Publicis Groupe creates top sustainability role

Publicis Groupe – one of the world’s largest advertising agencies – has created the position of Chief Impact Officer to lead its sustainability strategy and appointed Nannette LaFond-Dufour in the role.

She is responsible for driving all of the group’s ESG commitments, including its SBTi-approved 2040 net zero target and its diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) strategy. 

As part of the management committee, she will lead a core sustainability team and coordinate relations with the company’s ESG experts globally, working towards “clear and quantifiable KPIs” and reporting directly to Publicis Chairman and CEO Arthur Sadoun.

LaFond-Dufour was previously Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer at New York-based advertising agency McCann Worldgroup, where she spent a total of almost 12 years in a variety of positions.

Her publicity experience spans two decades, with business leadership roles at KTG and DDB Worldwide.

“Thanks to our transformation, we have been outperforming the industry on every business and financial KPI for the past four years. But we know that for our growth to be truly sustainable, on every front, it also needs to be responsible. That’s why we have also worked to lead the way through our best-in-class ESG initiatives. With Nannette on board and her proven expertise in delivering impactful change with some of the world’s biggest companies, we are confident we can take our ESG agenda even further, faster, for the good of our people, our clients, and our planet,” commented Sadoun. 

Publicis Groupe sustainability progress

Publicis reported more than €13 billion in net revenue last year. Its climate targets include the 50% reduction of Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2030 and 90% reduction across all scopes, to reach net zero emissions by 2040.

As of 2022, the groupe, which employs more than 100,000 people around the world, had reduced its overall carbon footprint by around 31% from its 2019 baseline, though emissions increased by almost 60,000 tonnes between 2021 and 2022. Reductions have been achieved across all scopes by reducing air travel and energy consumption, sourcing more renewable electricity (with a goal of reaching 100% renewables by 2030) and reducing the use of raw materials such as water, paper and plastics.

In addition, Publicis launched a proprietary tool in 2019 to allow clients to measure and reduce the impact of their campaigns and projects, called A.L.I.C.E (Advertising Limiting Impacts & Carbon Emissions). The group says that 700 key users from 75 agencies in 20 countries make regular estimates on behalf of 180 clients or brands through A.L.I.C.E.