Facebook and Publicis Groupe to be long-term partners

Last week, Facebook struck a multiyear partnership with the advertising company Publicis Groupe. The deal that’s worth hundreds of millions of dollars will allow Publicis to access Facebook’s ad inventory and data, and to maintain the balance between Instagram and videos from the social network. Publicis Groupe has clients like Procter & Gamble, Verizon, and Coca-Cola, so a partnership with this company would definitely change for the better Facebook’s overcrowded platform. Laura Desmond, CEO at Publicis Groupe’s Starcom MediaVest Group said that this partnership between agency networks and publishers is a new breed of relationships, and we tend to believe her.

When Ms. Desmond was asked about video advertising, visual storytelling, data and targeting, she said: “The deal didn’t start from a standpoint of ad pricing or inventory. It started from standpoint of three big pillars that clients, ourselves and Facebook are working on now.” It’s somewhat clear that Facebook wanted this partnership in order to become more organized and work better with marketers. All of Facebook’s information will eventually be integrated with Publicis’ systems for ad targeting, planning purposes and last but not least optimization.

“You can boil it down to integration and data. We’re the first agency network that will have this comprehensive level of data and access,” Ms. Desmond said. Facebook is known to be competitive, especially when it comes to its biggest rival, Twitter. Last year in April, Twitter struck a similar partnership with Starcom MediaVest Group, a deal that was worth $200 million. “Agencies, brands, and Facebook all have one common goal: to make great ads and put them in front of the right people. Our work with Publicis will center on bringing clients closer to our products, and creating new planning and measurement tools to make buying easier, more efficient, and ultimately prove out ROI (return on investment),” said Patrick Harris, Director, Global Agency Development at Facebook

The partnership between Facebook and Publicis Groupe is designed to be long-term, as the one between Twitter and Starcom MediaVest Group. Considering a short-term relationship could never have the same efficiency, the social network has to comply with the actual terms (even if it’s known to be a “chameleon”) if they want to have any profit from this deal. “Once we start to see outcomes, this will lead us to want to co create other solutions or products that will unlock more value for clients and for Facebook and for all of us,” Ms. Desmond said.