Publicis reaffirms outlook as AI-powered marketing demand drives quarterly growth

By Leo Marchandon

Oct 13 (Reuters) - Publicis confirmed its full-year outlook after the French ad giant's third-quarter organic growth topped market expectations on Tuesday, driven by client demand for AI-powered marketing.

Organic revenue grew 5% in the quarter, ahead of a company-provided consensus of 4.8%.

The global advertising market has consolidated into three groups after Omnicom completed its purchase of Interpublic last year. The new "Big Three", which also includes Britain's WPP, now win 91% of major pitches, up from 74% a year ago, Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun said, citing data from Convergence.

Clients that once took six months to compare four or five agencies now pick one within weeks, and those that choose Publicis do so for its large consumer data, Sadoun added. 

The group's online model tracks 9 in 10 adults with internet activity worldwide, knowledge that Publicis pairs with brands' customer data and AI analytics to plan marketing campaigns.

"AI does not necessarily destroy jobs when there is growth," Sadoun said. Publicis had about 65,000 employees in 2017, when it started rolling out AI tools internally, and has some 115,000 today, he added.

Net new business, or contract wins minus losses, reached $2.2 billion in the quarter, according to a tally by JPMorgan analysts. Net revenue grew 7.9% to €3.81 billion ($4.26 billion).

The contract wins include PepsiCo's media account, Sadoun confirmed, saying Publicis had secured about 2 percentage points of growth for next year, enough for an eighth straight year of beating the market.

Publicis' media business, making up 62% of net revenue, grew at a high single-digit percentage. Consulting arm Publicis Sapient was slightly down due to client caution over costly projects, but grew again in the US and should turn positive in the fourth quarter, Sadoun said.

Publicis expects an annual operating margin slightly above last year's 18.2% and free cash flow of about €2.2 billion.

($1 = 0.8951 euros)

(Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)