Publicis' CEO dismisses Meta threat, raises yearly growth guidance
(Reuters) -French advertising firm Publicis on Thursday raised its full-year organic growth forecast following stronger-than-expected second-quarter results, as CEO Arthur Sadoun dismissed concerns over Meta's AI-powered ad creation system.
"When Meta comes along and says that they can do everything themselves, I think that they are completely underestimating the intelligence of our customers, who, moreover, are not fooled," he said during an earnings call.
Sadoun highlighted clients' reluctance to entrust their data to single platforms.
"None of our customers want to leave their data in the world of 'walled gardens.' None of our customers want to work with a single platform," he said, adding that customers wanted to measure the impact of their spending "which obviously cannot be offered by those that do it within their own walls."
Publicis said it has completed its $12 billion, decade-long tech transformation and will now focus on executing its strategy. The company highlighted its proprietary platform, which leverages in-house AI and big data capabilities to track consumer behavior and target individualized ads for over 4 billion internet users globally.
"I've been hearing for nine years that the platforms are going to 'eat us for breakfast.' Honestly, I think it's time to stop talking about how platforms are going to replace us, because it's not a reality," Sadoun stressed.
The company upgraded its 2025 organic growth forecast to close to 5%, up from the previous range of 4% to 5%, after reporting 5.9% net revenue organic growth in the second quarter. Publicis cited a "unprecedented new business run" in the first half of 2025, including wins with Coca-Cola, Nespresso, Lego, Paramount, and Spotify.
Second-quarter revenue rose 10%, with growth across all regions: 5.3% in the U.S., 4.6% in Europe and 5.7% in Asia-Pacific. The company reported $5.2 billion in net new business wins for the first half of 2025, outpacing flatlining competitors such as WPP, Omnicom, Dentsu, and Interpublic, according to JPMorgan data.
(Reporting by Leo Marchandon and Noémie Naudin; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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