent of which we don't yet know.

Q. There now seems to be a move towards cheaper and cheaper means of distribution. Print and broadcast media are launched via the Internet.

A. It's true that technology will change the media mix considerably. There will be an incredible number of channels - in Europe there are already over 500. There should be profound changes in pay per view and in the ways of consuming the film mix. That said, the effect of cost inertia is significant.

Things won't change overnight. Look at what's happening in France. The television mix has greatly increased but, for the moment, 91 percent of the audience watches terrestrial channels and only nine percent watches satellite and cable.

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