Monday, November 03, 2014

12191: One More Lévy Laugher.

Hate to give Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Lévy so much attention today, but Advertising Age published a piece on why Sapient is being purchased by the French holding company. One line worth noting read: “Mr. Lévy said that there will be no layoffs when the deal closes.” No, the layoffs typically happen after the deal closes, once the Publicis Groupe accountants get their hands on the books and proceed to make cost-saving recommendations. This, incidentally, is another reason why holding companies should not be purchasing digital agencies. Publicis Groupe does not appear to understand that digital agencies and advertising agencies tend to operate differently—the two have unique business models. Hell, Lévy failed to merge with a similar holding company; hence, it’s crazy to believe he could effectively combine dissimilar enterprises.

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