The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

In here, we're thrilled to have Philippe Krakowsky, the CEO of Interpublic Group here with us today. Thank you so much for joining us, Philippe.

Thanks, Alexia. Good to be here.

I think how I'll kick it off is I want to remind folks to use the digital book for questions. If you have any, just go ahead and kind of write them in, and I'll try to keep checking them throughout this Q&A session here. And otherwise, I'll just sort of kick it off with my questions, and we'll go from there. I guess the best way to start, you've been CEO for kind of a short time but at IPG for a very long time and have great perspective. And during your tenure as CEO, it's been a period of kind of vast amount of change. I guess how do you think about the strategic priorities for IPG now relative to when you started? And where the focus is ahead?

Yes. It's, to your point, unusual circumstances in which to step into the role. But I do have the benefit of having been with the company for a long, long time. So I think that in terms of thinking about that strategic question, I think, first of all, there is a lot of continuity, just as you said. And that sort of applies across the senior team. We've worked together for a long time. We've seen the company through a broad range of, I'd sort of call it, business conditions and a lot of change that was impacting the industry. And so I think that we're fortunate that the CEO transition was thoughtful and measured. And because it's been very seamless, we're not managing through our own changes at the same time as we're navigating the changes that are being accelerated by the pandemic, right? And then I think the second thing is that the pandemic changes -- and that's all the things that you'll be talking about over the course of the conference, right, so how people are consuming media, how they are transacting and consuming sort of at a macro level, what they think is important in the world at large. All of those, which really impact media business, clearly, a business like ours or marketing professional services, it doesn't matter whether some people say it's accelerated by 3 years or it's accelerated by 5 years. I think for us, the thing is that we had been anticipating a lot of those changes, and we have been pivoting the company to kind of address the direction in which digital writ large and then data had been impacting so many businesses. So I guess I'm thinking, because you're a person people look to as sort of a guide and for somebody to provide analysis on the space, you've been commenting on a couple of these things for a long time. So for us, there is incorporating and embedding digital across our whole group, which we've been doing for a period of time; making our media offering, I'd sort of say, more consultative, more adept at using technology, so that you can get the greatest possible effectiveness from that investment; and then I think, using data and incorporating that so that we could make that investment more accountable to business outcomes. So in 2 really macro buckets, on that continuity piece and then on that what changes piece, I'd say that there's a bunch of things which don't change per se. As I said, we're a professional services business. We're evolving. So talent is going to be really, really important to us. And so we're going to continue to invest in and ensure that we've got the best talent just across a broader range of competency. So it used to be strategic and creative talent, and now it's talent in digital, e-com, data and analytics. So I think that's one thing that is a focus that will stay the same. I think you've seen us for a long time be very disciplined around how we run the business operationally at the cost side of the business, the fact that we've got a model that has a lot of flexibility to it. So I don't think you're going to see a lot of change there. Solid balance sheet, balanced approach to capital allocation, those are all things that stay the same. And then the 2 others that are in the continuity work-in-progress bucket, I would say one is this idea of integrating services, right? So improving internal collaboration so that we can be more of a marketing integrator for our clients, right? And so if I were to say what do clients need, I think what they need is to have solutions that allow them for very quick turnaround in terms of taking all the information and all the signal that's being generated by all their interactions with consumers and pulling it back in and applying it to drive the ideation and the messaging, the media that they use. So this idea of integrated solutions, which we've called open architecture for a long time, is still a big positive and a differentiator for us, something that will continue to be important. And then I think that focus on ESG, on diversity and inclusion, which Michael Roth got us very focused on going back a long time now, is something that is important to talent. So it's going to be something we do there. It's something that we increasingly incorporate into the work we do with clients. But obviously, there's still a lot of work to be done in that regard. And then on the changes, as it were, and I sort of say it with air quotes, because I think we've been kind of telegraphing that answer for at least 4 or 5 years, because we made a series of strategic decisions that involved, as I said, changes that the pandemic has moved forward, right, so that's the data and technology layer in the business that we've been building. And that means that the work we do can be more precise in terms of who it reaches. We can get a better sense of the impact that it's making in markets so we can be more accountable. So that's kind of like a GPS that sort of informs the decision-making that we do on behalf of clients so that we can help them drive to, as I said, business outcomes. The economy obviously is becoming more and more digital. And then I guess the last strategic pillar that I'd mention that is important, and you'd see us -- as I said, I think it's more about leaning further or going faster in the areas of data technology and then pulling that all into these integrated offerings -- is data ethics and consumer privacy and deploying responsibly in the digital media, right? And so I think that you obviously want to continue to engage with consumers in this world in order to drive your business forward. It's a question of doing that in a way that's respectful and appropriate. And so what we've been building gives us the ability to do that, whether it's IP or whether it's policies and approaches that help us guide marketers in terms of whether it's ethical data practices or it's identity resolution solutions or it's just how do you engage with the platform. So from where we sit, it's less about a big aha moment around strategy, it's something we've been pivoting towards, and now I think we'd just lean into a bit harder and faster.

Let me just ask a follow-up on that. You've laid out a lot of impressive things that have changed in IPG, either more recently or over the last few years or so. And you've also -- you've outperformed your peers pretty consistently over that period. I'm curious how much of these -- and maybe you don't know the answer, but how much of these changes or the sort of the way your business has evolved, whether it's your open architecture, whether it's data first or the more consultative approach, of all the reasons you've listed, how much of that sort of differentiates your offering, your business to clients, versus your peers? And again, it might be a hard question to answer because you may not know exactly what they're doing, but I'm curious about how differentiated IPG has become now because of all these positive changes.

Look, I mean I think it's a terrific question, and it's obviously difficult to tell, to your point, not what we do and whether we have confidence in what we're going to market with but when and how it is that competition is reacting and looking to try and incorporate some of those capabilities as well. I mean if you look at -- the last pre-pandemic, you look at about whatever it is, 5-plus years of pretty consistent outperformance and I think, in the aggregate, growth that was kind of in the mid-single digits, perhaps just a bit under 5 on an aggregate basis. So clearly, we feel that, that more consultative approach to media where we're also -- we don't take inventory in media, so we've got a transparent model, which means that you align with clients' interests and they clearly see you as a consultant that is helping them sort for all this complexity without kind of a dog in the hunt. And so I think that, that was clearly a part of it. I think our ability to integrate and to do those open architecture solutions is clearly a part of the outperformance. I think the caliber of the talent across the group -- because we also didn't do something which I think -- the shortcut to open architecture is you sort of say that the story is about holding company. And then I don't know if you're as attractive a talent, because talent really does want to come to work at agencies that are exceptional and strong in specific specialties, so you're looking to get the balance right between making your agencies truly exceptional but focused enough that when you then plug them into a more complex solution, everybody's got pretty clear roles and responsibilities. We kind of call them swim lanes. So I think all of those definitely have contributed to our relative performance.

Okay. Great. Let's kind of go back to, I guess, your Q1 results that you recently reported earlier this month. We've seen a huge easing of pandemic restrictions, thankfully, over the last few weeks, including the lifting of some mask mandates in the U.S. I guess any update you can provide on how your clients are reacting to these changes? Are these improvements? Are you seeing marketers leaning more into spending now that there's greater visibility in the reopening?

Well, it's funny, I mean, in a sense, I think that if you saw the -- even sort of as it were, what happened February, we talked about the prior year and we were guarded and measured because we obviously want to be very thoughtful in terms of what we communicate. And there was definitely more uncertainty at that point in time. And I think one of the questions, which you asked on that call, I remembered talking about -- as I said, we had a lot of confidence in the caliber of our offerings and what we're able to do to help clients. And yet, the question was more when will growth be available as opposed to -- so it was the stuff we can't control and then, 2 months later, with strong results and then commitment or conviction on our part about what we are able to look at kind of our belief of that we'll be able to deliver for the year. So I think something definitely changed there. And we were sensing that in conversations with clients that there was more confident and more willingness to talk about what it would be even for categories that had been really badly hit, and it was a very sector -- it's been a very sector-driven impact. So we had seen a measure of confidence come back within that 2-month period. And I think broadly speaking, that's continued to solidify, right? So I do feel that there's that investment mindset. There's more positivity. And again, I don't want to know -- there's neither the need to sort of say that -- I mean there's still some risk and uncertainty when you think internationally, right? I mean I was chatting not long ago with the head of our largest unit in India, and it's still a really, really difficult situation there. So at a macro level, we're feeling better, but we still want to be thoughtful and respectful of the fact there's some uncertainty. And on a human level, it's really hard in certain places around the world.

I mean I guess putting India side, which obviously is in their own terrible situation, the rest, the Continental Europe, the U.K., are you seeing some signs of improvement in the outlook, along with the easing of the sort of pandemic and the restrictions?

Well, I mean back to first quarter performance, right, I mean, it was definitely encouraging. I mean we had growth in every region outside the U.S., and that clearly included Continental Europe, Asia Pac, Latin America, notwithstanding of Brazil and in India and those markets which were being dragged down. And so I mean I guess what I'd say to you is international is a 35% plus/minus of consolidated net revenue. And so to get to the 5% to 6% that we see for this year, they're going to carry their proportional piece of that, right? And so international grew 6% in Q1. That was against pretty difficult comp because a lot of the prior year was pre-COVID. And then that was sequential growth. That was growth in every region. In Europe, that was growth from some large clients in a number of client sectors, whether that was financial services or health care or CPG, consumer goods. And so yes, I think international is going to continue to show progress. And the comp is more forgiving internationally because for the full year or last year, U.S. was down about 3% and non-U.S. was down about 8%. So that will help.

Okay. How about in the event business, I mean we're already seeing outdoor events, such as Facebook, Ames at full capacity and some movements starting in indoor as well, I mean, I guess, how are you thinking about the ramp-up from here with your sports marketing and your event business?

Well, I mean just to dimensionalize that which, again, I know you know this because you're the one who does that, but I don't know in terms of who's out there, if you were thinking about '19, it would have been a little under 5% of revenue. Last year took a hit. So it's a modest part of our book. It is important -- as part of these broader integrated solutions with large clients for whom it's an important part of the way that their brand engages with consumers, there is clearly interest in and plans are afoot to get back into live, whether that's live outdoor concerts, whether, to your point, it's sports. And I think that what we'll see -- we're not -- it's not -- there's not a massive -- there's not a need for it to meaningfully rebound for us to get to where we need to get to for this year. I think it's going to be kind of an iterative learning process in that -- I think you're going to sort of say, okay, what are people comfortable with when you think about how have stadiums been opened. And then I think that the one thing that we're excited about is to evolve the offering and have it incorporate even greater digital component and then a way, when you're interacting with consumers, to have that be a source for data that's being shared on a consent-based basis. But I do think that it's just given us the opportunity to look at that and say, okay, what role should it play. So that's one where there'll be probably more of a reinvention than when I was talking about at a macro level for us in terms of strategy.

I guess looking longer term, what would be, you think, some of the key changes from your clients from the pandemic, meaning in terms of how they approach marketing, how they maybe allocate their spending or even their relationship with you guys?

Well, I mean -- that's a lot of questions in one. Well, it's very thoughtful. I guess I'd say, look, that we all know that the shift to digital was well underway pre-pandemic, right? And so that has accelerated because there's more viewing -- so you're consuming through digital, there's an appetite for content. And so some of kind of addressable has taken a step forward. So I don't know that -- the continued move to digital doesn't feel like news, right? In terms of relationships with agencies and clients, for me, the biggest question kind of comes down to, can your offerings help clients succeed given that the economy is just becoming so much more digital and it's moving faster and it's being informed by more data, right? And so again, that doesn't feel -- so the 2 big changes, I think, are data: and so are you in a position to help clients to understand sort of the enterprise level, what should their strategic approach be; then organizing first-party data kind of at a macro level, again, across a business unit or the company at large; can you then activate that data in this very complex ecosystem; and then kind of can you put it to work in a lot of different marketing disciplines and marketing use cases. So data is one. And then the second one is e-commerce. And we've talked a lot about that, sort of the dawning of e-com, and it definitely factored into our performance -- relative outperformance last year. It's definitely showing up in our numbers. But there is no conversation that I can think of that we're having with clients where that is now not absolutely core to they're wanting to know that you can help them move their business into these new ways of either new business models, new ways of interacting with consumers or playing in all of these channels. So I think e-com is the other one, big one.

Would you say there are certain verticals that are much more focused on e-commerce versus others or it really is across the border?

Well, I think there are verticals where it is more consistent with the existing client business model. And so none of them would surprise you in terms of where there's a greater sense that there's opportunity. But a lot of companies that are further away from that are going really hard at it, right? And so I saw -- I don't remember where I saw it, I saw a study of -- I think it was like the 12 leading developed economies. It said 2/3 of -- in the last 12 months, 2/3 of the population has sort of tried new kinds of shopping. And of that 2/3, 2/3 intend to stay with it, right? And so it's kind of like, okay, you're talking about traditional e-com platforms, you're talking about social media platforms, you're talking about properties owned by the marketers themselves, right? And so I guess if I sort of try to break it down because it's a great question, it's not category specific. I sort of think about it more as sort of activity specific, right? So they're -- okay, clients need to help with strategy around their business transformation so that they are more robust in this way. Then they need to organize their data and analytics capabilities so they can actually put stuff in market. Then they need tech-enabled creativity, right? Then they need media, which is slightly different than traditional media, because either you need to really understand what's going on inside the platforms or you're getting into affiliate kinds of activity. And then they need systems integration, right? And so there's just -- there's a lot going on. There's -- like at MRM, we take agency skill sets and we bring kind of systems experience. So we've got hundreds of people who are certified on all the martech platforms. And for -- those are for clients who need to understand how are we going to do this or once we've strategically decided to implement kind of the nuts and bolts of it. Then on the media side, our network that does -- traditionally does search, SEM/SEO, has been developing really deep expertise because you need to kind of understand how are the big platforms' algorithms, how do they work, how do they handle inventory, how do they handle pricing and then how does that dovetail with what your client is doing with the rest of their media spend and their marketing dollars. And then you're doing work with like the digital agencies, the R/GAs and the Huges, around user experience, and around breaking down the barriers between the content side of digital and the ways in which that's shoppable or the way that recommendation engines work. And so there's a lot, a lot of different activity, but everybody is asking the -- what's my B2C or what's my D2C strategy in wellness and health care. There's a lot going on. I mean I would think of -- I don't see anywhere where it's not absolutely top of mind.

I've got a question from, I guess you can call it the audience. So the question is, do any clients who paused from, call it, spending, let's say, from the Capitol riots in January, did they sort of now come back in, in the second quarter?

Yes. I mean I think if you're thinking about media, the commitment to media and as we roll into the period in which people will be making at least upfront commitments, as I said earlier, I do think that there is greater confidence, broadly speaking, across the client community. And we're chatting earlier about separate conversations the 2 of us had with a leading -- the head of sales at one of the large media owners. And she said something that was interesting in our conversation, she said to me, last year, people were making a commitment and it was mostly based on the sense that they needed a certain amount of just blind faith whereas now they're going in with a pretty clear understanding that there is kind of a floor under all of us. So yes, I think that there's definitely been a return there.

Let me talk about your health care exposure for a bit because it's been such a driver of outperformance, and you've been so successful in that vertical. I think it really distinguishes you from some of your peers, your exposure there. Can you refresh us on the mix of business that you have in health care? And I'm really trying to get an understanding of how it performed in the pandemic but, more importantly, how will that exposure to the health care vertical sort of help you guys -- continue to help you guys going forward.

Look, I mean, we called out on all of our communications with you guys during the course of the year last year and this year that it's been -- as a client sector, it's been the top performer for us, right? And so -- and to your point, it's a sizable part of our overall mix. Although I think what people maybe don't always appreciate is that we've got 2 specialist agencies that we think are best-in-class, FCB Health and McCann Health that are deep specialists. But we've got -- we've developed health care expertise kind of across the portfolio at this point. So within media brands, it's a big part of their performance in recent years and it's been very strong there. Within the marketing services agencies, so Weber Shandwick, there's a very, very powerful health care practice there, and Golin has built one as well. So I guess I'd say that the way that I think about it is that it is a very dynamic part of kind of industry or client sector. I think it's going to continue to be given how important it's become in these last 15 months. So whether it's by virtue of how focused we've all become on the role it plays in our lives. I think reputationally, it's been a very good moment. There's a lot of pipeline in that area. So I think for us, it's been a place where we were drawn to it for the same reasons I called out a bit at the outset, kind of clients who have a greater appreciation for and put more of a premium on specialized, more technical skill sets, that was one thing. Clients who are working in some ways with a higher VaR or more constraints around how they interact with consumers and that sense of, "I do need to get to the right people. And if I can do that in a way that's relevant, it can be very, very powerful. But I need to do that in a way that's very respectful". And so we've been paying attention to it for a while. And I guess -- I think that it's been a function of we've benefited from the category growth, and we've also taken share in the sector. And so we continue to feel good about how we're provisioned there. And we also have a lot of complementary skill sets among those assets. So I still think there's room to run for us, independent of the fact that there's like a macro sector opportunity there and we've got strong assets. I also think we've got strong assets where we could do an even better job of cross-selling internally. So I think you're going to keep hearing us talk about that.

I want to touch on the cost side and profitability before we run out of time. You and I talked a little bit about this before we started here. I guess what are the opportunities or challenges you see across your portfolio of agencies as you move toward reopening? When you look at your business kind of post-pandemic, does it have a slightly lower cost structure than pre-pandemic? And any more color you can give us in terms of how we should think about profitability longer term.

Well, I mean, you know well, that we did look at the portfolio in the second half of the year last year. We restructured and we continue to be committed to what we put out there in terms of the savings that, that will generate on a go-forward annualized basis. And so that $160 million is there. And as we've also discussed, it phases in through the benefits of a strategic approach to this, which is what we took in the back half for the year. The real estate portfolio, which was whittled down by range and bearing about 15%, doesn't kick in all at once because of lease accounting and the fact that it's dependent on when and how that then gets picked up elsewhere, but we're seeing that. And so those are ins and outs. Then we had some cost-saving actions that were taken last year. We froze raises, we took voluntary pay reductions in a number of places. Those have worked their way back into the model. The growth has come back. And so I think from where we're sitting, the company is stronger now than it was when it went into the pandemic. And we do have the benefit at the moment of lower costs on -- work-from-home clearly doesn't involve some of the costs for travel and for sort of -- so spending time as teams, building our competencies, spending time with clients, kind of seeing what's going on in the industry at large. So some of that will work its way back in as we head into the, I think, the fourth quarter of this year and maybe as we head into next year. But I don't know that it will come back at the levels that you've seen in prior years. We're still working through that.

I know pitch activity has always been kind of expensive. Do you think there is some opportunity to save money there or you have to kind of see how it evolves?

No, I think that's a great question. I mean I think that there probably is some pent-up demand on the part of clients. We saw a lower level of pitch activity last year because it's a hard thing -- we didn't see none, but it was definitely -- it's harder to do it virtually. And the uncertainty that existed last year made it so that I think people were just going to not add that layer of potential disruption. But I do think that there are parts of the process that could be done just as efficiently, particularly on the front end of large pitches. I believe that whether it's we or clients will come to appreciate that you can do some of the early credentializing part of this and some of the stuff that's more processed perfectly well because we are now starting to do much more of it this way. And then towards the latter stages, it does become necessary to be in rooms because you're making really, really pretty sizable decisions where you want to have the greatest confidence that your partners are the right ones. But I do think that we'll see -- we'll come away with learnings from this that should impact -- in the same way that we'll do hybrid work, I think we'll do some other things hybrid, whether it's conferences, whether it's, as you say, business development.

All right. I going to squeeze in one more. We just have, I think, 1 minute left. But staying on that topic, I guess, how robust is the pipeline for, I guess, new business? Any large reviews you want to highlight where you have an opportunity, I guess, any color on that.

Well, I think we tend to be respectful of confidentiality in terms of sort of what we're involved with. But as I said, we've definitely seen an uptick in that regard, and we're seeing some sizable integrated opportunities where we're pulling together a number of our agencies. We're seeing an uptick in activity on the media side of things. And there maybe have been 1 or 2 where we haven't been able to participate just because of what's in the house already. But on the whole, we're feeling pretty good about increased activity and, for us, definitely upside, big media opportunities, big consolidated sort of open architecture opportunities. And then I think still some activity at the agency level, probably particularly around digital.

Okay. Well, we're out of time. Thank you so much, Philippe. We really appreciate you giving us this time today and all your insights. Bye.

Thank you. Great to see you.

All right.