Publicis Groupe and Tencent Sign Historic Global Partnership

Regulatory News:

Publicis Groupe (Paris:PUB) [Euronext Paris: FR0000130577, CAC40] today announced at Viva Technology Paris a strategic partnership with Tencent, the internet giant that operates the most popular social and media platforms in China. The partnership is the first-of-its-kind collaboration across a global advertising group and all 11 products of Tencent, China’s largest internet company. It is also the first partnership that transcends the Groupe’s three solution hubs of Publicis Media, Publicis Communications and Publicis.Sapient.

The joint agreement was signed by Maurice Levy, Chairman & CEO of Publicis Groupe and SY Lau, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent and President of Online Media Group, who marked the event with the scanning of a WeChat QR code, an action familiar to the 762 million users of WeChat (Active monthly user accounts as of March 2016) during a ceremony held at Viva Technology Paris.

This agreement will cement the two groups’ relationship at a global level with a mission to breed innovations whilst offering clients all of Tencent’s innovations through a unique borderless approach built on three pillars:

• Future Capabilities: Through this partnership, Publicis Groupe and Tencent will launch a ‘Drugstore’ incubation facility, to curate, invest in and cultivate the start-ups of the future. This will provide breakthrough offerings to our clients in data and ad tech as well as across new VR and AR enabled platforms
• Data: Through its connected strategy, Tencent will offer Publicis Groupe access to its vast and rich online behavioral data, benefiting clients through improved programmatic offerings, cross-screen planning capabilities and conversion performance.
• Content: The two companies will partner on the co-creation and co-investment of web native content to drive unique content opportunities and new content models for key clients.

"China continues to lead the world in advertising growth especially in digital and mobile and we increasingly see new ideas and technology that leapfrog the West. Tencent is a company that embodies this strive for growth and innovation and we are honored to be their first-ever global partner and look forward to everything we will achieve together for the ultimate benefit of our clients.” Maurice Lévy, Publicis Groupe Chairman & CEO further commented, "Today we are at Viva Technology Paris, the leading event devoted to start-ups and innovation, and I am very proud to have Mr. SY Lau and his team, among other brands with China origin, to share more on the Chinese Digital Revolution.”

"This bold new partnership with Publicis Groupe, the first of its kind across all of our assets, that will lead the global trends and deliver new ways to meet the needs of our clients and business partners. In parallel, this collaboration will give brands and organizations around the world a better understanding of China's unique and dynamic mobile Internet development, while creating huge business opportunities associated with this new market.” SY Lau, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent and President of Online Media Group commented, "Tencent is one of the world's most influential digital media platforms and Publicis Groupe is one of the global leaders in marketing and communications; together, we will define the new era for the media industry and unveil a new partnership model.”

About Publicis Groupe – The Power of One
Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40] is a global leader in marketing, communication, and digital transformation. Active across the entire value chain, from consulting to creation, and production, Publicis Groupe offers its clients a transversal, unified and fluid model allowing them access to all the Groupe’s tools and expertise around the world. Publicis Groupe is organized across four Solutions hubs:
Publicis Communications, Publicis Media, Publicis.Sapient and Publicis Health. These 4 Solutions hubs operate across principal markets, and are carried across all others by Publicis One. Publicis One is a fully integrated service offering making the Groupe’s expertise available to all clients, under one roof. Present in over 100 countries, Publicis Groupe employs nearly 80,000 professionals.
www.publicisgroupe.com | Twitter: @PublicisGroupe | Facebook: www.facebook.com/publicisgroupe | LinkedIn: Publicis Groupe | http://www.youtube.com/user/PublicisGroupe | Viva la Difference!

About Tencent
Tencent uses technology to enrich the lives of Internet users. Every day, hundreds of millions of people communicate, share experiences, consume information and seek entertainment through our integrated platforms. Tencent’s diversified services include QQ, Weixin/ WeChat for communications; Qzone for social networking; QQ Game Platform for online games; QQ.com and Tencent News for information and Tencent Video for video content.
Tencent was founded in Shenzhen in 1998 and went public on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004. The Company is one of the constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index. Tencent seeks to evolve with the Internet by investing in innovation, providing a hospitable environment for partners, and staying close to users.
http://www.tencent.com/en-us/index.shtml

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160701005734/en/