Customer Publishing agency Publicis Blueprint works with major blue chip customers on a range of public relations and promotional projects. French-owned, the company is a major force in the advertising agency sector, with clients including big brands, ranging from Asda to Orange and Cath Kidson. The agency delivers campaigns to increase customer engagement and retention, and to boost sales., and is ranked top of Marketing magazine’s annual customer publishing agencies league table.

With a client base in the thousands, Publicis needed a single source to maintain and share its information between staff members, and to keep quotes together. There was also the challenge of reporting activity across 25 different media sectors, and thousands of potential media outlets.

“We went with Really Simple Systems because other CRM packages were not flexible enough”



Matt Hardman
Publicis Blueprint

Careful selection

Really Simple Systems won a three-way pitch against two other major CRM brands, emerging the key winner for several key reasons. First, the flexibility of the system meant it could be easily tailored to meet the unique needs of Publicis, in particular aligning with the company’s media channels – a key differentiator provided by the Really Simple Systems Opportunities Module. Second, the web-based platform with its ease of access from anywhere, was deemed preferable. Finally, the Really Simple Systems proposition came in at a competitive price.

Clear benefits

The Sales and Opportunity Modules was tailored to suit the specific requirements of Publicis. This can provide a single point of storage for all information about a client, taking input from personnel, drawing from client emails, and providing a highly fast, efficient interface for updating the client file, every time any member of the team has a conversation with the client contact.

For the 10 strong sales team, Really Simple Systems CRM has transformed their efficiency, enabling better client management and providing detailed reports that allow a more strategic approach. Thanks to the quality of information kept on the system, including a trail of past and current quotations, and a record of every communication with a client, anyone in the team can now handle an incoming client call, even if the specific account manager responsible is out of the office.

“Our business is unique, and Really Simple Systems were able to tailor to the media channels in a clear way.”

Matt Hardman
Publicis Blueprint

One unique aspect of Really Simple Systems CRM’s flexibility is that quarterly reports now take minutes to assemble, compared with many hours of staff time previously. Publicis could not find another CRM system that would deliver this key, time-saving benefit.

The right choice?

“We went with Really Simple Systems because other CRM packages were not flexible enough,” comments Matt Hardman, Sales Manager at Publicis Blueprint. “Our business is unique, and Really Simple Systems were able to tailor to the media channels in a clear way.”

“We gave Really Simple Systems a clear idea of what was wanted, and they tailored the system for us. It was painless, we had as many changes as we wanted, and were not charged any extra. It is very easy to use – users of the system can see how much time it saves them and appreciate how it enables them to do their job better and faster. We’ve not needed any training because it is so easy to use and is very intuitive.”

And the migration experience has been a good one: “Really Simple Systems are very easy to deal with; they listened to our requirements, acted immediately, and continue to support us – we call directly into support and get whatever changes and help we need very quickly.”