Publicis Sells Directly to CEOs Worried About AI
Publicis sells its services directly to CEOs rather than CMOs: top managers are seeking AI adoption partners themselves. The PepsiCo deal was won without a pitch, while the holding company ignored the Coca-Cola tender.
Publicis Groupe is selling its services directly to chief executives rather than marketers: top corporate managers are themselves seeking agencies capable of helping with the adoption of artificial intelligence. This was stated by the chairman and CEO of the French holding company, Arthur Sadoun, during a conference call on the third-quarter results.
"We are increasingly seeing chief executives getting involved in what we do," Sadoun told analysts. According to him, the reason is simple: "CEOs are fascinated by AI and understand that if they want to keep running their companies, they need to understand AI. It has to start at the top."
The no-pitch sales formula — the mechanism of competitive agency selection, in which an advertiser compares proposals from several contractors — is bringing the holding company money. Sadoun directly linked C-level executives' anxiety around artificial intelligence to client spending and new business wins in the third quarter.
What Does This Change for the Advertising Market?
The sales channel is shifting. Those who were previously the ultimate recipients of the marketing budget — chief marketing officers (CMOs) — are increasingly not the agency's only point of entry. Publicis deliberately works above the marketing vertical, appealing to companies' top executives.
The key case is PepsiCo. Last month, Publicis won the corporation's business without a pitch. It is also telling that the holding company itself declined to participate in the competitive tender for Coca-Cola's media business. The choice in favor of direct agreements over grueling competition is strategic, not accidental.
Sadoun's logic boils down to three points:
- AI is changing consumer behavior, and this is a matter of business survival, not of the marketing department.
- Responsibility for adapting to AI lies with the company's top executive.
- An agency ready to speak with a CEO in the language of technology wins contracts without a tender.
Practical Takeaway
If anxiety around AI is truly becoming a driver of budgets, then it is not enough for agencies to demonstrate creativity and media buying. They need to come to CEOs with a transformation agenda. Publicis has already restructured its sales accordingly — and PepsiCo confirms it.
The rest of the market players are left to decide whom to follow. That said, Sadoun's holding company has the advantage of size: not every agency player can afford to walk away from a tender on the scale of Coca-Cola's.
Artem Pasechnik
Original: adweek.com
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