Publicis a step closer to India goal with Law & Kenneth

The acquisition and subsequent merger of Delhi-based independent ad agency Law & Kenneth last week with the Indian unit of global giant Saatchi & Saatchi has put the spotlight on Paris-headquartered Publicis Groupe, the No 3 marketing communications company in the world after WPP and Omnicom.

Publicis' impending merger with New York-headquartered Omnicom, which will make the combine the largest in the world in the sector, has not prevented it from making acquisitions.

Publicis counts Leo Burnett, flagship Publicis Worldwide, Publicis Capital, Ambience and BBH, besides Saatchi & Saatchi, as its creative agencies in India. In October last year, the group added Mumbai-based Beehive Communications to this list. (THE GANG OF THREE)

While this mix of agencies is not as large as WPP's network that includes JWT, Ogilvy, Contract and Grey, group is a formidable force in India. It ranks second in India with estimated revenues of Rs 750-800 crore in 2013 against WPP's Rs 2,500 crore. IPG's revenues in the year are estimated to be Rs 700 and Omnicom's Rs 300 crore. (These are industry estimates.)

Acquisitions
During his visit to India in December, Publicis Chairman Maurice Levy said acquisitions would also be used to option to grow in the country. "We have some good business units here. But there are areas where we can improve. We can do better with organic growth. We still have to do some acquisitions, limited acquisitions in a few areas. But we have to do it," he had said.

Publicis derives about a fourth of its revenue from emerging markets such as India, China, Brazil and Russia.

The game plan, Levy said, is to increase it to 35 per cent by 2017-end by doubling the size of its operations in these. In China and Brazil that milestone has been achieved. In India, the group proposes to double revenue by the end of this year, aided by its spate of acquisitions of digital and creative agencies.

Small targets
While the bigger creative agencies have all aligned with some group, sources said Publicis could continue chasing smaller firms with sound businesses, such as Beehive and Law & Kenneth.

Beehive, which also has offices in Delhi and Bangalore, has a strong roster of clients in travel and tourism, including Tourism Malaysia, Korea Tourism Organisation, Maharashtra Tourism and Gujarat Tourism.

It also counts Bisleri, Bosch and the Indiabulls group as its clients.

Law & Kenneth, with branches Kolkata and Chennai, has Dabur, ITC, Renault, Jockey and the Hero group among its clients. Both also have strong digital operations.