Publicis Groupe gets a foothold in Asia through SIMS

Paris: French advertising group Publicis Groupe, the world's fourth largest, has acquired a 60-per cent stake in Solutions Integrated Marketing Services( SIMS), one of India's leading marketing services agency for an undisclosed sum. The deal is yet to receive regulatory approval.

The deal is part of Publicis Groupe's increasing global focus on the events industry and will give it a foot in India's marketing services industry, valued at about $1 billion a year.

SIMS provides direct, digital, retail, promotional and event marketing services to clients including Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Cisco, Gillette and ESPN. It also operates a 300-seat call centre for Indian clients.

Maurice Lévy, chairman and chief executive of Publicis, said the Indian company would help his group expand its capabilities in India and also other parts of Asia. Publicis has earlier worked with the company for clients including Hewlett-Packard. Levy said said Publicis began talking with Solutions Integrated Marketing late last year. The deal would help it increase its revenues from marketing services and events in India and Asia.

He said developing countries such as India could see explosive growth in marketing services - which could include everything from staging promotional events to helping companies figure out better ways to sell their wares in stores. Levy said that as there is almost no infrastructure in marketing services in developing countries like India the growth realised could be huge because one is starting from a very low base. According to him India's 'point of purchase' advertising spend was growing at 30-40 percent per year.

Founded in 1995, SIMA employs 200 staff and 650 contract and temporary employees.

It has six offices in India and a subsidiary in Singapore.

Publicis Groupe is the fourth largest advertising group in the world. Its communication activities cover advertising, through three autonomous global advertising networks: Leo Burnett, Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi, as well as through its two multi-hub networks Fallon Worldwide and Bartle Bogle Hegarty. It does media consultancy and buying through two worldwide networks ZenithOptimedia and Starcom MediaVest Group.

A few days ago Publicis had announced the acquisition of a majority stake in eventiveHolding, the topmost event group in Austria and a key player in Germany and Switzerland with offices in Vienna, Hamburg, Munich, New York and Beijing. The move will allow Publicis Events Worldwide to grow faster in Europe and in Switzerland, where the network is already active through its long association with the World Economic Forum and the Forum's prestigious Annual Meeting in Davos.

Apart from this, Publicis announced that Chicago-based Relay, a leader in sponsorship events and a part of Groupe's Starcom MediaVest network, would be realigned with Publicis Events Worldwide. The agency also recently launched Relay China in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

As part of the Groupe's increasing focus on events marketing within the Publicis Groupe's Specialized Agencies and Marketing Services (SAMS) operations, the group has created an events executive board under the chairmanship of Richard Attias, CEO of Publicis Events Worldwide.