Publicis Groupe has boosted its annual outlook for the second time this year after third-quarter organic revenue growth beat analysts’ expectations, with the French advertising group crediting artificial intelligence products for powering its top line.
The owner of agencies including Leo and Saatchi & Saatchi now projects full-year net revenue will grow between 5% and 5.5% organically, ahead of its previous guidance of close to 5%, reports The Wall Street Journal. Third-quarter organic growth reached 5.7%, exceeding analysts’ forecasts of 5.1%.
Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO of Publicis, says: “We are demonstrating that artificial intelligence at Publicis is not a future promise, it is a reality today that is driving our growth. Not only did we not experience any material cuts in marketing spend, but we also saw an acceleration in demand for our AI-led products and services.”
Ad agencies face investor concerns about artificial intelligence as technology giants make inroads in deploying AI to automate ad creation, fuelling doubts about agencies’ future role. Publicis has lost about one fifth of its market value this year.
The company has positioned itself around what it calls Adaptive Excellence, a strategy focused on AI-powered search that addresses over 2 billion daily Google Search users. Publicis notes that 15% of daily searches on Google are entirely new, underscoring the dynamic nature of search behaviour that AI helps navigate.
The company said its AI production platform grew strongly and that it experienced no slowdown in client demand. When it raised guidance in July, Publicis had indicated its outlook factored in anticipated cuts in client spending due to economic uncertainty triggered by tariffs. Those cuts did not materialise in the third quarter.
Publicis said it anticipated positive trends would extend into the final quarter, giving it confidence to lift its annual guidance again. Account wins supported its outlook for next year.
Third-quarter net revenue reached €3.53 billion ($4.09 billion), up 3.1% year-on-year in reported terms.
