Alibaba, Publicis partner on digital go-to-market strategy platform

In a classic case where weaknesses of one are offset by the strengths of the other, Alibaba and Publicis Groupe have come together to co-create a platform for data-driven brand building.

Since meeting at Davos last year, the leaders of Alibaba Group and Publicis Groupe had been discussing the best way to collaborate, Vivian Zhu, the chief digital officer for Starcom MediaVest Group in Greater China, told Campaign Asia-Pacific. They concluded that while one business was the market leader at customer conversions below the buyer decision funnel, the other was a master of raising brand sentiments above the funnel. And with that, comes the latest announcement of a partnership between the Alibaba Group and Publicis Groupe.

“This partnership propels our vision to create future forward capability and solutions by harnessing the power of data and technology for brand growth via data-enabled precision storytelling and brand operations for our clients," Bertilla Teo, Publicis Media Greater China CEO, said in a release. "We are excited to be the pioneering agency partner to share and support this journey of growth with Alibaba." Publicis clients will have priority access to the UniDesk tools as they are rolled out, and the company is already working with several clients across both FMCG and luxury, she added.

Publicis Groupe will be drawing inspiration from Alibaba's Uni Marketing framework to co-create a data-driven media planning the tool with functionality that is tailored to clients under the Uni Desk tool suite. The brand building experts of Publicis Groupe with help Alibaba create and refine the product offer, with key metrics in place as they relate to areas above the funnel that concern brand marketers. Essentially, it will be the one-stop solution for digital go to market strategy, according to the companies.

“Alibaba Group has embraced a journey of transformation from e-commerce platform to a big data company that aims to create quality life for Chinese and global consumers with the convergence of commerce, content and technology, enabled by Uni Marketing capabilities," said Chris Tung, chief marketing officer of Alibaba Group. "We are committed to forging a strong and special partnership with Publicis Groupe to develop the Uni Marketing product. We are confident that with Alibaba's platform resources and product capabilities, combined with the insights and expertise of Publicis Groupe, we will be able to deploy solutions to fulfill both companies’ growth ambitions.”