As Padraig Burns takes a seat in one of the meeting room’s low-lying chairs he shares a client list and a copy of James Hurman’s book, The Case for Creativity extolling “two decades’ evidence of the link between imaginative marketing and commercial success”. The book is peppered with quotes from some of the world’s top admen, including the Bill Bernbach corker: “If your advertising goes unnoticed, everything else is academic”.

Message received. Burns may be ‘a suit’ but when it comes to creative quotes there’s no mouches on this Kerryman. He knows his Bartle Bogle Hegartys – “Our objective is effectiveness. Our strategy is creativity”- from his Jim Stengels: “We’d been through the dark ages. And then we had the enlightenment”. The interview turns to the Publicis client list, or, as the page’s heading notes, “our partners”, with Renault first off the grid.

Burns joined Publicis QMP in 2006 as deputy managing director to Tom Doherty. When Doherty left, he took over in November 2010. Pragmatic in style, he keeps his cards close to his chest and gives little away. If he had chosen advertising as a career, he reckons he would have liked to have done something involving travel, perhaps a travel writer. With his diplomatic skills, a job as a UN ambassador may have been more appropriate.

The Publicis mantra is “prosper through creativity” and that is why clients like Cadbury, IDA Ireland and Hostelworld.com hired them. Agencies may yearn recognition – they want to be loved, but Burns asks what is it they want recognition for from clients. It should be good work. “It’s possible to meet both agendas,” he says. “At the heart of it, our clients’ brands flourish and we’re able to take pride in what we do.” He refers to a recent better place to work survey and how the agency scored really well in the audit.

Burns adopts a hands-on approach to management, as he believes to do otherwise would be foolhardy, tantamount to living in an ivory tower. With all the changes in the business and digital playing such an important role it’s essential, he says. He and Jimmy Murphy share the accounts. Publicis acquired Murphy’s The Hive agency, which saw Barnardos and News International, along with five staff, join the ranks around this time last year.

FBD is one of the agency’s longest-standing accounts. It was put out to pitch last year but they held on to it. “We’ve a good record of retaining long-term accounts,” Burns says. “In the last two years we’ve retained VHI, Spar, TG4 and FBD, all of which have been with us over ten years, which is most heartening.” Speaking of FBD, Publicis QMP earned wide acclaim for its NoNonsense car insurance ads.

While the award-winning TV ads may drive older women drivers mad, the ads achieved huge cut-through, thanks to the pun-loving Mags, voiced by actress Helen Norton.

Despite rumours to the contrary, they do not have Coca-Cola, unlike Publicis in London. They handle Tiger beer in Ireland, at a time when Rothco is pitching for its international account. They competed for the GAA with the incumbent Leo Burnett, but lost out to Target McConnells and along with Irish International they gave the Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) their best shot but saw it move to Chemistry from Cawley Nea\TBWA.

So Publicis QMP has been busy on the pitch front. Burns firmly believes in the ‘you win some, you lose some’ credo. While it costs to compete for new business, the alternative is less attractive. The agency pitched for RTE with McCann Erickson and the incumbent, Cawley Nea\TBWA. They had created award-winning work for TG4. Both broadcasters knew of the review in advance and were said to be happy with the new arrangement.

Based on its work for its Beamish stout, Heineken Ireland awarded Publicis QMP the Murphy’s account in January, previously with Cawley Nea\TBWA. It handled Renault’s pioneering car scrappage scheme, a campaign which earned the brand’s marketing director, Julien Lelorrain, a final place in the Marketing.ie Marketer of the Year. Burns points at Nescafe, one of several clients won through its Groupe Publicis membership.

BURNS RULES OF ENGAGEMENT Padraig Burns is circumspect about pitching for State business, given the experience adland had with Bus Eireann last year, when nine agencies were invited to present proposals. Publicis counts IDA Ireland among its accounts.

While at McConnells, Burns partnered Greg Jones on servicing the National Lottery for 12 years and “loved every minute of it”. So when Publicis QMP pitched for the account recently, he was reasonably upbeat about the chances of the agency getting the business. But because the Government is putting the lottery franchise out to tender he was not surprised that An Post decided to stay put and not to move it elsewhere for a year.

Pitching for the lottery prompted them to resign from pursuing F