Marie Madeleine Salmon (pictured), Head of Information Centre, Publicis, the third most important advertising group in the world, brought information to students about how global advertising groups need to implement a digital transformation - a collaboration initiated by Dr. Pablo Medina, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Communications, Arts, and Science, Canadian University Dubai.
Marie Madeleine’s tenure with Publicis, Paris spans more than 30 years, and over that time, she has developed a keen intuition for forward-thinking in the advertising industry. Her expertise, knowledge and skillset provided an invaluable real-life perspective for students embarking on the advertising, communications, and public relations fields.
“Advertising agencies are facing a new challenge of how to build online brands in the long-term by using social media, mobile apps and big data,” she said. “Brands need to innovate constantly through meaningful ideas.”
As the concept of online marketing and advertising is not a new one, ensuring sustainability in wide-spread global markets requires constant innovation. It requires brand leaders to challenge their status quo thinking and look for new ways to emerge as leaders with staying power. Salmon said, “Agencies cannot focus on persuasion anymore but on content to reinforce brand reputation.” Salmon believes strongly that digital advertising is not an option, but a mandatory skill for all experts in advertising.
Dr. Pablo Medina said of the experience, "This conference helped students understand how digital branding can manage their corporate reputation by using different platforms in order to impact people's life. These assets are really useful to better understand how to integrate these companies and work in a professional way.”
Marie Madeleine has implemented hundreds of campaigns for brands such as L’Oreal, Carrefour, Renault, Club Med, Dassault Aviation, and the French Government.
She has worked for 30 years as Head of Knowledge Management at Publicis Conseil in the headquarters in Paris, France. She has collaborated with many different universities worldwide, especially with Paris Sorbonne 4, offering her insights to students.