• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, September 24, 2013

In a bid to further streamline its global production operations Publicis Groupe today confirmed it was consolidating its production entities into  a new unit called Prodigious. Jean-Francois Valent, the holding company's top production executive has been named CEO of the new division.

The consolidation brings under one roof various production entities including Mundicom (print), WAM (video) and Bosz (digital). The move also highlights the holding company’s efforts to “decouple” creative and production work, a technique that has gained traction in Adland because it is more cost efficient.

Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser notes that Interpublic and WPP have also “placed a heightened emphasis on the production decoupling business as well.” He estimates that the approach can save marketers 20% to 30% on expenditures. A lot of the savings, he says comes from “labor arbitrage” by producing in overseas markets.

Publicis stated that “this change to one global brand marks the evolution of the business to create a single cross-media production service company able to deliver on a global  scale.”

The holding company has production operations in close to 20 locations around the globe. The combined production group has 1,500 employees.

As a single entity Prodigious will provide cross-media production services, campaign delivery, cost optimization and state of the art tech services, the company said.

Several clients have already begun using the consolidated services, including Citi, Coca-Cola, General Motors and Procter & Gamble.

Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Levy said the new approach would “not only provide our agencies and our clients with the production capabilities that today’s challenging media landscape requires but will also prove a real asset for our Groupe as decoupling gains momentum.”