Publicis Groupe Press Release

Publicis Groupe Launches VivaKi A New Growth Engine for the New Media and Digital Environment
Paris, June 25, 2008 -- Publicis Groupe today announced the launch of VivaKi, a new strategic initiative designed to significantly improve the performance of advertisers' marketing investments as well as boost Publicis Groupe's growth in the context of rapidly expanding digital markets. VivaKi will be led by Managing Partners Jack Klues and David Kenny, both members of Publicis Groupe's Management Board.
VivaKi will take advantage of the combined scale of the autonomous operations of Digitas, Starcom MediaVest, Denuo and ZenithOptimedia to develop new services, new tools, and new partnerships. The strategic move reflects Publicis Groupe's conviction that a totally new and more integrated organization of the media, interactive, analog and digital universes is necessary in order to leverage scale and technological innovation, the key determinants of future success.
Maurice Levy, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, commented: "The explosion of digital over the last ten years has led to a revolution without precedent in economic history -- in terms of the incredible speed of change, its geographical reach and its depth (the world today has at least 1.7 billion Internet users). Our societies are being transformed before our very eyes: the way people are educated, gather information, entertain themselves, meet each other, dialogue and do business is being profoundly influenced around the planet by the digital, interactive and mobile phone environments. Our business is undergoing equally vast changes. We are witnessing the creation of new global giants (such as Microsoft, Google and Yahoo) as well as a redefinition of our business models thanks to the blurring of boundaries: geographic, professional, as well as between content and distribution or roles regarding content generation.
In order to help our clients rethink their marketing and improve the performance of their media investments in this new world, we have built a leadership position by integrating digital capabilities in all our agencies, by acquiring Digitas and through striking innovative partnerships with new players such as Google.
We are today taking a decisive and transformational step by profoundly modifying the Groupe's organization, by redirecting investments toward digital and by instituting a significant change in our professional approach. All these changes will make our agencies and networks even more competitive and will help our clients build better connections with their audiences by increasing the efficiency and productivity of their marketing investments. In reinforcing our leadership in these new areas, we fully intend to benefit from the surge in this sector's growth and to win substantial new market share."