WPP Plans to Fold Possible Worldwide Into Wunderman
July 05 2017 - 6:34PM
Dow Jones News
By Suzanne Vranica
Advertising giant WPP PLC is folding its digital ad firm
Possible Worldwide into digital agency Wunderman, according to
people familiar with the matter.
The holding company is merging Possible Worldwide -- which has
roughly $250 million in annual revenue and works on behalf of
clients such as Procter & Gamble, AT&T and Starbucks --
into Wunderman, its direct marketing and customer relationship
marketing juggernaut, the people said.
Wunderman has an estimated $1.2 billion in annual revenue and
operates in about 60 countries around the globe. The two companies
have several clients in common, including Microsoft. The Possible
brand is expected to continue, the people said.
A spokesman for WPP declined to comment.
WPP is seeking to offer up a simpler structure for clients that
want more integration across marketing functions, such as data,
digital, creative advertising and media buying, according to ad
executives. The company has been streamlining its operations to get
its companies to work more closely together.
The holding company recently placed Salmon, an e-commerce
specialist that it acquired in 2013, within Wunderman. Meanwhile,
GroupM, the umbrella firm that house WPP's ad buying firms, is
combining its ad buying agencies MEC and Maxus in an effort to save
money and invest in new growth areas.
Wunderman was founded in 1958. Possible was created in 2011 when
WPP combined several of its digital agencies around the world to
create a bigger entity that could better compete for global
accounts. Mark Read, Wunderman's global chief executive officer,
was one of the executives responsible for the creation of Possible.
At that time, Mr. Read was chief executive of WPP Digital.
Most recently, Possible has been bulking up on its Amazon
expertise, as marketers seek out help in dealing with the
e-commerce giant and its growing ad business.
WPP Chief Executive Martin Sorrell has been outspoken about
Amazon's growing presence in the ad business. He recently described
the online retail giant as the "gorilla in the room" and said its
$13.4 billion acquisition of grocery chain Whole Foods could
bolster Amazon's ability to influence how and where WPP spends
marketers' ad dollars.
Write to Suzanne Vranica at suzanne.vranica@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 05, 2017 18:19 ET (22:19 GMT)
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