[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
What is it?
It's a UBA.
A UBA?
Universal Business Adapter.
What's it do?
It connects anything
to everything.
What's this for?
Your laptop, your mainframe,
call center, Unix servers,
Linux servers, internet,
supply chain, payroll
system, HR, e-mail.
Slick.
Do you remember the old times?
People tried to construct
a building without
understanding each other.
Everyone spoke a different
language and no on was able to
communicate with each other.
One of the points that we've
had to address is trying to
pull together a lot of
customer information
from various sources.
And get that on the desktop
within our sales environment.
Relationship.
I would say our business
success is built
on relationships.
They had multiple employees
dealing with a growing customer
base and they had no way to
track those relationships
accurately.
To do that we needed new tools.
The blogsphere is hot.
Corporate blog
marketing strategies.
Using a wiki, the group
can coordinate better.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
If we can provide better
service, a better reaction
time, better planning on the
part of our advisers, that's
going to improve our client
relationships significantly.
To our greatest mechanical
invention, the computer,
and its ultimate vehicle,
the world wide web.
The internet is making us
overly sophisticated.
We are more informed
than ever before.
Hey, we've invested a lot of
time into customizing our
solution to track the entire
client life cycle of lemonade
drinking consumers, and we
needed to know that our
investment would be protected.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[END VIDEO PLAYBACK]
SPEAKER 1: The idea of this
video, like all the other
YouTube mash ups we'll be
seeing in the next day or so is
to give you little samples
showing how thoroughly it
has permeated into our
culture at all levels.
The kinds of concepts and
the tools we're discussing
at this meeting.
To discuss some of this same
phenomenon from a different
perspective our next guest is
ideally positioned for the
kind of discussion
we'd like to have.
This is Maurice Levy, who is
the Chairman and CEO of the
Publicis Group, one of the
largest communication
organizations in the world.
He's come to join
us from France.
It includes three of the top
advertising agencies in the
world, Saatchi and Saatchi, Leo
Burnett, and Publicis itself.
Has a very close link with
Dentsu in Japan, it has
recently acquired Digitas.
Perhaps most impressive to me
among Mr. Levy's many
accomplishments, and I think to
many of you, will be that he
is a Commandeur of the
French Legion d'Honneur.
That is, the Commander of
the French Legion of Honor.
Please john me in
welcoming Maurice Levy.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 1: We just finished a
very interesting session in
which we were hearing about the
modern tools of collaboration
in two kinds of contexts.
One is for the practicalities
in making a corporation run
better, having it's
communications.
The other is for some large,
sort of social level questions.
You know, how companies rise
and fall, how countries rise
and fall and all the rest.
You come from a culture,
you come from a business
which is purely about
creating creativity.
You're not finding
more creative ways
to produce routers.
You're having more
creative ways to produce
creative products.
You also come from a culture
and a continent that has often
been somewhat skeptical and
arm's length about these new
mechanical tricks coming
out of North America.
And I wonder if you could give
us an introductory perspective
of how somebody in your
business of creativity, and
from your culture of some
skepticism about the newest
gadget, thinks we should
consider some of same questions
we've just heard about the
relationship between new
technology tools and the
process of creativity
for human beings.
MAURICE LEVY: Bonjour.
I hope I'm not here because
I am a Commandeur of
the Legion d'Honneur.
SPEAKER 1: But it doesn't hurt.
MAURICE LEVY: It doesn't hurt.
I'm coming from also a very
exotic country, from a lost
continent because when we are
looking at what's happening and
that is linked to the last
words are for John Chambers and
Tom Friedman and what's going
on with China, it is clear that
Europe is lagging behind and we
are facing a lot of issues.
But coming back to our
business, our businesses
are about creativity.
It's not something again, to
refer to the previous
conversation, which is based on
common control, and one of the
reasons why we have a concept
of vive la difference.
It's you know that you help
everyone to feel very good
about their specificity, the
diversity of their origin, the
way they work, to respect who
they are and to give them as
much room as possible in order
that they can have a lot of
room to just do what they want.
And if you look at the world
we live in, funny enough the
technology is not creating
a world of homogenization.
It is enhancing a world of
diversity, and enhancing and
developing the specificities
of each one, and encouraging
the diverse cultures.
So it's very important to
respect the origin of each one
and to have this connection,
which is helping collaboration
on an equal footing.
So it's not one dominating
the other one, it is in the
contrary, something which is
inviting for sharing, and
inviting for creativity.
And that is one of the
important aspect of this
new era where we live in.
With the approach of
technology, what we can say
regarding creativity that in
fact, there is three or four
aspects which are
very important.
The first one, is that
people who are not supposed
to collaborate do.
They do simply because it is
something which is an enabler.
It is helping people to
communicate, to get access to
information, which they would
not have access to in
the previous world.
They know what's going on
in some of the countries,
they know what has been
developed in some areas.
So they have a natural
collaboration, which is
something which was
forbidden before.
forbidden because of the tool
and forbidden also because of
the fact that in our world
people are a little bit
selfish, a little bit egotic.
They are very much about
themselves, and when they have
an idea they are adamant
to defend that idea.
And not so much to share
it or to alter it.
So with this new society we
have something which is really
changing, not only the way we
work, which is very important--
the way we communicate, the way
we get information, but
it is changing society.
We as advertising
people, what do we do?
We select, connect, and
communicate with the consumer.
And if we do it right we create
a loyalty for the brand, and we
help the brand to have a
connection with the consumer,
which is second to none,
and make the consumer
loyal beyond reason.
So that's mainly
what we are doing.
And when the world is changing,
as it is, clearly this is
changing the way we do our job,
it is changing how we are
communicating with the people,
and it is changing how we are
working with our clients.
So it's a new era.
SPEAKER 1: And I wonder if you
could give us the most vivid
illustration that's come up
within your company, of using
this kind of co-creation to
have a sort of product you
wouldn't have had otherwise
without these tools
or approach.
MAURICE LEVY: As we are in this
new world, we are getting
permission to invent, create,
and do things we are which are
a little bit out of the box.
And we believe that people
should not be constrained
in organization which
are just boxes.
And they have to really be
entrepreneurs with their idea.
You have seen something
which is quite funny,
which is Blog Bank.
SPEAKER 1: Excuse me, can
we bring the Blog Bank
slide up again please.
Yes, describe that.
MAURICE LEVY: Blog Bank is
an idea which came from--
SPEAKER 1: And one before this.
MAURICE LEVY: Yes,
one or two more.
An idea which came
from my assistant.
Back, back, back, back.
Back again.
SPEAKER 1: There we go.
MAURICE LEVY: That's fine.
SPEAKER 1: Voila.
MAURICE LEVY: Voila.
[UNINTELLIGIBLE].
The way I work, I have a young
assistance who is working with
me, and then if I have not
broken him he can work
in the organization.
The way I train him is to
have him in some areas.
And he wanted to go to the U.S.
and he wanted to come to the
Silicon Valley, and he spent
about a year in the bay area.
And he came with this idea
of creating a site, with
is a site fore creativity.
Building a community
of creativity.
And saying, OK, we can organize
contests where client is
briefing people who believe
they are creative, or people
who are really creative, or
people who believe that
they have someone in the
family who's creative.
We may not only build something
which is quite vivid, but we
can also, by accident or by
design, find a great idea.
And what happened is that
this has been launched
in 26 of June.
It's slightly more than
three months ago.
We know nothing
[UNINTELLIGIBLE].
We have today more
than 50 million pages
viewed every month.
We have more than 500
unique visitors every day.
And we are already the largest
portal of blogs in France.
And it is the largest and the
first committee of creative
people in the world.
And that is something which
is very interesting because
average age is 22, 23 which is
something which is quite common
in the world of interactive.
But what is more interesting
is that people are
really participating.
And when we are speaking about
consumer empowered, we should
be serious about that.
They are in power, or
they are taking power.
If we want to have the consumer
empowered we have to treat
them as empowered people.
We have to share with
them the process.
We have to invite them to be
part of what we are doing, and
we have another operation which
is underway, which is called 3D
Swym-- S W Y M for See What You
Mean, and 3D Swym is an
operation with a joint venture
with [UNINTELLIGIBLE]
system, who is the
leader in 3D design.
And what we are doing is to
invite the consumer to
participate in the definition
of the product, the shape, the
brand, the color, and all
this is thanks to web 2.0.
So instead of having this kind
of a test which is done with a
focus group or 12 people in a
room you have thousands of
people who have access,
who try and participate.
We can co-create.
And if they are going to
co-create, and the end of the
day they have an ownership
which is second to none.
And this is making them, really
the owner of the brand.
And in my view we are
successful with the brand when
we have transferred the
ownership of the brand to the
consumer-- and I prefer
to say, to the people.
Consumer is only a part of
the person, and we are
speaking to individuals.
We are connecting
with individuals.
And in this world of digital,
what counts most is that thanks
to the fact that you have
infinite access and you had
possibilities which never been
seen before, you can
build something which is
much more emotional.
And that is something which is
a little bit new because we
could think that digitalization
will lead to technology,
to communication which is
controlled, which is much
more based on techniques.
And in fact, what we see is
that the people are using the
web much more to exploit
themselves, to communicate, to
build communities, and
to express themselves.
So the emotion link is even
more important in that world
than in the classic world.
SPEAKER 1: Could you give us an
example or two with specific
products of how this has
worked, and what it's
meant to your company?
And whether there's anything
particularly European in
your approach, whether this
approach might work anywhere?
MAURICE LEVY: I'm not sure
that European have anything
to teach to the world.
And we should be very
modest about that.
We had much more to
learn from the others.
When we see what's going on
in China, even in Russia
with growth which
is just incredible.
We should be very,
very cautious.
If there is something which is,
I would say, more European than
elsewhere, is probably the fact
that living in a scattered
continent with a lot of
nationalities, lot of cultures,
lot of origins, a
true melting pot.
Very close to Africa, to Middle
East, to Mediterranean, and all
this problem with the south,
all this is making us slightly
more-- and really slightly more
only humanistic in having an
approach which is maybe a
little bit philosophical-- and
I'm sorry for using
such a word.
SPEAKER 1: In America.
No, you must leave.
MAURICE LEVY: But we are maybe
thinking a little bit more
philosophically and trying to
have a more humanistic approach
than a tough, hard nosed
business approach that we see.
So this is slowing us down
because obviously when you are
trying to take care of the
people, how do you take
care of the people?
It takes time.
You are not them or a machine
gun on making decisions.
So it's something which
is obviously slowing
down a little bit.
But at the end of the day when
the people are really willing
to contribute, they feel
that they are embarked.
They feel that they are part of
something, what you get out of
them is something which is more
passion, which is
more commitment.
Even if sometime they
miss their commitment.
But they are committed
to the brand.
They are committed to client.
They are committed
to innovation.
They feel that they can
do something which
is much greater.
And if you have that approach,
and if you have the mantra,
which is our mantra which
is vive la difference.
so this means that you start
first by respecting everyone
in every given country
with their own culture.
And starting with the U.S. We
have 45% of our business in the
U.S. We are very proud of that.
We have great teams.
We have fantastic people.
We are doing a fantastic job.
This demonstrates at least that
even with a broken accent,
broken English, we can work a
little bit in a country as
sophisticated as the U.S.
SPEAKER 1: And this ideal
sounding, Edenic society you
portray for us, again, what
would be an example of some
kind of creative product
that's come out of these
new tools you have?
One that pops to your mind.
MAURICE LEVY: Tons.
I don't believe there is
a client in the room, so
I put [UNINTELLIGIBLE]
because if I mention--
SPEAKER 1: I understand.
MAURICE LEVY: --what's
wrong for a client.
I have to be
politically correct.
And business wise correct.
SPEAKER 1: You love
all your children.
MAURICE LEVY: I love all my
children, and the one I
love most is the next one.
SPEAKER 1: So let me return you
then to the terrain of the
philosophe in which you've
been discoursing with us.
Which is very interesting and
very rare here in America.
We heard in the previous
discussion, as we also hear in
the U.S. about two
contradictory emotions people
have had a long time
for about technology.
One that it will empower and
enable human beings and
let them express new
parts of themselves.
The other that it will be a
kind of panopticon where
everything that everybody does
is under scrutiny all the time,
privacy is erased, differences
are bulldozed away.
You have said that you think
technology can become
more humanizing.
How should we think about this
balance between the humanizing
and the dehumanizing aspects of
the business everyone
here is involved in?
MAURICE LEVY: OK, our world
has said a lot about this,
and I will not repeat.
OK, we have the risk of big
brother, we have the risk of
access to information which
are private, and people can
fear for their privacy.
And I think we have to have
some very strict rules.
And we can apply these
rules in democracies.
It's much more difficult to
apply these rules in countries
which have a specific view
in democracy, like for
example, Russia or China.
We had that problem,
which is clear.
If we look at the other side
of the coin we have something
which we never had before.
And some people may be out of
job-- the shrinks because
people today can communicate
easily, they can share
their views, they can
share their pain.
They can find ways to find a
better balance in their life
because they can be very free
in the way they are
communicating because they are
communicating with people they
don't know who will
not judge them.
People who are very far away,
and building a link, which by
the same token, will give
them a view on the world
which is very different.
We will have a better world
simply because people
will be more concerned.
Today we are sitting here from
many countries, and very often
when you open a U.S paper you
have to go to page 32 in order
to see that there is some very
important event which
happened in Europe.
The new generation has not
these kinds of issues.
They have access to
all this information.
Not only to participate in
nourishing the content, but
they are very much more acute
and interested in this open
world that we adult have
been trained and educated.
The other aspect is that
probably the education
will change.
The education will not be
limited to what we have been
used to learning in the past.
But it will be a cool
learning experience.
And there is a lot of thing
that we are learning
today-- who cares?
Who cares?
Because with a click we have
access to a lot of things that
are encumbering our mind and
honestly, it's much better to
have an Alzheimer than to think
about all these things that
have been accumulated which
are useless in our life.
And I think that the access to
all this easy learning will
really change the world.
So funny enough, despite the
fact that I'm belonging to
along an older generation, or
maybe because I started
my life in computers,
I'm very optimistic.
I think that this new world
is a land of promises.
It's a land of hope, it's a
lands where we can do a lot of
things, and not only business.
But it's good to do business.
SPEAKER 1: As you've told us.
MAURICE LEVY: Not enough.
SPEAKER 1: We are
almost out of time.
Let me just ask you, from your
perspective, from a European
culture, what's the single
thing you think the Americans,
who are heavily represented
here, miss about the
possibilities of the internet?
What do you wish you could
whisper in their ear?
Something that they understood
that you in the old
world understand.
MAURICE LEVY: First, it's
a difficult question.
Second, it's very difficult to
give a lesson to the people who
are having invented--
not invented.
This Swiss who had invented the
web, and it's the French who
invented the Minitel and missed
the point and it's
very unfortunate.
SPEAKER 1: Dommage.
Dommage.
MAURICE LEVY: Absolutely.
Again, if there is something
where the French are
good, it's to have ideas.
If there is something where
the American are good,
it's to [UNINTELLIGIBLE]
ideas.
So very often we have very
bright ideas, but they
remain in a safety
box, highly protected.
But you bring them to life.
If there was something that
I would say to my American
friend is that every time I'm
coming here I'm learning.
Sometime good things,
sometime less good things.
Something which is important is
as the Co-chairman of the
French American Business
Council and the next to speak,
is my co-chair, Frederick
Smith, so you have organized
the thing very well.
I'm a fan of Americans.
If I was not, I have to be.
SPEAKER 1: Because
you are here.
So with that, please join me
in thanking Maurice Levy
for his wonderful thoughts.
Thank you.
MAURICE LEVY: Thank
you so much.
