Your Editorializer Exclusive Interview: AFP invented the news agency business in paris in 1835 and is one of the top 3 global news providers along with the ASSOCIATED PRESS and REUTERS. Chairman and CEO of AFP, Emmanuel Hoog comments in an exclusive interview on the recent decision of BBC to choose his agency as its global video partner over AP. Hoog also explains why AFP’s global partnership with Relaxnews and Publicis makes a lot of sense. Recently, AFP global head of business and marketing Stéphane Marcovitch appointed Jon Dillon to manage the partnership internationally.
Your Editorializer Exclusive Interview
AFP and Publicis Build International Presence, Providing Unique Services Across the Globe
Emmanuel Hoog comments on the BBC’s decision to use AFP as its video provider over the AP.
BBC recently chose AFP over AP as their global video provider. How did you achieve such an iconic success?
Having the BBC sign a multi-year agreement with AFP is a significant milestone in the development of our video service. This success is due to multiple factors. The first one is the quantity of our production; it has increased constantly over the years to reach 200 videos a day with a truly international presence. We also have started to produce live coverage of major events and we now have 50 lives a week. Of course, we are improving our service constantly to provide a better quality, a faster delivery… All those elements combined with very persistent work and adequate prices have allowed us to reach our goal.
How strong is AFP in video globally?
More than 300 journalists are producing video on daily basis, all over the world. We are mainly dedicated to and focused on breaking news, but we are shooting a lot of features. We have a great store of archives too. All of our production has rights cleared, and we know that it means a lot of second hand use, especially for communication purposes. Video is our main source of development in next few years.
What value can your video teams bring to brands via the AFP Relaxnews Publicis partnership?
We launched our brand content activity four years ago. Telling compelling stories through images is a core expertise of AFP in our everyday news agency business. Using that competency to tell stories and to create bespoke content for brands was not a major challenge. In this perspective working with creative agencies such as the ones belonging to Publicis Groupe is key. Furthermore, AFP video journalists are present all over the world. That means we have an unbeatable reactivity and lower cost than many production companies. By combining the creativity of Publicis and the production capabilities of AFP, we can deliver a unique value proposition to corporate clients.
The AFP Relaxnews Publicis partnership for Samsung during the Olympics was a very successful one. What are your strategical, business and technological ambitions for the future with Publicis Groupe?
Developing business with brands is a strategic development ambition for AFP along with video for broadcasters and digital platforms and sports. AFP has already developed strong ties with brands to provide multimedia news content (text, photo, video, graphics) and bespoke production. The project with Samsung was characteristic of what both companies can do for a brand building on those two legs. Our goal is to keep building on the international presence of AFP and Publicis to provide our unique combination to more and more clients across the globe.
