Looking Ahead with Publicis Le Pont: 2023 and the Ingredients Essential for a Recession-Proof Recipe

We are just about to close a challenging chapter with Covid, and another global crisis is already on our doorstep. A lot of uncertainty surrounds 2023, and we can expect international brands to fight even harder for every potential customer, at a lower price. In this dialogue, Helga Sásdi, co-leader, and Dorota Szablisty, chief digital officer of Publicis Le Pont (by Publicis Groupe CEE) discuss recession-proofing tips on how big brands can get prepared for 2023.

Publicis Le Pont, Publicis Groupe's one-stop hub for digital transformation with speed, efficiency, and consumer-first approach, is celebrating its 1st anniversary in business. The world's third largest communications group's new formation connects the talent and capabilities of commerce, content and production, data, technology, and creativity in Hungary, Poland and Czech Republic. Almost 12 months in, Publicis Le Pont's relatively new path has been paved with successes as it serves some of the biggest brands across the globe.

Q> What do you see in your crystal ball for 2023?

Helga Sásdi> Well, the first look is not super bright. The global economic climate is forcing brands to reevaluate their strategies. Generally, marketing spending is one of the first things that gets cut during uncertain times. This may reflect in a decrease in fees for creative agencies and media spend. It puts additional pressure on the advertising industry as the fight to retain current or gain new customers will be harder than ever. We have been monitoring the development of the current situation for months. It’s clear that brands will also be looking into becoming more independent from global platforms (e.g. Facebook) when it comes to reaching end-consumers. It will lead to double-clicking on digital, especially first party data and personalization efforts. Agencies that can deliver on those distinctive digital capabilities will be in a prime spot to come out on top during the crisis.

Dorota Szablisty> Parallel to the recession, we also need to keep in mind that new generations are coming to power when it comes to spending. We can see that the no-TV generation, namely Millennials and Gen Z, are becoming key audiences to a lot of brands. These consumers had grown up with totally different expectations on how they want to engage with brands and what they value; their attention span is much shorter than previous generations. This group of consumers' expectations will heavily impact the ad industry. In 2023 having a good (digital) strategy and plan for handling platform communication is no longer an option; it's a must.

Q> So 2023 will be the year of slim wallets and tight budgets? 

Helga> The trend starts with consumers. During the pandemic, we have observed a never-seen-before growth in eCommerce. At that time, most consumers, who would have been hesitant towards digital shopping earlier, learned how to rely on that channel and got comfortable using it. The eCommerce trend continues to grow even after the pandemic.

Given the inflation, we can expect consumers to spend less money on big-ticket items but more on impulse purchases. Consumers will also focus more on eCommerce to search for the best deals to stretch their dollars further. Our focus as agency partners is to support and enable our clients' brands to be easy-to-find in the Commerce space. My prediction is that brands with good eCommerce and digital communication strategies will come out stronger from 2023, with bigger market share.

Dorota> Brands need to remain credible and trustworthy to succeed in the digital space and be on the consumers' shortlist. That's especially true with the younger generations: we have seen again and again that clear vision and values the audience can relate to are getting increasingly important. One of the most efficient ways to start building those client relationships in the digital space is content marketing. But developing content strategy and building brand credibility require a complex skillset that very few agencies possess.

Q> How should brands choose their partners in such an uncertain time?

Helga> What we see as a potentially winning recipe is a mix of several capabilities: firstly, access to global domain knowledge, being up to date with all the trends, and no-miss strategies. Secondly, the ability to partner with a brand that can quickly scale and localize deliverables. And thirdly, let me bring my most important mantra here: the quality of the relationship between the agency and client will play crucial role in the success of brand performance. 

Dorota> We believe that the only certainty is that if you stop moving and adapting in the digital space hoping for the best, you will find yourself in trouble, struggling to remain competitive and relevant. Publicis Le Pont - and the knowledge of its 700+ experienced experts offer - can be a solid partner in this journey.

Q> Are long-term strategies up to the challenges of the coming years?

Helga> Planning in such a dynamic environment is an extreme sport! We are building businesses in a volatile space that can change at any moment. Preparing 5-year marketing strategy is a thing of the past for both brands and agencies. Business strategies should be created to allow for flexibility. At Publicis Le Pont, we like to call this shapeshifting - you need to build your operation in such a way that you have a stable core structure, but you allow yourself enough space for frequent maneuvers.

Dorota> Let me share an example of what shapeshifting techniques look like. A couple of years ago, we began collaborating with one of our key clients (a global leader in the FMCG sector) on improvements to their loyalty app. At the beginning we followed our usual way of working, from brief through debrief to delivery of proposals and adjusting them based on rounds of client feedback. Very quickly, we realized that given the number of variations of assets we would need to provide to allow for personalization, we would never be able to deliver on time. That's how “Agile Creativity” was born - a proprietary approach to creative work that's heavily inspired by design thinking methodology. The principle is breaking down big business or communication challenges into smaller, easier-to-digest chunks through a series of short creative sprints during 1-2 day workshops that we organize with our partners. With this method, we can develop over 100 creative ideas quickly. The results were fascinating. 

Helga> 'Agile Creativity' is a great example of how the whole industry could prepare for the months ahead of us. The ability to think one step ahead, the desire to experiment and the willingness to be bold will decide who will come out on top. This is the reason why we also refer to ourselves as shapeshifters at Publicis Le Pont: we are driven by constant change.