Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet
Encyclopedia
Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet (21 August 1906 – 11 April 1996) was a ground-breaking French advertising magnate best known as the founder of Publicis Groupe, currently the third largest communications group worldwide. He also invented radio advertising in France, helped create the first French opinion polls, introduced Edith Piaf
to the French public, and fought with the Free French forces during World War II.
The son of Abraham Bleustein, a Russian-Jewish furniture salesman in northern Paris, Marcel Bleustein left school at the age of 14 to help out in the family furniture business. He founded Publicis in 1926 in a small apartment above a butcher’s shop. In 1935, he purchased a radio station which he renamed Radio Cité, and introduced France’s first news broadcasts as well as its first radio jingles. Radio Cité also helped launch singer Edith Piaf
.
In 1939, Marcel Bleustein married Sophie Vaillant, an English teacher who was the grand-daughter of Edouard Vaillant
, a well-known 19th century Socialist politician. (They had three daughters, including Elisabeth Badinter
, a prominent feminist writer and philosopher who chairs the supervisory board of Publicis Groupe). When the Second World War broke out, Marcel Bleustein's companies were confiscated by the German occupation forces as "Jewish properties". He joined the Resistance, took the code-name Blanchet, and was detached to serve as a co-pilot for the US Eighth Air Force
, flying bombing missions over France and Holland. When the war ended, he rebuilt Publicis from scratch, introducing the first opinion polls in France and developing the then-American fields of consumer research and brand analysis. http://2.262.00515.X He retained his Resistance name of Blanchet, adding it legally to his original name.
During the 1970s, under the leadership of Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet and his successor, Maurice Lévy
, Publicis became a international communications group and is now the third largest communications group in the world. In 2008, twelve years after his death, the American Advertising Federation
announced that Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet would become the first non-American to be named to the Advertising Hall of Fame.
Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
to the French public, and fought with the Free French forces during World War II.
The son of Abraham Bleustein, a Russian-Jewish furniture salesman in northern Paris, Marcel Bleustein left school at the age of 14 to help out in the family furniture business. He founded Publicis in 1926 in a small apartment above a butcher’s shop. In 1935, he purchased a radio station which he renamed Radio Cité, and introduced France’s first news broadcasts as well as its first radio jingles. Radio Cité also helped launch singer Edith Piaf
Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
.
In 1939, Marcel Bleustein married Sophie Vaillant, an English teacher who was the grand-daughter of Edouard Vaillant
Édouard Vaillant
Marie Édouard Vaillant was a French politician.Born in Vierzon, Cher, son of a lawyer, Édouard Vaillant studied engineering at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, graduating in 1862, and then law at the Sorbonne. In Paris he knew Charles Longuet, Louis-Auguste Rogeard, and Jules Vallès...
, a well-known 19th century Socialist politician. (They had three daughters, including Elisabeth Badinter
Élisabeth Badinter
Élisabeth Badinter is a French author, feminist, historian, and professor of Philosophy at the École Polytechnique in Paris....
, a prominent feminist writer and philosopher who chairs the supervisory board of Publicis Groupe). When the Second World War broke out, Marcel Bleustein's companies were confiscated by the German occupation forces as "Jewish properties". He joined the Resistance, took the code-name Blanchet, and was detached to serve as a co-pilot for the US Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
, flying bombing missions over France and Holland. When the war ended, he rebuilt Publicis from scratch, introducing the first opinion polls in France and developing the then-American fields of consumer research and brand analysis. http://2.262.00515.X He retained his Resistance name of Blanchet, adding it legally to his original name.
During the 1970s, under the leadership of Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet and his successor, Maurice Lévy
Maurice Lévy
Maurice Lévy was a French engineer and member of the Institut de France.Lévy was born in Ribeauvillé in Alsace. Educated at the École Polytechnique, where he was a student of Adhémar Jean Claude Barré de Saint-Venant, and the École des Ponts et Chaussées, he became an engineer in 1863...
, Publicis became a international communications group and is now the third largest communications group in the world. In 2008, twelve years after his death, the American Advertising Federation
American Advertising Federation
The American Advertising Federation , headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the oldest national advertising trade association, representing 50,000 professionals in the advertising industry. The AAF has a national network of 200 ad clubs located in ad communities across the United States...
announced that Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet would become the first non-American to be named to the Advertising Hall of Fame.