Publications
Publications
- November 1993
- HBS Case Collection
FCB and Publicis (C): The German-Led Network
By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Pamela A. Yatsko
Abstract
After U.S.-based Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB) and Publicis of France established an international advertising alliance in May 1988, alliance leaders set out to merge offices in Europe. They were confronted with a particularly tricky situation in Germany, which, if handled poorly, could have harmed BMZ, a highly regarded agency in Dusseldorf that FCB had acquired six months earlier. The case looks at how alliance managers resolved the dilemma by forming a second agency network in Europe; how that network, which was composed of advertising agencies from six European countries, was working; and how agencies from different cultural backgrounds were dealing with diversity. May be used with FCB and Publicis (A): Forming the Alliance and (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity.
Keywords
Joint Ventures; Alliances; Globalized Firms and Management; Partners and Partnerships; Advertising; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Diversity; Communications Industry; Advertising Industry; France; Germany; United States; Europe
Citation
Kanter, Rosabeth M., and Pamela A. Yatsko. "FCB and Publicis (C): The German-Led Network." Harvard Business School Case 394-079, November 1993.