Publicis Groupe Will Open a New Office in Cincinnati to Service P&G

The world's largest advertiser, Procter & Gamble, has made another major move in the ongoing consolidation of its advertising efforts by bringing its partners at Publicis Groupe to its hometown of Cincinnati. A spokesperson for the holding company confirmed today that two of its shopper marketing agencies, Arc Worldwide and Saatchi & Saatchi X, will open a shared office near P&G headquarters in Ohio to service the business. The news marks Publicis Groupe's first expansion to Cincinnati. It is also the first time the company has acknowledged PG One, its dedicated P&G network. "Publicis Groupe has opened a new office in Cincinnati that brings together multiple agency offerings dedicated to the activation and conversion of sales," read a statement. "The unit, called PG One Commerce, will include talent from Groupe agencies Arc and Saatchi & Saatchi X working across in-store/shopper, retail design, display, digital, ecommerce, data, analytics and quick turn production." Publicis is not the first of P&G's partners to make the move out west this year. In April, WPP announced the launch of Grey Midwest, which combined talent from that agency's P&G team and leadership at Possible's existing offices in Queen City. (Grey Midwest services multiple clients.) That news came the same week that chief brand officer Marc Pritchard announced, at the 4A's Elevate conference in Miami, that P&G's North America Fabric Care business would be handled by a new dedicated division featuring talent from across shops from three different holding companies: WPP’s Grey, Omnicom’s Hearts & Science and Marina Maher Communications and Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi. This latest announcement would seem to be in keeping with P&G's plans to streamline its marketing operations around the world. In July, Adweek reported that Publicis would be restructuring its production departments in New York in order to address the client's demand for "more efficient ways of production." Affected organizations included Saatchi & Saatchi, Publicis New York and the aforementioned PG One, which formed earlier this year. According to parties close to the matter, at least some of the talent helping Publicis staff up in Cincinnati will come from its agencies in Chicago. One source said staff members at Arc Worldwide, which works on Pantene and related P&G brands, were recently told that the entirety of the account would be moving to Ohio. Another said the move was not required, that notes officially went out to both shops yesterday and that the agencies are working with employees on a case by case basis. Publicis has already begun listing jobs at the new office. After today's quarterly earnings call, chairman and CEO Arthur Sadoun cited growth in every region, stating that the company has "largely overcome the challenge we are facing in creative activities."