Publicis Groupe acquires Palestinian and Israeli advertising firms

With its purchase on June 18 of 20% of Ramallah-based Zoom Advertising, Publicis Groupe claims to be the first listed international holding group to enter the Palestinian market. Publicis’ French-Jewish chief executive Maurice Lévy sees the acquisition—especially with Publicis’ concurrent buying of a major Israeli communications group— as an investment toward peace in the Middle East.

The Palestinian advertising company, which has 23 clients and also has an office in Gaza, will now be called Publicis Zoom. Among its clients are the Bank of Palestine, Coca-Cola, Peugeot, the Palestinian Securities Exchange, and the new Palestinian-planned city of Rawabi.

The agreement, signed by Lévy at a ceremony in the West Bank, includes an option for the holding company to acquire a larger stake in Zoom in future.

Publicis announced the same day from its Paris headquarters that it had acquired BBR Group, the Israeli advertising and communications network. The transaction followed fifteen years of collaboration between Publicis and many of BBR’s affiliate agencies. BBR’s founder and chairman Yoram Baumann has been appointed the Publicis Groupe chairman for Israel.

“The time is right for us to get even closer and cement our partnership through ownership which makes us one of the leaders in Israel,” said Lévy. This deal gives Publicis an even greater presence in Israel than it already had through its agencies Publicis Geller Nessis, Leo Burnett, Edologic and Superpush. The new group created by the deal will boast 400 employees in 23 offices throughout Israel.

“Today’s transaction is important on several levels. One key element, of course, is Publicis’ desire to serve our clients wherever they work. But the impact of this operation extends much further than that,” Lévy, 70, was quoted as saying about the Zoom deal.

“It comes immediately after our announcement of the acquisition of BBR in Israel – symbolically, this speaks to every man’s dream of seeing peace in the Middle East and between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples.

“Moreover, it is also a call to French and international companies to set up in the region and to contribute to creating the economic development, without which there can be no durable peace,” he said.

The Algemeiner quoted Lévy’s friend French artist Ron Agam as saying that these latest business moves are indicative of the kind of person the Moroccan-born Lévy is. “This is a man of peace and probably one of the greatest men of communication in the world.  He has a love and passion for Israel and he feels that this is his contribution to bring together Palestinians, Israelis, and Arabs,” Agam told The Algemeiner.

“If you know the region and you know the people that are involved at the highest levels of the Israeli and Palestinian economies, they have close ties,” Agam added.  “They’re not always public, but they’re close, and they both have a common goal – to further the interests of their people.”

The acquisitions of the Palestinian Zoom and the Israeli BBR do appear to be in keeping with the advertising magnate’s character. In 2008, he received the International Leadership Award from the Anti-Defamation League for his promoting tolerance and diversity. Additionally, he’s long been known for going after what he thinks is important, in business and otherwise.

Someone who worked with Lévy once told Forbes that Lévy’s great success was attributable to his unique mix of charm and determination. “A combination of Maurice Chevalier and General Patton,” is how his colleague described him.