Maurice Lévy decides 'more is merrier' in Publicis Groupe's New Year video

The video features gospel singers, cheerleaders, Chinese dragons and a few other surprises

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | December 19, 2013

After hacking the YouTube functionality last year, Maurice Lévy is back again with a New Year corporate speech that features two Chinese dragons, a confetti storm, cheerleaders and much more.

This year, in light of the expected Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Group merger of equals, the agency decided to celebrate along the theme of 'The more the merrier'. The idea for this year's experience is simple: the more people that join in during the video, the merrier it will become.

So, the team got the geeks to develop a fancy facial detection algorithm that allows a webcam to count how many people are actually watching the video together.

If you watch the video by yourself you won't notice anything out of the ordinary, but if you add one friend you'll see Maurice Lévy delivering his corporate speech in a confetti storm. Bring a few more colleagues and you may see gospel singers, cheerleaders, Chinese dragons and a few other surprises as Maurice Lévy tries to keep his cool. We really thought of everything, so try and see what happens even when there's no one behind the screen.

Gather some friends and watch what happens here: http://www.publicisgroupewishes2014.com/

Download the first ever Maurice Lévy original SoundCloud track, 'The More the Merrier', here: https://soundcloud.com/publicisgroupe/themorethemerrier/s-IJbTs

Further details & facts:

The concept humanises digital technology by physically bringing people together around the video. The experience is hosted on the Publicis Groupe YouTube Channel

The facial recognition algorithm conceived by DigitasLBi France to create the experience was developed by an expert in the field, a 21-year-old Russian math genius. It is the first of its kind to detect up to 10 faces simultaneously while the YouTube video is playing

It is the first video to count viewers rather than YouTube views

'The More the Merrier' concept refers to the expected merger of equals between Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Group.

The video was shot using entirely live scenes (with no green screen or post-production editing). Nine times out of ten, the first take was kept in order to maintain the spontaneity of the moment and Maurice Lévy's surprise.

It takes 1,487 balloons to cover Maurice Lévy!

Credits:

DigitasLBi France

President: Mathieu Morgensztern

Chief Creative Officer: Bridget Jung

Creative Director: Nicolas Thiboutot

Creatives: Frederick Lung & Philippe Pinel

Art Director: Chisato Tchisuya

Graphic Designer: Aline Kesting, Manu Azouvi

Creative Producer: Amélie Cruchet

Project Director: Alexandre Gallais

Motion: Jeremy Vissio

Creative Technology Producer: Brice d'Annoville

Creative Technology Manager: Philippe Bordachar

Prodigious

President: Pierre Marcus

Producer: Thierry Delesalle

Director: François Nemeta

Production Officer: Charlène Plozner

Music: Audio Networks & Patrick Sigwalt

Publicis Groupe

VP, Communications Director: Peggy Nahmany

Communications Coordinator: Sabrina Pittea

Communications Officer: Lindsay McCallum

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com