MSLGROUP is a strategic communications and public engagement agency that was established in 2009 during the rise of digital technologies and new communication channels. [1] With over 3,500 employees across nearly 100 offices globally, MSLGROUP provides strategic planning, creative ideas, and execution for a quarter of the top 100 global brands. [2] As trusted advisors, MSLGROUP helps clients craft communications strategies, identify trends, engage communities, create insights, and partner with stakeholders. [3]
3. MSLGROUP is
Publicis Groupe’s
strategic
communications Established in 2009, in a period dominated by seismic cultural
and engagement shifts brought about by digital technologies and new
communication channels, MSLGROUP’s narrative was shaped
network during what has become known as the conversation age.
Advisors in all aspects of communications, and masters in the
art of conversation, we offer strategic planning and counsel,
insight-guided thinking, and big, compelling ideas - with
thorough execution.
With more than 3,500 people, our network spans close to 100
offices and covers virtually every discipline required for our clients
to engage creatively with their audiences 24 hours a day.
Whether you’re a leader - we work with a quarter of the top-100
most valuable global brands - or a challenger, keen to be heard,
our mission is to be your most trusted advisor; a source of
creativity, engagement and value in today’s always-on
conversation.
4. T EC H Advent of social media
900+ million “citizens”
N
on Facebook
OLOGY Erosion of trust at all
levels, in all domains
US
People driving the
TR T
consumer
experience as a
result of technology.
It is no longer a
company-led, one-
way street
5. Real-time, always-on,
From North and West
ME hyper-fast
to South and East TI
From “me first” to APHY
R
“we as a community”
GEOG
ES
LU
VA
At MSLGROUP,
we are passionate
about the science
and art of listening
to and engaging
with people
A series of seismic shifts in recent years has meant that business
as we knew it has been fundamentally transformed forever.
Welcome to the conversation economy. Today we live in a
real-time marketplace of communities where individuals have the
facility to engage with other people, brands and organisations
through connections, conversations and information sharing.
Yet, people expect something in return for their time and
attention - they will only engage if those entities offer substantial
value and relevance.
At MSLGROUP, we are passionate about the science and art of
listening to and engaging with people - with insight, with
understanding and with a response that is helpful and valuable.
We help our clients move from campaigns to narrative, from
intrusion to engagement and from consumers to communities.
6.
7. We help create
positive
conversations and As your trusted advisors, MSLGROUP works to:
spark the coming 4 Craft communications strategies
Designing and executing innovative plans and brand narrative
together of loyal across all media channels
communities 4 Identify emerging trends
We listen to the relevant conversations for you, tracking
emerging ideas and movements that shape your industries
4 Engage communities
We help create positive conversations and spark the coming
together of loyal communities around a client’s brand
4 Create insights and foresights
New thinking and needs are constantly emerging and we
ensure we’re connected to them to generate compelling
insights and foresights that inspire and feed big ideas for your
brands
4 Partner and simplify
We collaborate with your most important partners and
stakeholders to deliver seamless communications solutions
8.
9. We use
information and
insight to develop
foresight
Our research-driven studies give us a deep understanding of
contexts, situations and people. We use this information and
insight to develop foresight - to be prescient and to gauge what
might happen - to help our clients stay ahead of the curve.
10. Recent Publications
Produced by our Crisis team, this e-book looks at
three key interplays shaping crises today:
the interplays between mainstream media and
social media, between local and global dynamics,
and between crisis planning and response.
From our food and nutrition marketing specialists
comes a report that looks at the social media
relationships that are providing cues for food and
beverage marketers today.
11. A new quarterly magazine from MSLGROUP,
based on insights into some of the most inspiring
TS
INSIGH
projects shaping marketing and communications
today, leveraged via our dedicated crowdsourcing
platform “The People’s Lab”.
This study from our China team identifies three
types of female luxury consumers in China and
highlights untapped opportunities for luxury
brands to effectively engage with their
target audiences.
12.
13. AFRICA+MIDDLE EAST LATIN AMERICA NORTH AMERICA
Beirut, Lebanon Bogota, Colombia Albany, New York
Cairo, Egypt Buenos Aires Baltimore, Maryland
Johannesburg, South Africa Caracas, Venezuela Charlotte, North Cardina
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Guayaquil, Ecuador Cleveland, Ohio
Lima, Peru Columbus, Ohio
La Paz, Bolivia Indianapolis, Indiana
Montevideo, Uruguay Kansas City, Missouri
Mexico City, Mexico Miami, Florida
San Juan, Puerto Rico Minneapolis, Minnesota
Santiago, Chile New Orleans, Louisiana
Suncion, Paraguay Orlando, Florida
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Phoenix, Arizona
Sacramento, California
Salt Lake City, Utah
St. Louis, Missouri
EUROPE
Athens, Greece
Barcelona, Spain
Belgrade, Serbia
Budapest, Hungary
Istanbul, Turkey
Kiev, Ukraine
Madrid, Spain
Moscow, Russia
Sofia, Bulgaria
St. Petersburg, Russia
Zagreb, Croatia
ASIA
Bangkok, Thailand
Canberra, Australia
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Hanoi, Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Jakarta, Indonesia
Karachi, Pakistan
Kathmandu, Nepal
Lahore, Pakistan
Manila, Philippines
Melbourne, Australia
Naha, Japan
Osaka, Japan
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Sydney, Australia
Vientiane, Laos
Information contained on this global map, including names of countries, regions, cities, and border lines, does not reflect certain areas under political dispute.
14. OUR WORK
Case study
AMSTEL LIGHT
THE CHALLENGE
The Amstel Light brand had lost its relevance in the 15 years since it first hit the market. With declining sales, it
was barely on the radar screens of its target audience.
THE SOLUTION
When Boston Bruins (a US ice hockey team) won the 2011 Stanley Cup, they partied hard. After a night of
celebration, news leaked that the team had run up a bar tab in excess of $156,000 - with an itemised receipt to
prove it. Initially the conversation was about a $100,000 bottle of champagne but the MSL New York team
noticed something else. On the receipt was one bottle of Amstel Light. We knew sports fans would want to know
who had ordered it…
THE RESULTS
Amstel Light garnered more than 275 unique stories, 30 minutes of dedicated broadcast coverage and in the
first day of the news hitting Twitter, it became a trending topic. The client reported a 4% increase in total brand
awareness and a 9% increase in “favourability” amongst the target.
15. Case study
ESSAR
THE CHALLENGE
To introduce the newly created entity, Essar Energy, to financial markets and support the company’s IPO in
the UK with an effective and convincing communications programme. The timing of the company launch
and its IPO was a key challenge - uncertain markets against a tough economic backdrop meant that
investors and the media were wary of new equity offerings.
THE SOLUTION
Through a targeted, integrated communications campaign, our agency Capital MSL positioned Essar
Energy as an Indian growth and success story. We also positioned the IPO, which was the largest offering
in London for several years, as a renaissance moment - a positive event for the market after the credit
crunch.
THE RESULTS
At a time when other IPOs were being pulled from the market due to unfavourable market conditions,
Essar Energy successfully raised approximately $2 billion with a blue-chip roster of investors.
Subsequently, Capital MSL and Essar Energy were recognised by the Chartered Institute of Public
Relations, in the UK, taking first place in the Investor Relations category at the annual Excellence Awards.
16. Case study
PAYPAL
THE CHALLENGE
Since its inception in 2000, e-commerce innovator PayPal has changed the way people shop online. In 2011, the
company launched its vision to change the way people shop everywhere. Yet, PayPal lacked a way to illustrate
the experience of paying for goods with its integrated technology to potential partners and media, whose buy-in
was essential if its vision was to become reality.
THE SOLUTION
PBJS - a creative studio within the MSLGROUP family - transformed a Tribeca storefront in New York into the
PayPal Shopping Showcase, a series of vignettes that put PayPal solutions into real-world scenarios, from a
coffee shop to a hardware store. The Showcase offered guests the chance to learn how PayPal can create an
easy and secure shopping experience for retailers and consumers.
THE RESULTS
The space created has become an integral sales tool for PayPal with multiple retailers signing on for instore and
online payment test programmes. Extensive media coverage, including Forbes, Fortune, Wall Street Journal,
Reuters, and Mashable also helped to extend the Showcase’s reach.
17. Case study
ARIEL
THE CHALLENGE
Laundry detergents: a deeply low-engagement product category, impossible to do PR for - or is it?
We and our partners at Saatchi & Saatchi needed to prove that the new Ariel Actilift is exceptional in
removing tough stains, without boring people to death.
THE SOLUTION
Let consumers do what they normally don’t do intentionally: stain brand-new clothes and then put the
new Ariel Actilift to the test. Over six days, Scandinavians could try to control our customised industrial
robot via Facebook and squirt real goo on over 1,000 pieces of clothing, passing by at high speed,
including designer items. We placed the robot in the most public location we could think of: Stockholm
Central Station. The rules were simple: aim, stain and win. If someone hit their garment, we washed it live
with Ariel Actilift and sent it to them, stain-free.
THE RESULTS
This was Scandinavia’s biggest live interactive product demonstration, ever. There were 25,000 likes for
Ariel’s Facebook pages in six days, 1,000+ people won clothes - and shared the event in social media.
The event became a blogger and media love-fest with a total reach of well over 5 million.
18. Case study
MUSÉE D’ORSAY
THE CHALLENGE
Paris’s iconic Musée d’Orsay - home to one of the largest collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist
art in the world - was being fully refurbished to showcase old paintings in a converted setting, as well as to
display works never showed before. MSLGROUP’s French agency Publicis Consultants was tasked with
launching the “new” museum to the French public, encouraging them to visit this national treasure.
THE SOLUTION
We created an integrated campaign around the idea, “A new look for Orsay: have a fresh look for yourself”.
Print and outdoor ads depicted close-ups of facial features and expressions in various famous pieces -
sculptures, photos, paintings - with the tagline encouraging the viewer to uncover the masterpiece behind the
close-up. The campaign extended to TV, radio and PR, all of which we handled.
THE RESULTS
The number of visits to the famous museum increased 25%, and for the first time in years, French visitors to
the museum out-numbered tourists: 56% against 44%. The French had indeed taken the Musee D’Orsay back
into their hearts.
19. Case study
PNEUMOVAX
THE CHALLENGE
Pneumovax was Japan’s only vaccine for pneumonia, specifically designed for people over the age of 65.
Although pneumonia was the fourth largest cause of death in Japan, studies showed low awareness of the
fact that pneumonia could be prevented thanks to a vaccine. In fact just 5% of those over the age of 65
were vaccinated for pneumonia at the time. Our mission was to raise awareness of the seriousness of
pneumonia, and how the pneumococcus vaccine could help.
THE SOLUTION
We established a quasi-public body made up of multiple organisations to carry out educational activities
as part of the project. Leveraging the campaign slogan “Pneumonia is Scary! Prevention is Vital!”
we developed a dedicated website and targeted the media to raise awareness and to encourage the public
to use the Pneumococcus Infection Call Centre.
THE RESULTS
The vaccination rate of five in every 100 people in 2009 increased 50% in 2010 and sales of the
Pneumovax vaccine also rose 50% - far beyond the original target.
20. Case study
GOOGLE
THE CHALLENGE
Google was facing several policy-relevant issues within German public debate. To enhance its standing in the
hearts and minds of the general public and decision makers, it became clear that the internet giant needed to
highlight its strong commitment to, and distinct impact upon the German economy to date.
THE SOLUTION
On September 27, 2011 Google presented its study “FaktorGoogle - How German Companies Use Google”.
Based on a survey of over 11,000 companies, the paper provided insight into the economic impact of both
Google and its range of products including AdWords, Analytics, Translate and Alerts. Working with both Google
and consulting company IW, MSL Germany led a multichannel communications effort that included branding,
website creation, public affairs, media relations and a press conference.
THE RESULTS
Media coverage was extensive and included Die Zeit, Financial Times Deutschland, BILD and Bloomberg.
As a result of the positive outcome, Google then decided to expand the project to two additional stages
cooperating with the Federal Association for Information Technology-BITKOM and a leading IT summit in
December 2011.
21. Case study
COCA-COLA
THE CHALLENGE
Coca-Cola is a household name globally, with some of the world’s best-loved brands. Yet the frankly
overwhelming strength of their consumer brands can make attracting and retaining the right people
challenging. A lot of brands claim “passion” as a core value, but at Coca-Cola we discovered that it’s
genuinely a uniting theme among their people. And while it’s nearly impossible to define passion,
let alone bottle it, our challenge was to demonstrate it to potential and existing employees.
THE SOLUTION
Playing on Coca-Cola’s renowned “secret formula”, the team at our SAS agency in London developed a
core idea and visual expression showing that while there is no single secret formula for passion, every
individual at Coca-Cola has their own version of it. Our approach provided the client with a powerful
system to create any number of tantalising, intriguing, relevant “formulas”, using words and images, for
virtually any people-related communication.
THE RESULTS
The European Employer Value Proposition (EVP) has proven successful as a step towards a direct
resourcing model and has been considered for a global rollout.
22. Case study
BRAND SOUTH AFRICA
THE CHALLENGE
How does one overturn negative, deep-seated prejudice? How do you re-brand a nation that’s currently seen as
beset by crime and social problems, to one where opportunity, potential and growth reign supreme? This is
exactly what our team was tasked with when they took on the South Africa branding and promotion campaign,
during the Shanghai World Expo.
THE SOLUTION
We needed to help deliver the message that “South Africa is open for business”. By highlighting the country's
cultural appeal and economic emergence, we sought to create an association with China’s own story, fostering
mutual respect, relevance and connections between both nations. This would help achieve our objectives of
reinventing South Africa’s image in China, and attracting more tourists and business investment.
THE RESULTS
As well as ultimately being ranked a “top 10” country pavilion at Shanghai Expo, media articles focusing on
violence in South Africa reduced by half over the campaign’s three-month period. In addition, the number of
Chinese visitors to South Africa jumped 62% year on year, to an all-time record high.