MSLGROUP Brochure

Creative

storytellers for the Conversation Age

MSLGROUP is Publicis Groupe’s strategic communications and engagement network

Established in 2009, in a period dominated by seismic cultural shifts brought about by digital technologies and new communication channels, MSLGROUP’s narrative was shaped during what has become known as the conversation age.

Advisors in all aspects of communications, and masters in the art of conversation, we offer strategic planning and counsel, insight-guided thinking, and big, compelling ideas - with thorough execution.

With more than 3,500 people, our network spans close to 100 offices and covers virtually every discipline required for our clients to engage creatively with their audiences 24 hours a day.

Whether you’re a leader - we work with a quarter of the top-100 most valuable global brands - or a challenger, keen to be heard, our mission is to be your most trusted advisor; a source of creativity, engagement and value in today’s always-on conversation.

T EC H

N

OLOGY

Advent of social media 900+ million “citizens� on Facebook

Erosion of trust at all levels, in all domains People driving the consumer experience as a result of technology.

It is no longer a company-led, oneway street

US TR T

VA

From “me first” to “we as a community”

ES LU

GEOG

From North and West to South and East

R

ME TI

Real-time, always-on, hyper-fast

APHY

At MSLGROUP, we are passionate about the science and art of listening to and engaging with people A series of seismic shifts in recent years has meant that business as we knew it has been fundamentally transformed forever.

Welcome to the conversation economy. Today we live in a real-time marketplace of communities where individuals have the facility to engage with other people, brands and organisations through connections, conversations and information sharing.

Yet, people expect something in return for their time and attention - they will only engage if those entities offer substantial value and relevance.

At MSLGROUP, we are passionate about the science and art of listening to and engaging with people - with insight, with understanding and with a response that is helpful and valuable.

We help our clients move from campaigns to narrative, from intrusion to engagement and from consumers to communities.

We help create positive conversations and spark the coming together of loyal communities

As your trusted advisors, MSLGROUP works to: 4 Craft communications strategies Designing and executing innovative plans and brand narrative across all media channels 4 Identify emerging trends We listen to the relevant conversations for you, tracking emerging ideas and movements that shape your industries 4 Engage communities We help create positive conversations and spark the coming together of loyal communities around a client’s brand 4 Create insights and foresights New thinking and needs are constantly emerging and we ensure we’re connected to them to generate compelling insights and foresights that inspire and feed big ideas for your brands 4 Partner and simplify We collaborate with your most important partners and stakeholders to deliver seamless communications solutions

We use information and insight to develop foresight

Our research-driven studies give us a deep understanding of contexts, situations and people. We use this information and insight to develop foresight - to be prescient and to gauge what might happen - to help our clients stay ahead of the curve.

Recent Publications

Produced by our Crisis team, this e-book looks at three key interplays shaping crises today: the interplays between mainstream media and social media, between local and global dynamics, and between crisis planning and response.

From our food and nutrition marketing specialists comes a report that looks at the social media relationships that are providing cues for food and beverage marketers today.

A new quarterly magazine from MSLGROUP, based on insights into some of the most inspiring projects shaping marketing and communications today, leveraged via our dedicated crowdsourcing platform “The People’s Lab”.

TS INSIGH

This study from our China team identifies three types of female luxury consumers in China and highlights untapped opportunities for luxury brands to effectively engage with their target audiences.

AFRICA+MIDDLE EAST Beirut, Lebanon Cairo, Egypt Johannesburg, South Africa Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

LATIN AMERICA Bogota, Colombia Buenos Aires Caracas, Venezuela Guayaquil, Ecuador Lima, Peru La Paz, Bolivia Montevideo, Uruguay Mexico City, Mexico San Juan, Puerto Rico Santiago, Chile Suncion, Paraguay

NORTH AMERICA Albany, New York Baltimore, Maryland Charlotte, North Cardina Cleveland, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Indianapolis, Indiana Kansas City, Missouri Miami, Florida Minneapolis, Minnesota New Orleans, Louisiana Orlando, Florida Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Phoenix, Arizona Sacramento, California Salt Lake City, Utah St. Louis, Missouri

EUROPE Athens, Greece Barcelona, Spain Belgrade, Serbia Budapest, Hungary Istanbul, Turkey Kiev, Ukraine Madrid, Spain Moscow, Russia Sofia, Bulgaria St. Petersburg, Russia Zagreb, Croatia

ASIA Bangkok, Thailand Canberra, Australia Colombo, Sri Lanka Dhaka, Bangladesh Hanoi, Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Jakarta, Indonesia Karachi, Pakistan Kathmandu, Nepal Lahore, Pakistan Manila, Philippines Melbourne, Australia Naha, Japan Osaka, Japan Phnom Penh, Cambodia Sydney, Australia Vientiane, Laos

Information contained on this global map, including names of countries, regions, cities, and border lines, does not reflect certain areas under political dispute.

OUR WORK Case study

AMSTEL LIGHT THE CHALLENGE The Amstel Light brand had lost its relevance in the 15 years since it first hit the market. With declining sales, it was barely on the radar screens of its target audience.

THE SOLUTION When Boston Bruins (a US ice hockey team) won the 2011 Stanley Cup, they partied hard. After a night of celebration, news leaked that the team had run up a bar tab in excess of $156,000 - with an itemised receipt to prove it. Initially the conversation was about a $100,000 bottle of champagne but the MSL New York team noticed something else. On the receipt was one bottle of Amstel Light. We knew sports fans would want to know who had ordered it…

THE RESULTS Amstel Light garnered more than 275 unique stories, 30 minutes of dedicated broadcast coverage and in the first day of the news hitting Twitter, it became a trending topic. The client reported a 4% increase in total brand awareness and a 9% increase in “favourability” amongst the target.

Case study

ESSAR THE CHALLENGE To introduce the newly created entity, Essar Energy, to financial markets and support the company’s IPO in the UK with an effective and convincing communications programme. The timing of the company launch and its IPO was a key challenge - uncertain markets against a tough economic backdrop meant that investors and the media were wary of new equity offerings.

THE SOLUTION Through a targeted, integrated communications campaign, our agency Capital MSL positioned Essar Energy as an Indian growth and success story. We also positioned the IPO, which was the largest offering in London for several years, as a renaissance moment - a positive event for the market after the credit crunch.

THE RESULTS At a time when other IPOs were being pulled from the market due to unfavourable market conditions, Essar Energy successfully raised approximately $2 billion with a blue-chip roster of investors.

Subsequently, Capital MSL and Essar Energy were recognised by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, in the UK, taking first place in the Investor Relations category at the annual Excellence Awards.

Case study

PAYPAL THE CHALLENGE Since its inception in 2000, e-commerce innovator PayPal has changed the way people shop online. In 2011, the company launched its vision to change the way people shop everywhere. Yet, PayPal lacked a way to illustrate the experience of paying for goods with its integrated technology to potential partners and media, whose buy-in was essential if its vision was to become reality.

THE SOLUTION PBJS - a creative studio within the MSLGROUP family - transformed a Tribeca storefront in New York into the PayPal Shopping Showcase, a series of vignettes that put PayPal solutions into real-world scenarios, from a coffee shop to a hardware store. The Showcase offered guests the chance to learn how PayPal can create an easy and secure shopping experience for retailers and consumers.

THE RESULTS The space created has become an integral sales tool for PayPal with multiple retailers signing on for instore and online payment test programmes. Extensive media coverage, including Forbes, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and Mashable also helped to extend the Showcase’s reach.

Case study

ARIEL THE CHALLENGE Laundry detergents: a deeply low-engagement product category, impossible to do PR for - or is it?

We and our partners at Saatchi & Saatchi needed to prove that the new Ariel Actilift is exceptional in removing tough stains, without boring people to death.

THE SOLUTION Let consumers do what they normally don’t do intentionally: stain brand-new clothes and then put the new Ariel Actilift to the test. Over six days, Scandinavians could try to control our customised industrial robot via Facebook and squirt real goo on over 1,000 pieces of clothing, passing by at high speed, including designer items. We placed the robot in the most public location we could think of: Stockholm Central Station. The rules were simple: aim, stain and win. If someone hit their garment, we washed it live with Ariel Actilift and sent it to them, stain-free.

THE RESULTS This was Scandinavia’s biggest live interactive product demonstration, ever. There were 25,000 likes for Ariel’s Facebook pages in six days, 1,000+ people won clothes - and shared the event in social media.

The event became a blogger and media love-fest with a total reach of well over 5 million.

Case study

MUSÉE D’ORSAY THE CHALLENGE Paris’s iconic Musée d’Orsay - home to one of the largest collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art in the world - was being fully refurbished to showcase old paintings in a converted setting, as well as to display works never showed before. MSLGROUP’s French agency Publicis Consultants was tasked with launching the “new” museum to the French public, encouraging them to visit this national treasure.

THE SOLUTION We created an integrated campaign around the idea, “A new look for Orsay: have a fresh look for yourself”.

Print and outdoor ads depicted close-ups of facial features and expressions in various famous pieces sculptures, photos, paintings - with the tagline encouraging the viewer to uncover the masterpiece behind the close-up. The campaign extended to TV, radio and PR, all of which we handled.

THE RESULTS The number of visits to the famous museum increased 25%, and for the first time in years, French visitors to the museum out-numbered tourists: 56% against 44%. The French had indeed taken the Musee D’Orsay back into their hearts.

Case study

PNEUMOVAX THE CHALLENGE Pneumovax was Japan’s only vaccine for pneumonia, specifically designed for people over the age of 65.

Although pneumonia was the fourth largest cause of death in Japan, studies showed low awareness of the fact that pneumonia could be prevented thanks to a vaccine. In fact just 5% of those over the age of 65 were vaccinated for pneumonia at the time. Our mission was to raise awareness of the seriousness of pneumonia, and how the pneumococcus vaccine could help.

THE SOLUTION We established a quasi-public body made up of multiple organisations to carry out educational activities as part of the project. Leveraging the campaign slogan “Pneumonia is Scary! Prevention is Vital!” we developed a dedicated website and targeted the media to raise awareness and to encourage the public to use the Pneumococcus Infection Call Centre.

THE RESULTS The vaccination rate of five in every 100 people in 2009 increased 50% in 2010 and sales of the Pneumovax vaccine also rose 50% - far beyond the original target.

Case study

GOOGLE THE CHALLENGE Google was facing several policy-relevant issues within German public debate. To enhance its standing in the hearts and minds of the general public and decision makers, it became clear that the internet giant needed to highlight its strong commitment to, and distinct impact upon the German economy to date.

THE SOLUTION On September 27, 2011 Google presented its study “FaktorGoogle - How German Companies Use Google�.

Based on a survey of over 11,000 companies, the paper provided insight into the economic impact of both Google and its range of products including AdWords, Analytics, Translate and Alerts. Working with both Google and consulting company IW, MSL Germany led a multichannel communications effort that included branding, website creation, public affairs, media relations and a press conference.

THE RESULTS Media coverage was extensive and included Die Zeit, Financial Times Deutschland, BILD and Bloomberg.

As a result of the positive outcome, Google then decided to expand the project to two additional stages cooperating with the Federal Association for Information Technology-BITKOM and a leading IT summit in December 2011.

Case study

COCA-COLA THE CHALLENGE Coca-Cola is a household name globally, with some of the world’s best-loved brands. Yet the frankly overwhelming strength of their consumer brands can make attracting and retaining the right people challenging. A lot of brands claim “passion” as a core value, but at Coca-Cola we discovered that it’s genuinely a uniting theme among their people. And while it’s nearly impossible to define passion, let alone bottle it, our challenge was to demonstrate it to potential and existing employees.

THE SOLUTION Playing on Coca-Cola’s renowned “secret formula”, the team at our SAS agency in London developed a core idea and visual expression showing that while there is no single secret formula for passion, every individual at Coca-Cola has their own version of it. Our approach provided the client with a powerful system to create any number of tantalising, intriguing, relevant “formulas”, using words and images, for virtually any people-related communication.

THE RESULTS The European Employer Value Proposition (EVP) has proven successful as a step towards a direct resourcing model and has been considered for a global rollout.

Case study

BRAND SOUTH AFRICA THE CHALLENGE How does one overturn negative, deep-seated prejudice? How do you re-brand a nation that’s currently seen as beset by crime and social problems, to one where opportunity, potential and growth reign supreme? This is exactly what our team was tasked with when they took on the South Africa branding and promotion campaign, during the Shanghai World Expo.

THE SOLUTION We needed to help deliver the message that “South Africa is open for business”. By highlighting the country's cultural appeal and economic emergence, we sought to create an association with China’s own story, fostering mutual respect, relevance and connections between both nations. This would help achieve our objectives of reinventing South Africa’s image in China, and attracting more tourists and business investment.

THE RESULTS As well as ultimately being ranked a “top 10” country pavilion at Shanghai Expo, media articles focusing on violence in South Africa reduced by half over the campaign’s three-month period. In addition, the number of Chinese visitors to South Africa jumped 62% year on year, to an all-time record high.

LET’S START A CONVERSATION Olivier Fleurot CEO T: +33 (0) 1 44 82 47 10 M: +33 (0) 6 28 49 09 05 olivier.fleurot@mslgroup.com

Trudi Harris Chief Communications Officer M: +33 (0) 6 13 73 83 02 trudi.harris@mslgroup.com

Renee Wilson Chief Client Officer T: +1 646 500 7610 M: +1 917 687 7116 renee.wilson@mslgroup.com

Pascal Beucler Chief Strategy Officer T: +33 (0) 1 44 82 47 08 M: +33 (0) 6 09 75 80 17 pascal.beucler@mslgroup.com

Bob Bejan Chief Development Officer T: +33 (0) 1 44 82 46 02 M: +33 (0) 6 79 26 29 21 bob.bejan@mslgroup.com

Sophie Martin Chantepie Chief Talent Officer T: +33 (0) 1 44 82 47 13 M: +33 (0) 6 74 73 09 93 sophie.martin-chantepie@mslgroup.com

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