French businessman Maurice Lévy has been CEO of Publicis Groupe, the third-largest ad agency network in the world, since 1987.
In an interview with Business Insider Australia, Lévy admitted 2014 had been a tough year for his company, and that it was his fault: he said he was distracted by a $35 billion merger with Omnicom that would have resulted in the world’s biggest agency network, but died on delivery in May.
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Then there was their client Blackberry, which decided to shift from consumer to B2B (business to business), taking away 90% of the revenues from that account.
Then another client, Motorola, moved from Google to Lenovo and that money vanished suddenly.
But Lévy believes 2015 will be a more positive year for the company.
BI was trying to push his buttons a little, calling him on the fact that he talks a lot about business transformation, but is himself a bit of a Luddite. They asked which particular phone Lévy uses, and which Apps.
“I have all the tools like everyone, ” Lévy answered somewhat defensively.
Has technology changed the way he works?
“I’m still writing with a pen, ” Lévy conceded. “And I’m sending handwritten notes to people I like because I think this is courtesy; it is politeness. But I’m using emails and have been since the early 1990s.”
Lévy concluded: “The real thing is not the transformation in that aspect — it counts — but the real thing is how you integrate all this in your mindset when it comes to the agency itself and the way you are operating. This is the most important aspect.”
