Publicis Groupe is making its VivaKi agencies into a separate business unit that will be “more broadly available to all Publicis Groupe agencies and the market”.
The move is intended to secure VivaKi’s place as a revenue source as Publicis anticipates that 35 per cent of its revenue will be derived from digital activitiesVivaKi, which consists of four founding agencies, was created to accelerate Publicis’ digital transformation and the change comes as the group reported worse than expected third quarter.
Publicis blamed an “abrupt halt” in client advertising spend, citing Europe as a specific concern, with revenues for the third quarter falling 3.6 per cent, with Southern Europe falling the heaviest at 8.7 per cent in the quarter.As part of its changes to VivaKi, the four agencies that fall under the brand – Digitas, Starcom MediaVest Group, ZenithOptimedia and Razorfish – will now report directly to Maurice Lévy.
VivaKi CEO Jack Klues, who is due to retire in the coming year, will also be involved in developing its new strategic path. After Klues’ retirement, Frank Voris will serve as CEO, alongside Rishad Tobaccowala as VivaKi’s ongoing chief innovation and strategy officer.
“As we seek even more aggressive growth and digital acceleration, the VivaKi leadership – Jack Klues, Laura Desmond, Steve King, Bob Lord and Frank Voris – has developed a plan to open up the VivaKi operations, creating a new impetus for further innovations and more aggressive growth for all Publicis Groupe agencies,” he added.
“All CEOs and leaders will immediately engage VivaKi to leverage its products and services, and to create blueprints for new tools and technologies that will make us stronger, more efficient and more imaginative partners to our clients.”
VivaKi’s Partnership Practice team works with companies including Google,Facebook and Microsoft to create first-mover opportunities, new products and preferred pricing.
One of the most successful aspects of VivaKi has been its ‘Nerve Centre’, Lévy said. “The Nerve Centre is still the only operation of its kind in our industry. It brings strategic innovations to life by leveraging the collective influence of its agencies. It allows us to create world-class offerings in the Centre rather than building duplicate capabilities inside each agency.”