The digital revolution. The advent of the web, then web 2, the massive adoption of social platforms and now the web 3 revolution, which is the new generation of virtual reality, the metaverse and artificial intelligence (AI). Then, we had to adapt to the hyperfragmentation of the media. 15 years ago, it was simple, we had radio, television, print and outdoor advertising. Now, in a deployment plan, we have 200 platforms to manage. Finally, there is data and AI, which bring plenty of possibilities, but also ethical and regulatory challenges.
Before, we asked for a fee to form a complete campaign. Now, as we have a direct view of the effectiveness of our campaigns because of data and media platforms, we are exploring a profit sharing formula between the brand and the advertising agency. This is a big change in professional services. What we manage to generate as a supplement together, we will share it between us. It develops a very strong business relationship between my clients and my organization, because we are linked by the same interests and the same performance indicators. Advertisers have a growing appetite for business models based on risk sharing, but the industry has not yet made this shift. Cossette has been piloting this type of contract for several years, less than half of our contracts work like this, we are only at the beginning of these business models.
Every year, there are new trends that appear and it’s another tool. Influencers add a communication channel to bring brands to life. For us, these are additional partners. It’s another way of communicating and we really recognize their added value. We have often used singers, artists, spokespersons in our campaigns, they are this new generation that is emerging today.
There are several things that we did before that no longer have added value for advertisers because they are automated. Digital media buying, for example, is automated, and performance is automated. Graphic production is sometimes done in internal studios and artificial intelligence makes it possible to automate production. A large agency is there to complement the efforts of advertisers. The industry is complex. There are nuances. When it comes to growing up and having big ambitions, it’s hard to do that yourself. We are here for those who want to give us complete control and we can also complement the internal efforts made by advertisers.
Selling a business to employees is like selling products and services to consumers. We have developed a practice in proposing employer values. We help them define the product, which is the employer brand, with the advantages, benefits and culture that they want to offer to employees. Afterwards, we help them communicate it to employees and future employees. We also helped many organizations communicate with their employees during the pandemic and developed support for communicating diversity, equity and inclusion programs. These are sensitive subjects.
I’ve been in the organization for 20 years, and what hasn’t changed is our culture and our values that keep us going through time. We are always creative in the way we approach change and transformation. We have guts, we dream big and we take risks. When there are trends that appear like influencers and AI, we embrace that. We also want to be an active player in our industry, and our industry gives us that. We work with product houses and media. And our ethics are defined. We have always respected best practices, we are a recognized partner, and that helps us stand the test of time. This is what makes me confident that after me, there will be other leaders in the organization who will be successful.
