Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, said the French ad group had a very strong start to 2024, sustaining growth momentum despite ongoing macroeconomic tensions. Publicis Groupe accelerated its organic growth in Q1 2024, delivering +5.3 percent, ahead of expectations, the company stated.
There were three clear drivers of this performance, as per the Paris-headquartered ad holding company. Publicis captured “a disproportionate part” of the increasing demand for data-led marketing transformation, boosted by AI, in a soon-to-be-cookieless world. “This translated into the double-digit growth of our combined Epsilon and Publicis Media offer,” Sadoun said.
He added, “Second, continued new business tailwinds, coming after we topped the league tables once again, and as we have for the past five years.” Sadoun also pointed to the impact of a clear rebound in the tech sector, where it saw double-digit growth this quarter.
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Looking at the rest of the group’s business, Publicis Sapient recorded sequential improvement, with positive growth in the U.S. despite continued client cautiousness affecting the entire IT consultancy sector. Creative further showed its resilience, posting single-digit growth driven by new business and production.
Sadoun highlighted that all of Publicis Groupe’s regions performed well, with the notable acceleration of Asia fueled by strong growth in China.
“After extracting ourselves from the pack in 2023, we clearly carried that momentum into Q1. We expect this to be our 8th consecutive quarter of delivering the highest growth in the industry, leading to material market share gains. Now, looking at the rest of the year, we are focused on maintaining this dynamic,” said Sadoun. He added, “In what is a still-challenging environment, our leadership in personalization at scale, our new business wins and our platform organization, make us confident in confirming our 2024 guidance.”
Looking at Publicis Groupe’s growth, Sadoun said, “We once again expect to grow twice as fast as the industry average, while delivering the best financial KPIs.”