Publicis Groupe globally has announced it won’t be entering any award shows for all of 2018 in a bid to rein in spending.

The decision was announced over night by new company CEO Arthur Sadoun (centre of main photo) and forbids any of its global agencies participating in awards shows, trade shows or other paid promotional efforts.

The news follows on from a promotional video released at Cannes over the weekend that playfully mocks both the agency and its new French boss, Sadoun. Check it out below:

According to an internal Publicis memo the company is “looking for 2.5 per cent cost synergies for 2018” and hopes to achieve that by “eliminating all award/trade shows for the next year.”

Rather than win award gongs, Publicis is investing its cash in its new Marcel platform, software that is designed to enable its 80,000 employees across 30 different countries to be “the first-ever professional assistant that uses AI and machine learning technology.”

Marcel is all part of Publicis’ “Power of One” strategy that wants the group to function as a “platform” rather than a network. You can check out more about Marcel in the company video below:

Meanwhile, Sadoun has given a frank interview to The Wall Street Journal outlining the difficulties faced by media agencies around the globe. You can read the full interview here.

In the interview, Sadoun said: “If the industry does not bring back growth to our clients’ business, we will be in danger. We have to overcome the fragmentation that now makes marketing splintered. We must be delivering expertise in technology and data and think very broadly about creativity.”