Posts made in July, 2016

on Jul 30, 2016

By Stephen Lepitak Publicis Worldwide chief executive Arthur Sadoun has joined the chorus of condemnation within his company for the statements made by Saatchi & Saatchi chairman Kevin Roberts that the gender debate within the advertising industry was ‘done’. In an email circulated within Publicis Communications and seen by The Drum, Sadoun echoed the words of Maurice Levy in saying that Roberts, who also attacked the work of Cindy Gallop and Kat Gordon in their drive for gender equality, was not speaking for himself or the company when he made the comments. Sadoun, who Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Jul 30, 2016

By Stephen Lepitak Saatchi & Saatchi chairman and head coach of Publicis Groupe Kevin Roberts has been given a leave of absence from the company as the decision on his future is taken by the Publicis Groupe Supervisory Board. The decision was made following a statement released earlier on Saturday by Maurice Levy which distanced himself and the company from Robert’s comments in an interview with Business Insider where he claimed the gender debate was ‘done’ and added that sexism was worse in other sectors such as the finance, a storm has erupted condemning him. He went on to belittle Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Jul 30, 2016

By Doug Zanger The almost legendary Saatchi & Saatchi chairman Kevin Roberts is a man who means a lot to the advertising industry and to myself as well. The release of his book Lovemarks in 2004 came at an important time. I was transitioning from one gig to another and the timing couldn’t have been better. Reading it was a revelation. This was something that not only could I get behind, but I was willing to shout about as loudly as I could to anyone in my corporation at the time. “Don’t you understand?” I recall from one leadership meeting. “This Kevin Roberts Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Jul 30, 2016

By Stephen Lepitak Publicis Groupe’s chief executive Maurice Levy has distanced himself and the company from the controversial viewpoint expressed by Saatchi & Saatchi chairman Kevin Roberts that the gender debate was ‘over’. The statement, released the day after Roberts was reported to have also criticised the work of Cindy Gallop and 3% Conference founder Kat Gordon who have battled gender inequality in advertising for years, was brief but saw Levy disagree entirely with Robert’s viewpoint. “The opinion expressed by Kevin is neither shared nor supported by myself or the Groupe. It is his own, expressed in his unique and provocative Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Jul 30, 2016

By Cameron Clarke England’s 5p charge on plastic bags appears to have succeeded in changing consumer behaviour after early figures suggested usage has dropped 85 per cent since it was introduced last October. The seven major supermarkets handed out just over 500 million plastic carriers in the first six months after the levy was introduced, compared with more than 7 billion in the year before it came into force, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Environment minister Therese Coffey hailed the expected full year drop of 6 billion bags as a sign that the move has been successful. She said: “Taking Read full story › Source: The Drum...