• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, May 29, 2017

In another example of the trend toward re-bundling in the advertising and marketing services sector, Publicis Groupe has formed a new dedicated team to service its Procter & Gamble account in the UK, which includes creative, media and PR. 

The move, reported by Campaign last Friday follows the packaged goods giant’s recent consolidation of its $270 million UK media assignment with Publicis Media. 

The new team includes staffers from Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide, Publicis Media, and PR firm MSL, all owned by Publicis Groupe. 

The newly established team will be led by led by Carol Miller-Repetto, chief operating officer of Saatchi & Saatchi's P&G group, and will work on a list of brands that includes Pampers, Head & Shoulders, Aussie, Ariel, Daz, Fairy, Oral-B, Flash, Vicks and Tampax. 

A spokeswoman for Publicis Groupe told Campaign that P&G indicated it wanted a more simplified agency model. That’s basically re-bundling, like it was in days of yore when a client hired one firm to do all of its advertising and marketing for a percentage of the ad spending, a model, by the way, that is resurging, according to a recent ANA study. 

The holding companies have different names for the trend. Publicis calls it the Power Of One, per a companywide restructuring it launched in 2015. WPP calls it horizontality. Havas has its Villages and Interpublic also cherry picks teams from various agencies to pursue holding company pitches. 

Is it a different kind of bundle from the old days? Sure—the landscape is much more complicated and needs a more sophisticated approach. Procurement is influencing the trend as clients seek more bang for the buck. But it’s re-bundling nonetheless.

And that's not a bad thing if executed properly. Meaning clients get the type of services they need (no more, no less) and agencies carry out a well conceived strategic plan--in a productively collaborative way with all siblings involved--and get paid fairly for doing so. Should be a win-win for both sides. Not a bad thing at all. 

Agreed? I'm not oversimplifying the issue at all, am I?