Mike Paul, an independent New York PR counselor since 1994 after posts at Hill+Knowlton Strategies and Burson-Marsteller, has sold his firm to freelancers to join Publicis Media, part of Publicis Groupe, as head of corporate communications.

Mike PaulMike Paul

Paul, who has campaigned for senior PR posts for minorities, skipping the 2015 (PR) Seminar meeting to make his point, noted that Publicis has said that 30% of new hires will be from diverse communities and backgrounds.

The agency’s commitment to diversity was one of the factors that made Publicis attractive to him, he said. Paul initially operated as MGP PR but changed to “Reputation Doctor” in recent years. He and PR textbook author Fraser Seitel are frequent guests on TV news shows, each having appeared hundreds of times.

Publicis had announced a sweeping reorganization aimed at creating greater coordination among its many units using the banner, “The Power of One.”

Publicis, third largest ad/PR conglomerate, is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year by funding 90 startups. Mark McClennan of its MSL unit chairs PR Society of America, the world’s largest organization of PR people.

Reporters Barred from Member Lists, Assembly

Reporters are not allowed to join the Society nor have access to its list of members although the list was available for many years via a printed directory that was provided to them without charge. Reporters were barred from the annual Assembly of the Society from 2012-2015. The O’Dwyer Co. is not allowed to exhibit its five news/informational products at the conferences. The boycott was instituted after O’Dwyer showed that the Society was selling tens of thousands of authors’ articles without their permission.

There has been one national conference of the Society in New York since 1992 (2004), a 24-year period. No New York conferences are planned. A call to McClennan resulted in the operator returning it and instructing us to call the Society.

McClennan heads an organization whose Code says “ethical practice is the most important obligation” of a member. He “drove creation of the Society’s ethics app,” says its website.

Maurice Levy

There is no record on Google or the Society website of McClennan making any public appearances during the past year. Society presidents for decades addressed the New York chapter. McClennan has made "ethics" the theme of his administration, saying, "Ethics should not be just a policy. It must be a reality...ethics is central to effective PR..."

He called special attention this year to 2015 "PR Professional of the Year" Paula Pedene, who was praised for her "willingness to take the unpopular stand" when she became one of the "whistleblowers" focusing attention on alleged mismanagement in the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System. The Society did not name a 2016 PR pro of the year.

Paul to Focus on “Media Transparency”

Lauren Hanrahan, global head of new business development and communication, said “media transparency issues and audits” will be part of Paul’s focus area.

Publicis noted that companies such as J.P. Morgan Chase, Mars and General Electric have been conducting audits following findings from the Assn. of National Advertisers’ transparency inquiry by Ebiquity and K2 which found “cash rebates” and “other non-transparent practices” are pervasive in the U.S. media buying ecosystem.

Hanrahan said Publicis CEO Maurice Levy has assured her the company has “done well with these reports.”

Publicis in 2014 almost merged with Omnicom but concluded it was really a “takeover” and halted the negotiations. “OMC wanted their people to fill the CEO, CFO and general counsel jobs,” CEO Maurice Levy told Reuters. OMC was twice as big as Publicis in terms of revenues.

Owner Badinter Is Noted French Citizen

Elizabeth Badinter, who inherited controlling interest in Publicis from her father Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet in 1989, has been called France’s “most influential intellectual” by French magazine Marianne based on a poll of its readers.

She is noted for her staunch individualism and idealism. She is opposed to inequality and any policies that limit human rights and has defended the right of women to work when raising children. Badinter was the subject of an 11-page profile in the July 25, 2011 New Yorker.

Publicis hopes that clients, partners and media companies will match each investment so that 500,000 euros could turn into millions. The company invested between 10,000 and 500,000 euros in each of 90 startups.

Publicis employees, who were encouraged to enter, voted for the startups they think best deserve the awards through a Facebook type of system. The projects were submitted anonymously.

Publicis announced that 3,555 projects were submitted to the program and published a number of the winning entries on its website.

Senior Publicis management will provide a year of mentorship to the winning entries. An internal division led by Maxime Baffert, CEO of Publicis digital agency Proximedia Europe, has been created.

“Huge" Start-Up Program

“I believe nobody has dared to do something like this to support 90 projects,” said Levy. “Nobody has dared to go after that big a number. It’s complicated to select and a huge undertaking…we want to do something quite massive in order that it will be noticed both from inside the group and outside…all people who have a project see we are really committed to the tech and digital space and that this is something important.”

Levy feels that Publicis funds will be easier for startups to obtain than funds from venture capitalists. “What we are asking for is less complex than what VCs are asking for,” he said.

McClennan in 2009 led the battle against the board’s attempt to pull from the Assembly its power to elect board and officers and replace it with a system of direct voting by members. Members wanted to know what kind of debates or another vetting of the candidates would take place but by law chair, Dave Rickey refused to supply any specifics.

McClennan was the only delegate speaking against the proposal which was defeated by a vote of 175-103 at the start of the meeting.