UPDATE: After this story ran, a spokesperson for BBH told us that the agency’s New York office would not be part of this combo move. We don’t know why that is the case, nor do we know why Publicis didn’t make that clear from the start. The below still applies to every other PG shop in Manhattan.
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Publicis Groupe confirmed this week that it will soon move to combine all agencies located in major U.S. cities in single office buildings.
Each shop will follow the lead of Saatchi & Saatchi, which left its iconic downtown Manhattan headquarters back in September in the interest of moving on up to midtown.
From a company spokesperson:
“In the spirit of the Power of One, we strive to better serve our clients through deeper collaboration, cross-agency sharing and insight. As we often do, we are continually considering opportunities to consolidate our operations in major cities where it makes sense for both our clients and people.”
Moving forward, the U.S. hubs for Publicis shops will be as follows:
- New York: 1675 Broadway
- Chicago: 35 W. Wacker Drive (the Leo Burnett Building)
- Boston: 40 Water Street at Congress Square
- Detroit: 3310 W. Big Beaver Road, Troy, Michigan
- Atlanta: 384 Northyards Boulevard
According to the parties who alerted us to this change, the San Francisco and L.A. locations have yet to be determined.
We’re told staffers learned two days ago that their commutes would be changing and that the shift does not, so far, involve any downsizing or reorganization. We initially thought, things will probably get a little awkward when it comes time to pick seats. But then we remembered that Publicis New York has no assigned desks, so….
The Havas-style purge will be brutal.
We hear that Publicis will be making similar moves around the world, but we don’t have any comment on that one yet.
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