In 2025, it’s advert businesses, not their purchasers, which might be grabbing headlines.
Omnicom’s impending IPG takeover, WPP’s layoffs and impending CEO switch-up, together with Publicis Groupe’s dominance, have been on the forefront of advert land chatter.
However whereas it’s on a excessive, Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun informed ADWEEK that purchasers “don’t care that a lot” about business upheaval.
Sadoun mentioned as an alternative, purchasers are presently “obsessed” with implementing AI-driven promoting fashions to make their advert {dollars} work tougher within the present financial local weather—one thing Publicis catered to at Cannes Lions in June with a sequence of closed-door workshops.
This resonated extra with manufacturers than any ongoing dramas within the holding firm sphere, Sadoun mentioned: “Truthfully, our purchasers don’t care that a lot concerning the business.”
Whereas Publicis has been outpacing its rivals, posting 5.9% natural development for Q2 and upgrading its 2025 steering after snagging media briefs for Mars, Paramount, and Coca-Cola North America from WPP within the first half of the yr, Sadoun isn’t gloating concerning the challenges looming over his rivals.
“The noise round Omnicom’s IPG takeover and WPP’s restructuring is hurting our business,” he mentioned. “This fixed information circulation round cost-cutting or succession planning isn’t in any respect what our purchasers wish to hear. They wish to understand how we can assist on this world that’s altering so quick and is extremely unsure, to enhance the effectivity of each greenback or each euro they’re spending.”
A assured outlook
As CMOs tighten their belts and President Trump’s tariffs chew, advertising intelligence firm WARC has downgraded its full-year promoting spend development forecast from 6.7% to six.2%.
Nonetheless, Publicis is using excessive after securing 15 new enterprise wins and advancing its M&A method, with $800 to $900 million earmarked for 2025 acquisitions together with knowledge agency Lotame and influencer advertising platform Captiv8.
Its most up-to-date monetary outcomes, posted on Thursday, July 17, stand in stark distinction to these of WPP, which final week issued a shock revenue warning days earlier than appointing Microsoft exec Cindy Rose as its new CEO. Omnicom, in the meantime, is holding regular, predicting natural development of two.5% to 4.5% for 2025.
Now, having accomplished Publicis’ $12 billion decade-long transformation, Sadoun will flip his focus to onboarding its new purchasers and doubling down on the AI advertising instruments it affords to its roster: two issues he believes can assist ship development for the enterprise, even in adversarial financial circumstances.
“We’re nonetheless on a few new enterprise [pitches], however we see that market that’s much less vibrant,” he mentioned. “Our precedence goes to be to combine the accounts we have now gained within the final 12 months.”
Addressing buyers, Sadoun quashed issues that Meta’s AI-powered promoting land seize would possibly spell bother for legacy advert networks.
“When Meta comes alongside and says that they’ll do all the pieces themselves, I believe that they’re utterly underestimating the intelligence of our clients, who, furthermore, are usually not fooled,” he mentioned through the earnings name.
He added he’d spent “9 years” listening to how platforms had been going to “eat advert businesses for breakfast.”
“It’s time to cease speaking about how platforms are going to exchange us, as a result of it’s not a actuality,” he mentioned.
