PayPal looking at PR options for U.S and Global Product Communications
Like many global enterprises, PayPal likes to review and look at options for outside PR representation every couple of years, and it’s that time for Paypal. That’s not to say they aren’t happy with their current reps, In the U.S, that’s MSL Group, and they’ve been invited to throw their hat in the ring again.
The RFP went mid-February and will include work for PayPal and affiliates, Venmo, Paydiant, Xoom, and Braintree. The chosen company will also be working in the risk, tech, and credit areas – along with product. PayPal just introduced a new ad campaign globally during the Super Bowl – “New Money,” which tells how PP is going through “the greatest period of transformation” in their history.
Anuj Nayar, PayPal’s global head of product communications, said, “[The system is] moving from physical cash to the digitization of money, from an exclusive system to one of inclusion, and toward a financial world that is faster, safer, more secure, and less expensive. No company is better positioned to deliver the benefits of this transformation to consumers and merchants than PayPal.”
He added that during this “transformation,” PayPal decided to look at its current agency relationships for product communications.
MSL Group is part of the Publicis Groupe holdings company. They employ nearly 3,500 people in more than 100 offices located in 26 countries. They were founded in Paris in 1938 but really 2009 was when the firm became the entity known today. That’s when Publicis Groupe decided to blend their PR and their events divisions together.
They are a full-service PR and communications firms and can help clients in almost any field or sector. In 2011, the Holmes Report ranked them fifth in their list of 250 Global PR Firms. Some of the clients they represent include Amstel Light, Evernote, Chevrolet, Netflix, March of Dimes, and Wine to Water.
The Publicis Groupe continues in their efforts in Latin America and Canada on behalf of PayPal. Publicis was founded by Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet in 1926 – 90 years ago, in Paris, France. They are a multinational conglomerate with subsidiary firms in both PR and advertising, taking its place alongside the other big four agency companies, Omnicom, WPP, and Interpublic. PG’s agencies provide media service, marketing services and advertising to their multinational and national companies.
Publicis has offices in 105 countries and over 200 cities, and they acquired Sapient Corporation in 2015, merging to become Publicis Sapient – the largest Digital Network. At the end of 2015 announced a change – creating a new organization with four divisions, Publicis Communications – overseeing all their communications, PR, etc. agencies (including MSL Group), Publicis Media – bringing together media planning and buying groups and led by Steve King, Publicis Sapient – with the tech and digital agencies and led by Alan Herrick, and Publicis Healthcare – already in existence and led by Nick Colucci.
Edelman continues to deal with corporate communications for the company around the world. Edelman also helps with product campaigns in various areas around the world such as the U.K, and as needed in Australia and elsewhere. Edelman is the largest independent PR firm in the world and is under the umbrella of the Daniel J. Edelman (DJE) Holdings Company.
But they also have in-house PR people working, expanding that division several times since their split with EBay during the fall of 2014 with separate teams established for different regions around the world.
And over the years, they’ve worked with other PR firms – on local, regional, national, and global basis. But when it comes to the larger scale campaigns, they are big enough to use the really big names in the field as is seen in the above list.
