Publicis Groupe consolidates its assets on Romanian market under Lions Communication umbrella

Cristina Blanaru Branding, Business, Creativity

  • Publicis Groupe continues its consolidation on Romanian market

  • Saatchi & Saatchi brand to get under Publicis Groupe Bucharest umbrella starting January 2015

Publicis Groupe and Centrade Saatchi&Saatchi announced, on Tuesday, that Saatchi & Saatchi brand in Romania will be consolidated under a sole legal entity, Lion Communication SA, which has as main shareholder Publicis Groupe.

Lions Communication will be the umbrella that will bring together, in Romania, group’s 3 brands, namely Publicis, Leo Burnett and Saatchi&Saatchi.

Saatchi’s transfer will be made starting January 1st 2015. Starting from that moment, the agency and the team headed by Radu Florescu will continue to function as independent entity, keeping their portfolio of clients.

Publicis Groupe’s decision is part of company’s global strategy of consolidating its brands under a sole legal entity which has as main shareholder Publicis and to insure the integrity and regional cooperation on the markets it is present.

We had a very good relation with Centrade Saatchi & Saatchi and Radu Florescu. Our decision doesn’t reflect under any circumstances any dissatisfaction regarding agency’s performance, as it handled a large range of clients and wore in an admirable manner the name Saatchi & Saatchi. Publicis Groupe will continue the partnership with Florescu brothers for Zenith Media

Justin Billingsley,

COO Saatchi & Saatchi EMEA

Florescu

The period during which we were affiliated to Saatchi & Saatchi network was very pleasant and we are wishing them luck forward. Related to our group’s operations, nothing will change for our clients or for our employees. We are trustful that our agency will continue to grow. Now, we have a team of 70 well-prepared people and we expect the team including the same 70 people to remain at our clients’ disposal also in 2015

Radu Florescu,

CEO Centrade Saatchi & Saatchi

With over 20 years of experience in Romania, Centrade group proved to be a long term partner for both multinationals entering the Romanian market and for local companies. Moreover, Centrade initiated partnerships with NGOs like United Way, Princess Margrethe Foundation, ASEBUSS, AIESEC, Junior Achievement, OvidiuRo and RFK Speak the Truth for Power, supporting their efforts to support the local community.

Centrade started its Romanian activities in 1992 and, over time, won over 40 prizes to local and international creative festivals like Cannes Lions (with Saatchi Germany), Clio Awards, New York Film Festival, Golden Drum, EFFIE, World Luxury Awards and others.

Publicis Groupe’s consolidation in Romania started in November 2010, when the company announced it acquired three long-term affiliate companies in Romania, merging them into an integrated agency, Grupul Publicis Communications Services Bucharest. The move lead to the creation of a single agency reuniting Publicis Romania, Focus Advertising and Publicis Events and managed by Teddy C Dumitrescu as CEO.

In September 2013, Publicis Groupe acquired Zenith Romania, taking over the majority control of the agency, according to a press release.

A month later, Publicis Groupe announced a further consolidation of its operations in Romania, by buying the majority stake (51%) in affiliate agencies on the local market, namely Leo Burnett & Target, Starcom MediaVest Group, Optimedia, The Practice and iLeo. The company integrated Publicis Communication Services Bucharest and the than newly acquired agencies under Publicis Romania umbrella and having Teddy Dumitrescu and Stefan Iordache as co-CEOs and Teddy Dumitrescu as a Country Chairman, reporting to Tomasz Pawlikowski, Chief Executive Officer of Central & Eastern Europe, Publicis Worldwide.

This year, also a part of Publicis Groupe plans for consolidation, Romanian The Practice  joined Publicis’ PR network MSL and turned into  MSLGroup The Practice