Publicis boss Arthur Sadoun believes that holding company consolidation is having a positive impact on Publicis Groupe’s growth outlook.
The French headquartered advertising company posted year-on-year organic revenue growth of 4.8 per cent to €3.8 billion (A$6.09 billion) for the quarter. In the first nine months, revenue is up 4.8 per cent to €11 billion.
This was even higher in Asia-Pacific, organic revenue was up 5.4 per cent to €348 million
By service line, Publics Groupe’s media arm (which accounts for 62 per cent of revenue) led the charge with high single digit growth, while creative was up by single digits. Technology was down due to client caution over tech projects, although the US reported slight growth in a business area expected to recover next quarter.
Sadoun is confident that Publicis will hit its full-year revenue guidance range of 4.5 to 5 per cent, and that the holding group would outperform its rivals for the eight consecutive year.
Interestingly, Sadoun thanked his rivals for the “reshaping of our industry around three global players” that is creating “favourable conditions for our future growth.
He is referring to Omnicom, which last year acquired IPG Mediabrands; WPP and Publicis Groupe.
In an analyst call, Sadoun said major clients (such as recent wins PepsiCo and Microsoft) are moving away from formal pitches.
“It’s way more efficient to spend their time and their money digging deeper and ‘kicking the tyres,’ as they like to do, on the partner they are interested in, rather than this kind of tap-dancing beauty contest that we all know, that lasts for months, that is a distraction, and that at the end of the day normally gets you to the partner you were preferring at the beginning anyway,” he said.
The Big Three holding companies accounted for 91 per cent of holdco wins in the first half of 2026, up from 74 per cent a year ago, according to COMvergence data. This data does not include Accenture Song.
“I think we should all be very thankful to Omnicom for this move, because it is the entire industry that is benefiting from it today,” he added. “There is a very clear differentiation in terms of positioning among the three.”
Publicis reported €400 million (A$641 million) in net new business in the first nine months of the year.
In Australia, Publicis’ net new business wins have been driven by Samsung with A$120 million in media billings, dairy group Lactalis (A$37 million), Tourism Australia (A$23 million), and Industry Super.
