Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Groupe S.A.
Yannick Bolloré & Arthur Sadoun (Havas & Publicis) | Who's Who Rencontre
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About Arthur Sadoun
In a March 2025 interview, Sadoun discussed the advertising industry's shift toward artificial intelligence and data, stating that "our biggest challenge is to take all these people into this new era of advertising dominated by artificial intelligence, by data where once again these great creative ideas remain at the heart but everything around these ideas has changed." He also described advertising as a "people business" and noted that the industry operates in a state of "permanent uncertainty," requiring agility and a clear compass. In a June 2020 message to Publicis employees, Sadoun addressed the killing of George Floyd and subsequent protests, saying "this is bigger and deeper than we think" and that "actions are more important than words." He called for the company to "imagine, design and execute new ways for Publicis to fight racism and create more opportunities for the black community." In a 2013 interview, Sadoun described the advertising business as one where "you are always two phone calls away from disaster," adding that he believes communicators are "the worst advisors for politicians."
Transcript (24 segments)
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Arthur Sadoun0:06
What I love about this industry is that you meet wonderful people. I have one next to me; it's a people business. Well, he's also a bit of my competitor, but he's a friend. No, more seriously, what attracted me to this industry is that—it's the people. It's a people business, it's a creativity business, it's an industry where everything becomes possible as long as you have ideas and when you are well surrounded to realize them. It's a wonderful industry.
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Interviewer0:26
Yannick Boloré, what was the secret of success when you arrived at Direct 8?
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Yannick Boloré0:29
Oh, that was a long time ago. Uh, well, the secret of success, first, is to have wonderful friends like this gentleman. No, the secret of success is first to believe in it, to have a team, to surround yourself with wonderful people, and to try to do things in a slightly different way, and very quickly after a few months, success arrived, and I really pay tribute to the entire team that was extraordinary in those years.
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Interviewer0:49
Arthur, you joined Publicis in 2007, which is one of the largest communication groups in the world. What is the trademark of Publicis? What ultimately makes its singularity?
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Arthur Sadoun0:59
Publicis is a group that was created by Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet nearly 100 years ago now and then developed by Maurice. I had the luck to arrive after. There have only been three CEOs in 100 years. I think the trademark is that it has always been a pioneer in its industry. Marcel invented advertising at a time. Some will say it's Jacques Séguéla, but we'll say it's Marcel. Maurice really turned a French group into a great global group, and then I arrived after to try to continue this great enterprise. It's truly a spirit that is both familial and with great global ambitions.
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Interviewer1:27
Yannick Boloré, what are the main qualities of Havas compared to its competitors?
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Yannick Boloré1:32
First of all, I'm glad you're asking me this question. First, Havas is much older than Publicis since we're celebrating 190 years this year. Yes, but they are much stronger at it, so the inventor of advertising is Charles Havas, obviously, you could also say Jacques Séguéla, especially since he's here tonight. No, the great qualities of Havas are obviously first, again, it's a bit the same qualities I gave you for Direct. First, an extraordinary team, a very strong history, a capacity to project into the future, a strategy because I believe tonight we're talking about strategy which was obviously very, very profitable, and obviously clients who have trusted us for all these years, who continue to accompany us, to help us develop today and for a long time to come.
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Interviewer2:15
Arthur Sadoun, you replaced Maurice Lévy in 2017 as chairman of the management board. What did you learn from working with this legend of French advertising?
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Arthur Sadoun2:22
First of all, you never replace Maurice Lévy, huh. He is strong. Bravo, bravo. Too strong. We'll all be retired before Maurice Lévy stops working. But I learned a lot from Maurice Lévy. We are lucky to share this passion for clients and our industry. There isn't a day where we don't communicate, there isn't a week where we don't see each other. And I've had the chance these last 10 years, well, 8 years in my position, to learn enormously by his side. Yes. And I continue to learn every day.
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Interviewer2:46
Yannick Boloré, why was the acquisition of a publishing group like Hachette important for you?
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Yannick Boloré2:50
We are developing a strategy to be a global leader in content, media, and communication. Hachette is a global leader in book publishing and travel retail. It was initially mainly for publishing, being a leader in France, one of the leaders in the United States, England, Spain. And since the integration, we can note that the results of Hachette and the group overall, and I pay tribute to Arnaud, are absolutely spectacular, and we expect growth to continue in the coming years.
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Interviewer3:13
Arthur Sadoun, Publicis is today a giant in the market. What is the greatest challenge you have to face daily? Is it recruitment? Is it growth?
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Arthur Sadoun3:20
I think our biggest challenge is to lead all these people into this new era of advertising dominated by artificial intelligence, by data, where once again these great creative ideas remain at the heart, but everything around these ideas has changed. We are in a really different world, and I think our first responsibility, but it's the same for Yannick I think, is to lead all these women and men into this new era and to be able to support them so they progress and obviously remain very, how to say, relevant in the United States in this new world.
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Interviewer3:52
Yannick Boloré, in an economic context that is complicated, what directions do you think should be taken to favor your activity?
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Yannick Boloré3:57
It's a very good question because the economic and political context is obviously changing. So I think we need to keep a cool head, try to maintain a certain agility, obviously, and try to look ahead as Arthur said, he did very well, and as we also do, show constant questioning. We must not take things for granted, they can change very quickly, and I think once again, we need to surround ourselves with an extremely strong team that tells you the truth, that tells you things, and there you go, as they say, alone we go faster, together we go further.
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Interviewer4:31
Arthur Sadoun, you initiated in 2023 a movement that I found very interesting called Working with Cancer to encourage affected employees to better assume their illness while continuing to work. How did you experience it in your case? Even if you've already expressed yourself on this subject.
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Arthur Sadoun4:43
When you fall ill, when you are told you have cancer, you instantly move from the strong camp to the weak camp. You lose confidence in yourself. So when you have my luck, which is to be very well surrounded, to be rather at the end of my career, and to have had a cancer that was rather curable, it's okay. The problem is when you are 35, 45 years old, still in the middle of your ascent, you find yourself in a position where it's difficult to tell your employer you're sick because you're afraid of becoming a burden, being fired, or not advancing. Uh, and that has been the big fight I've led for a few years, which is precisely to ensure that we break the taboos of cancer in the workplace. Through this association called Working with Cancer that Havas joined from the first day, and I thank Yannick, I sent an email, he said yes right away. Which isn't easy when you have tens of thousands of employees because it's a real commitment, and it's something very important because to come back to your question, I think that's the essence. When you learn you're ill, you're first afraid for your life, but you're generally very afraid for your job right after. And I think that when you're at Havas or at Publicis or at 2500 companies today, you perhaps feel more supported since we launched this initiative.
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Interviewer5:51
Yannick Boloré, why is the sculptor Rodin important to you?
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Yannick Boloré5:54
You ask this question because I was a member of the board of the Rodin Museum for 9 years. I had to leave the board because after 9 years, one must leave public service boards. You do age, after all. And then after a while, yes, Rodin is older than me, huh, since I believe it was—we celebrated 100 years of his foundation not so long ago at the Hôtel Biron. No, he's obviously a wonderful sculptor, a fantastic place, the Rodin Museum in the 7th arrondissement as well as in Meudon. There are museums internationally. So I encourage you, if you're watching this video and haven't had the opportunity to visit and spend time at the Rodin Museum.
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Interviewer6:22
So last question, our world is hit by violent winds. How do you manage to keep a group the size of Publicis afloat? I ask the question to both Arthur Sadoun and Yannick Boloré.
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Arthur Sadoun6:31
I'll let Yannick respond for Havas, but I think at heart, we could give the same answer, which is—it's not the first time we've been through a crisis, huh. We both found ourselves with employees who were all at home in a service industry. We've experienced these difficult moments, we've managed crises that were either due to our own problems or external problems. And here, I want to say, it's just one more. We live in this uncertainty and manage uncertainty on a daily basis. And I have the impression that when you look at our results or Havas' results, things are going rather well for the moment. So we're holding the course.
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Yannick Boloré7:00
I agree with Arthur. What is certain is that what has changed in 10 years is that we live in a period of permanent uncertainty. Uh, so we need to have a very clear compass, be able to adapt, and thus remain agile. Unfortunately, I fear that this period of uncertainty will continue. So it's important for a group to have leaders who are charismatic, sympathetic. You know, people will think we're going to merge. We must not.
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Interviewer7:27
Thank you very much to both of you.
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Arthur Sadoun7:29
Thank you. I was joking at the end. There you go, I'm joking.