• The New York Times, Monday, August 6, 2007 11 AM

David W. Kenny, chief executive of Digitas, the interactive unit of Publicis Groupe that cost the firm $1.3 billion late last year, tsays it's only a matter of time before all advertising is digital. Kenny is in charge of the most dramatic overhaul in the history of the ad holding giant, whose agencies include Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett and Starcom MediaVest Group. Global clients collectively include, P&G, Amex, HP, GM and more. The ad giant's plan is to create thousands of versions of ads using offshore labor and then, using a complex set of algorithms, let its internal network decide what ads should run where and when on a given networked device. In other words, the goal is transform its strategy from advertising to the masses to personalized messaging.

"There is a massive transformation happening in the way consumers live and the data we have about them, but very few companies have stepped up to it yet," Kenny says. Last Tuesday, Publicis announced an important acquisition in that direction, in adding the Chinese agency Communications Central Group to its arsenal, giving the firm a foothold in one of the fast-growing advertising markets.

The shift towards more personalized advertising has led to an unprecedented demand for production capacity, Kenny adds, estimating that in the U.S. alone, some companies already run about 4,000 versions of an ad for a single brand-and growing. Ten years ago, they might have run three to five. That's why the offshoring--look for it to drive growth in emerging economies.

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