Letters from Moscow — Publicis' CEO Maurice Levy Calls for Market Leaders to Act as Ethnical Leaders


RETURN TO INTERNATIONALIST HOME PAGE	Publicis' CEO Maurice Levy Calls for Market Leaders to Act as Ethnical Leaders The Kremlin Palace Congress Center, Moscow, Russia—May 13, 2010 Maurice Levy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Groupe opened Day 2 of the IAA World Congress by telling delegates from 45 countries how our new culture of ethical consumption will change traditional concepts of marketing. Today's young generation of Digital Natives is at the forefront of changing the definition of mainstream. According to Levy, "The young got Obama elected and have pushed a sustainability agenda. This is their business model. They understand the power they have to dictate the agenda for the biggest brands and the largest corporations." He cited a fundamental gap between people and big business as fewer consumers trust the ethics of corporations. "This rise of CSR [Corporate Social Responsibility] has not been enough. Today's young want to know why shareholder value is so important when they believe that employees and consumers matter most. The crisis made these feelings more acute. If you think that our future generation only cares about computer games, you are wrong." Maurice Levy believes that all leading brands are subject to the questioning of the new generation. The days are gone when market leaders can assume they will stay market leaders. "However, this does not have to be the end of the big corporation. Today a market leader must be an ethical leader." Today's corporations do have the ability to help solve the world's problems. They can harness their vast resources and affect more people for the better. "They can do more good with more impact." In fact, the world is changing through some of the progressive initiatives adopted by companies like Procter & Gamble, Nestle, L’Oreal, Toyota and Nike. However, all marketers need to question their deepest beliefs about consumption and growth as consumers question the ethical behavior of brands. Maurice Levy believes that the younger generation is ahead of us in new values. They have moved beyond sustainable development by asking to build new opportunities created in an ethical way. "In fact," says Levy, "we should not change for the sake of our children, but because of our children." .

Maurice Levy

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Publicis' CEO Maurice Levy Calls for Market Leaders to Act as Ethnical Leaders

The Kremlin Palace Congress Center, Moscow, Russia—May 13, 2010

Maurice Levy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Groupe opened Day 2 of the IAA World Congress by telling delegates from 45 countries how our new culture of ethical consumption will change traditional concepts of marketing.

Today's young generation of Digital Natives is at the forefront of changing the definition of mainstream. According to Levy, "The young got Obama elected and have pushed a sustainability agenda. This is their business model. They understand the power they have to dictate the agenda for the biggest brands and the largest corporations."

He cited a fundamental gap between people and big business as fewer consumers trust the ethics of corporations. "This rise of CSR [Corporate Social Responsibility] has not been enough. Today's young want to know why shareholder value is so important when they believe that employees and consumers matter most. The crisis made these feelings more acute. If you think that our future generation only cares about computer games, you are wrong."

Maurice Levy believes that all leading brands are subject to the questioning of the new generation. The days are gone when market leaders can assume they will stay market leaders. "However, this does not have to be the end of the big corporation. Today a market leader must be an ethical leader."

Today's corporations do have the ability to help solve the world's problems. They can harness their vast resources and affect more people for the better. "They can do more good with more impact."

In fact, the world is changing through some of the progressive initiatives adopted by companies like Procter & Gamble, Nestle, L’Oreal, Toyota and Nike. However, all marketers need to question their deepest beliefs about consumption and growth as consumers question the ethical behavior of brands.

Maurice Levy believes that the younger generation is ahead of us in new values. They have moved beyond sustainable development by asking to build new opportunities created in an ethical way. "In fact," says Levy, "we should not change for the sake of our children, but because of our children."