Publicis Group introduces AI platform for 80,000 employees
"People don't want to work for companies anymore. They want companies to work for them." That's one of the statements from a Publicis Group presentation on Thursday, exclusively to more than 300 agency representatives and clients, as well as at the Vivatech technology trade show in Paris, of the tool designed to make just that possible: Marcel.
Marcel is a digital platform developed for over 80,000 employees, connecting them and enabling them to benefit from and work with each other freely, quickly and easily to come up with even better solutions and ideas for their clients. Thomas Wildberger, CEO of Publicis Communications in Switzerland, is impressed: "After the announcement a year ago, I wouldn't have expected Marcel to be so far developed. The app is unique in the agency scene. Marcel brings us and our global capabilities even closer together. It's almost as if 80,000 new people are starting at Stadelhofen," Wildberger said in a statement.
Marcel, developed primarily by Publicis.Sapient and specifically in the AI space with the help of Microsoft, puts the user at the center and is designed to support, inspire and empower them in their daily work. The app is programmed and designed in such a way that every employee of every Publicis company can access all relevant information that may be helpful to him or her through simple voice or text input. Soon there will be a data pool of around 5 billion documents where, among other things, work and cases from the Publicis world can be queried and viewed - neatly catalogued and prepared for mobile (iOS and Android). Anyone with questions, be it about specific industries, experiences or markets, can get in touch with people from the network who can pass on their knowledge. For example, if a creative at the Starcom media agency in Singapore is looking for a retail expert for her project, she simply has to ask in the app. Marcel then spits out 359 suitable employees, each of whom has their own profile, similar to a social network. The profile contains information such as which agency the employee works for and what function he or she has there. Employees can also enter their skills, personal interests, recent work and awards they have won. Marcel can even arrange appointments for personal exchanges, as the app can be given access to the user's own calendar.
"With Marcel, we are evolving from a holding company to a platform, enabling our creative minds to develop and thrive in this ever-changing industry," said Arthur Sadoun, CEO of Publicis Group.
Marcel is currently in the test phase. At the beginning of June, 1,000 selected Publicis representatives will be provided with a beta version, whose feedback will be incorporated into further development and optimization. The roll-out to the 80,000 employees will take place in January 2019.
