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Tag: WPP

  • WPP acquires remaining stake in MediaCom India from Sam Balsara & Lara Balsara Vajifdar

    WPP acquires remaining stake in MediaCom India from Sam Balsara & Lara Balsara Vajifdar

    Mumbai: WPP announced that it has purchased the remaining 26 per cent stake in MediaCom Communications in India from Sam Balsara and Lara Balsara Vajifdar. 

    According to the deal signed, Sam Balsara and Lara Balsara Vajifdar entered into a discussion with the network agreeing to exit MediaCom in the interest of its clients to enable the merger.

    Sam Balsara and his family first entered into a contract with WPP in 2008 under which the Balsara family held 51 per cent. The Madison promoters sold 25 per cent of the business in 2017.

    Speaking on the agreement, Sam Balsara said, “This innovative partnership we invested in nearly 15 years ago has been a great success for all parties. It has established MediaCom in India as a fast-growing and highly respected agency by advertisers.”

    MediaCom Global CEO Nick Lawson commented, “It has been a pleasure working with Sam Balsara and Lara Balsara as we grew this successful business in India. We will build on that legacy to deliver the agency model our clients want for the future – founded on brilliant strategy and brand-building capabilities, with pioneering digital expertise running throughout.”

    This acquisition is a part of WPP’s strategy of investing in fast growth markets, new media and digital. On 26 April 2022, WPP announced that global agencies MediaCom and Essence would merge to form EssenceMedia.com. 

  • Ogilvy names Devika Bulchandani as global chief executive officer

    Ogilvy names Devika Bulchandani as global chief executive officer

    Mumbai: Ogilvy has announced the appointment of Devika Bulchandani as global chief executive officer. In this role, she will be responsible for all aspects of the creative network’s business across 131 offices in 93 countries and spanning its advertising, public relations, experience, consulting, and health units. She will also join WPP’s executive committee as she takes on her new role. Devika most recently served as global president and CEO of Ogilvy North America. She takes the helm from Andy Main, who is stepping down as global CEO and will serve as a senior advisor until the end of the year.

    WPP CEO Mark Read said, “Over the last two years, under Andy’s leadership, Ogilvy has seen a transformation in its creative and business performance. This stems from the consistently outstanding quality of work from Ogilvy’s teams around the world; the investment in attracting and developing talent across the business; and the strong and more diverse leadership team Andy has built. With the agency’s transformation a year ahead of the schedule we originally envisioned, Andy has decided that now is the right time to seek a new challenge, and he is moving on with my personal thanks and best wishes.”

    “Devika is a champion of creativity who brings passion, purpose, and an uncompromising focus on generating impact to everything she does. In partnership with Andy and Liz Taylor, she has been instrumental in Ogilvy’s recent growth and development. Her love for our industry, her deep understanding of clients’ needs, and her track record of delivering growth for agencies and brands, make her the perfect choice to lead Ogilvy to even greater success,” he added.

    Andy Main said, “When I joined Ogilvy, my goal was to build on the company’s incredible heritage, raise its ambitions, and deliver growth for our clients through work that has impact. Our progress is a testament to all the talented people across the network and our amazing clients, for whom I have the deepest gratitude and respect. David Ogilvy spoke about the importance of hiring giants, and Devika is truly one of the giants in the industry. It has been an honour to be a part of this company’s rich history, and I know Devika will continue to accelerate the momentum our team has built.”

    Prior to joining Ogilvy, Devika spent 26 years at McCann in various leadership roles, including president of McCann North America. She was the driving force behind Mastercard’s long-running “Priceless” campaign as well as “True Name,” a first-of-its-kind feature launched in 2019 that empowers transgender and non-binary people to display their chosen name on their Mastercard. Known for ideas that capture the cultural zeitgeist, Dev also helped launch “Fearless Girl,” a symbol of women’s equality; the campaign became one of the most awarded campaigns in the history of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

    Devika Bulchandani said, “David Ogilvy changed the industry 74 years ago when he founded this iconic agency. As we write the next chapter in the history books of Ogilvy, we will do it together with our clients, using creativity to push the boundaries of what’s possible. I am honoured and humbled to take on this role, and to do it with all our incredibly talented people all over the world.”

    Devika has previously received a range of honours, including: NY Power Woman by Moves Magazine; US Advertising Agency Head of the Year by Campaign Magazine; Working Mother of the Year by She Runs It; and ADCOLOR Innovator. She has been the recipient of multiple 4As Jay Chiat Awards for strategic planning. Devika serves on the board of the ERA Coalition. She is also a founding member of Times Up Advertising and serves on the boards of the Ad Council, the 4A’s, and the Advertising Club.

    Over the last two years, the creative network has deepened and grown relationships with current clients while winning new business with brands including Absolut, Enterprise Holdings, World of Hyatt, TD Bank, FEMA, New York Philharmonic, and Audi of America. Ogilvy also played a key role in WPP being named as The Coca-Cola Company’s Global Marketing Network Partner, the agency shared in a statement. Recently, Ogilvy earned the coveted position of Network of the Year at the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for the first time since 2016 and secured the same honour from The One Show and Campaign magazine.

  • The Glitch bags digital mandate for OLX Autos

    The Glitch bags digital mandate for OLX Autos

    New Delhi: OLX Autos has appointed The Glitch for its digital duties. The digital-first creative agency within the VMLY&R network has won the account through a competitive pitch.

    As a part of this partnership, The Glitch will partner with OLX Autos to create awareness and recognition for the brand across India via a robust digital strategy.

    The Glitch has a decade of experience in building digital-first brands and championing editorial-first content. It will be responsible for re-imagining OLX Autos presence online via focused and engaging content.

    OLX Autos country head of marketing Siddharth Agrawal said, “We are very excited to have The Glitch on board as our partner. We are committed to building a strong brand presence in the digital and social media space and are confident that working with The Glitch will help us drive a better engagement with our target audience.”

    Expressing his thoughts on the collaboration, VMLY&R MD (North) Paras Johar said, “The OLX group has a legacy of changing the way Indians buy and sell pretty much anything. We are humbled and excited to be partnering OLX Autos in their journey to do the same for the pre-owned cars segment across the country. Through innovative processes and solutions, they have been able to provide true value for their users since launching in 2009 and we look forward to helping further this through a unique social media strategy to unlock deeper engagement, understanding and conversations with their audience.”

  • Volvo & Mindshare launch ‘Volvoverse’ campaign to provide 3D experience to customers

    Volvo & Mindshare launch ‘Volvoverse’ campaign to provide 3D experience to customers

    Mumbai: Volvo Car India has announced the launch of its first-ever electric vehicle in the Metaverse called ‘Volvoverse.’ The campaign launch is conceptualised by Mindshare India. This is the first-of-its-kind collaboration on Metaverse across WPP India agencies.

    The Volvo XC40 Recharge is being launched in a virtual world by Volvo Car India managing director Jyoti Malhotra, while ushering in a new era of digital platforms for Volvo customers with accessible 3D experiences.

    Mindshare collaborated with other WPP agencies including Hogarth, Yonder, Grey, and Genesis BCW to deliver ‘Volvoverse’, realising the group’s ambition for customers to efficiently access specialist companies in the group to achieve their objectives with a single point of contact.

    Mindshare South Asia CEO Amin Lakhani said, “We at Mindshare strive to provide our clients with tech-enabled, creative branding solutions. The concept behind launching the XC40 Recharge in the metaverse was to launch the EV in a sustainable ecosystem, following the vision of Volvo. The metaverse is evolving the internet by bringing people closer. Using virtual worlds, we are looking to reach out to the maximum audience. We are excited to do the first-ever EV launch in the metaverse with a campaign that appeals to our audience in an exciting new environment, which is the first of its kind.”

    Speaking about this unique experience, Malhotra said, “Volvo has always been at the forefront of innovation and technology, and we, as a company, are also globally known for our commitment to sustainability. The launch of the XC40 Recharge on the metaverse platform is a pioneering moment leveraging digital technology in the marketing sphere. The metaverse launch also contributes to our sustainability mission as it leaves a negligible carbon footprint as compared to conventional launches.”

    Hogarth India CEL Gopikaa Davar added, “Hogarth is committed to reaching net zero by 2030, and we are excited to partner with Mindshare and Volvo on a project which brings together both our focus areas of sustainable production and the metaverse. Launching an electric vehicle in the virtual world is only befitting as a conscious alternative to a physical event where an average conference attendee would have produced around 170 kg of CO2 emissions in a one-day event. This is a great example of how we are all reducing and mitigating the environmental impact by using virtual studios and green screen shoots as a driving force, removing the need for location shoots and events (reduces carbon footprint) and maximising the utilisation of the content we capture.”

  • Groupm rolls out a global framework for media decarbonization

    Groupm rolls out a global framework for media decarbonization

    Mumbai: WPP’s media investment group, GroupM, has introduced the approach that it will take to measure & reduce ad-based carbon emissions using a newly developed global carbon measurement framework.

    The framework is an innovative, new set of measurement methodologies designed to break down the media value chain & define the necessary data inputs to measure carbon emissions across all five stages of the advertising life cycle for all formats, channels and markets in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s standards.

    The establishment of a globally scalable approach to carbon measurement is a major step GroupM is taking to deliver on its commitment to decarbonize its media supply chain by 2030, as announced by WPP in April 2021. It provides the parameters, data inputs and methodology necessary to power what we believe to be the industry’s most robust global carbon calculator, which will be available to GroupM clients later this year and will allow media planners to map the total carbon footprint of advertising campaigns from development to delivery.

    Speaking about it, GroupM global CEO Christian Juhl said, “Our clients want to prioritize media investment with publishers and platforms that are actively decarbonizing their media supply.”

    Juhl added, “While we applaud the many steps taken to quantify ad-based carbon emissions in recent years, having different standards across companies, platforms, and markets is delaying meaningful action. By sharing this global framework, we hope to begin aligning our industry behind a consistent set of standards that will create clear goals and incentives for rapidly decarbonizing the media supply chain.”

    AXA media performance insights director Jérôme Amouyal said, “We have seen that our industry has an increasing number of calculators, but not an aligned reduction plan. It is important that we as a collective get behind a robust, actionable solution that accelerates decarbonization. We believe that market approaches such as GroupM’s will lead the way in educating, informing and enabling vital change in the industry. We’re looking forward to working with them to have the right framework to inform our future buying decisions.”

    To develop its decarbonization framework, GroupM worked with independent specialists in carbon measurement and incorporated input from clients, industry partners, third parties, and experts across GroupM and WPP. In addition to providing standards and processes for measuring carbon emissions, the framework also outlines steps advertisers can take immediately to accelerate their decarbonization efforts. These include buying fewer but higher-quality ads, cutting the complexity of the supply chain by reducing intermediaries, and buying low-carbon media products.

    To encourage the establishment of industry-wide standards for carbon measurement across channels and formats, GroupM will make the methodologies and processes supporting its new framework available to industry bodies and organizations committed to decarbonizing the media supply chain, setting a target approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).   

    Ad Net Zero chair Sebastian Munden said, “Action 3 of the Ad Net Zero action plan is all about getting the whole industry to the point where we can accurately track, report and therefore reduce the carbon footprint of all media channels. This is no easy task, especially as we scale the efforts of Ad Net Zero globally. We would need an agreed standardized approach that works for all parts of the ecosystem: advertisers, agencies, media and tech. This move by GroupM is hugely welcome, and a very timely development to help deliver those aims. Through the new Ad Net Zero Global Group recently announced at Cannes Lions, we will explore how this approach can be scaled right across the industry.”

  • WPP acquires e-commerce agency Corebiz

    WPP acquires e-commerce agency Corebiz

    Mumbai: WPP has announced that it is acquiring Corebiz, a Latin American e-commerce agency specialising in VTEX implementation. It is one of the largest enterprise digital commerce platforms in the region. 

    Founded in 2013, Corebiz employs over 600 people across Latin America, with the majority of its headcount based in its São Paulo and Franca offices in Brazil. The Brazilian operations of the company will join the VMLY&R COMMERCE global network, with further regional outposts of the business coming onboard over the course of the coming year. 

    Corebiz counts companies such as Whirlpool, Casino Group, Walmart, Carrefour, Decathlon and Estée Lauder amongst its clients. It specialises in a range of e-commerce digital solutions covering three key pillars: acquisition, from creating visuals for digital campaigns to driving targeted SEO; conversion, including CRO and full stack development; and loyalty, spanning from CRM system implementation to managing consumer data and running targeted promotional campaigns. As an implementation specialist of VTEX, the agency helps clients reduce time-to-market, reach audiences across multiple channels, and uncover new growth areas in Latin America and beyond.

    WPP said that this acquisition reflects its ongoing investment in strengthening its commerce offer for clients as consumer needs continue to change. It is aligned with WPP’s accelerated growth strategy, building on existing capabilities in the areas of commerce and technology. WPP added that it is ranked as a leader in Forrester’s global Commerce Services Wave, and already manages more than $40 billion of direct and $20 billion of marketplace GMV for clients and employs 13,500 commerce specialists across its agencies.

    WPP in Brazil country manager Stefano Zunino said, “Companies both in Latin America and around the world are looking to grow their e-commerce capabilities, having seen over the last two and a half years the impact that strong digital commerce strategies can have on business growth. Corebiz’s market-leading knowledge of enterprise commerce platforms such as VTEX will further strengthen our commerce expertise. I look forward to welcoming the Corebiz team as we expand our offer to clients here in Brazil and beyond.”

    VMLY&R COMMERCE global CEO Beth Ann Kaminkow said, “Bolstering our creative commerce offering to drive conversion every day for our clients is an essential ingredient to creating connected brands. The team at Corebiz are not only experts in this field, but also share our philosophy for building a thriving company culture alongside business growth. We’re thrilled to get our collaboration underway across our client base.”

    Corebiz founders and co-CEOs Felipe Macedo and Renan Mota said, “Over the last few years, we have actively participated in the acceleration of the ecommerce market in Latin America. Now, our goal is to take this expertise to the rest of the world. This will only be enhanced by joining WPP and the VMLY & R COMMERCE network, and we are excited to strengthen ecommerce enablement for VMLY & R COMMERCE’s global clients.”

  • Essence bags integrated media mandate for Plum

    Essence bags integrated media mandate for Plum

    Mumbai: A global data and measurement-driven media agency WPP’s GroupM, Essence has won the integrated media mandate of beauty brand Plum in India. Essence will work on this mandate out of their Mumbai office. 

    As a part of this partnership, Essence will manage strategy, media planning and media activation for Plum’s brand marketing activities. With its pioneering expertise in data, technology and creativity, the agency will help scale the brand across categories and drive enhanced return on investment.

    With over 180 SKUs, Plum has steadily built its customer base on both online and offline platforms. In addition to being among the top new-age beauty brands online, Plum now reaches over 250 towns and cities in India, through more than 1,000 assisted outlets and over 10,000 unassisted outlets – growing month-on-month. It is also one of the fastest-growing beauty and personal care brands on key online marketplaces.

    Now it joins Essence’s diverse portfolio of clients across its Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai offices, covering a mix of high-growth, technology-driven startups as well as established local and global companies. Since Essence’s entry into India in 2016, the agency has seen an increasing demand by companies for its transformational data-driven approach to marketing, unified use of media and creativity to deepen relationships with consumers, and expertise in accelerating brand and business growth.

    Speaking of this association, Plum chief marketing officer Shivani Behl said, “Consumer behaviour is ever-evolving, and reaching out to the new-age digital consumer is a process that involves constant learning and feedback. With this context, it is imperative to keep a keen eye on data, and expand our reach to newer audiences and cater to the ever-changing demands of our existing ones. Hence, collaborating with Essence to leverage their expertise in technology, media and marketing was a logical next step. We are looking forward to this association and we hope it helps us in achieving the business vision we have chalked out for ourselves.” 

    Essence India managing director Sonali Malaviya commented, “Plum is an exciting, fast-growing and purpose-driven beauty brand, which shares Essence’s commitment to data-driven growth and marketing that adds value to people’s lives. Leveraging our cutting-edge use of analytics and technology, we are looking forward to collaborating with the team at Plum as its strategic partner, to help create new growth opportunities for the brand and the business.”

  • WPP partners with Ukrainian govt to support economic recovery

    WPP partners with Ukrainian govt to support economic recovery

    Mumbai: Creative transformation company WPP and the Ukrainian government established a cooperation to entice investment and support Ukraine’s economic recovery.

    Ukraine minister of culture and information policy Oleksandr Tkachenko discussed the forthcoming campaign in a session with WPP CEO Mark Read at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

    WPP agencies from Ukraine, Poland and Czech Republic will work with the minister and his government colleagues on ‘Advantage Ukraine’ to demonstrate that Ukraine is open for business. The initiative will target business leaders within the region and across the world to encourage inward investment to support the economic recovery of the country.

    The wider programme will showcase the variety of talent and expertise in Ukraine across sectors including agriculture, technology, education and the creative industries and its huge potential for commercial investment.

    Tkachenko said, “I’m pleased to announce our partnership with WPP on our new ‘Advantage Ukraine’ initiative that will create the right conditions for inward investment and create attractive opportunities for visionary business leaders and investors. We want the world to know that Ukraine is still open for business and has the potential to be a key cultural and digital technology European hub.”

    Read said, “We are very proud to be able to support Ukraine directly through this campaign. Creativity has the power not only to solve commercial problems but to address some of the biggest issues we face. WPP’s partnership with the Ukrainian government will aim to do both – underlining the enormous commercial potential of the country while supporting the economic recovery essential to rebuilding Ukrainian social and cultural life and ensuring a positive future for its citizens.”

  • Apollo Tyres mandates Mirum, a WPP agency, to create & release the latest campaign

    Apollo Tyres mandates Mirum, a WPP agency, to create & release the latest campaign

    Mumbai: Apollo Tyres has launched an awareness campaign  #RacingHeartsSince1909 for  Vredestein in India. The campaign, which is created and launched by Mirum, a WPP agency,  is all set to get the hearts racing! 

    The awareness campaign is being taken live on social media, OOH, print magazines, in addition to BTL activations in prominent cities across the country.

    The campaign targets the auto enthusiasts. It aims to raise awareness of the superior performance and rich legacy of the Vredestein brand.

    The company also focuses at bringing out the outstanding qualities that differentiates Vredestein from other tyre brands — a longstanding legacy of delivering tyres with premium styling and ultra-high performance. And, these are the two most important factors considered by owners of luxury cars and superbikes, the segments catered to by Vredestein.

    The campaign brings forward the brand’s ideology of tyres not just being another shoe of one’s vehicle, but a product which makes driving fun, fast and exhilarating. And this is a feeling that brand Vredestein has been delivering successfully for over a century, especially in Europe, with many of its tyres getting high ratings from automotive magazines in their tyre tests, much ahead of the competition.

    Commenting on the awareness campaign, Apollo Tyres Middle East and Africa & Asia Pacific president Satish Sharma said, “Vredestein is synonymous with premium styling and ultra-high performance tyres. We are looking at promoting these qualities of the brand, along with its heritage and legacy, which is winning hearts of the consumers, through this campaign, which is being rolled out across mediums.”

    Mirum North India director Arvind Nair added “Our attempt with racing hearts was to bring forth the love for driving combined with the heritage of the brand. For a brand like Vredestein, we focused on the emotion and the legacy of performance that sets it apart for over a century.”

  • Epic Games, WPP partner to accelerate innovation for clients in the metaverse

    Epic Games, WPP partner to accelerate innovation for clients in the metaverse

    MUMBAI: WPP and Fortnite developer Epic Games on Thursday announced a new partnership to deliver a new era of digital experiences for brands in the metaverse, according to a press statement.

    The partnership will include a new training program to upskill thousands of WPP creatives and technologists on how to create custom brand experiences in Fortnite, and how to use Unreal Engine for real-time 3D creation and virtual production. “This new metaverse curriculum will consist of three separate tracks for executives, creative practitioners, and media experts and strategists,” said the statement.  

    “Early to invest in the tools and talent needed to succeed in the metaverse, WPP believes that brands and creators have a tremendous opportunity to meet the need for connection and unlock unlimited creative potential within interactive virtual spaces. For brands embarking on this journey, success in the metaverse is dependent not only on creative excellence but deep production capabilities, sound strategies for amplifying digital experiences and expert knowledge of a complex online safety and privacy landscape,” it said.

    As a part of this partnership, WPP teams will work closely with experts at Epic to learn how to build next-generation interactive experiences leveraging Unreal Engine, an advanced real-time 3D creation tool used across a range of industries including games, film, architecture, fashion, automotive, music and live events.

    WPP teams will be able to take advantage of training and tools to create new experiences in Fortnite, where creators can build imaginative worlds for brands inside of one of the most globally popular online games.

    Earlier, WPP has collaborated with SuperAwesome, an Epic Games company, to produce innovative work such as the immersive Island built for Adidas in Fortnite for its Ozweego sneaker line.

    WPP will also work with SuperAwesome to deepen its understanding of online safety and privacy to help its campaigns engage younger audiences safely.

    WPP executive VP strategic partnerships Nilufar Fowler said, “We think of WPP as the creative transformation company, one that embraces new environments like the metaverse and sees the potential for clients. Epic’s technology is world-class, and we are delighted to partner with it to raise the bar for social experiences in virtual worlds on behalf of our clients.”

    Epic Games VP Metaverse development Matthew Henick said, “The collaboration between Epic, WPP, its clients and the creator community will accelerate the building of diverse social entertainment experiences that players across the world will love. This partnership with WPP bolsters our mission to educate more trailblazing brands and creators on how Epic’s tools across Fortnite, Unreal Engine, and 3D marketplaces like ArtStation and Sketchfab can be used to bring their metaverse visions to life.”

    This partnership follows WPP’s recent announcement of The Metaverse Foundry, a new global metaverse offering through Hogarth, its specialist creative content production company.