WPP Plc history, company profile (overview) and history video

 WPP Plc is a holding company. The company through its subsidiaries provides communications services on a national, multinational and global basis. The company organizes its businesses in the following four areas: Advertising and Media Investment Management; Consumer Insight; Public Relations and Public Affairs; and Branding and Identity, Healthcare and Specialist Communications, including direct, digital, promotion and relationship marketing. The Advertising and Media Investment Management segment operates through advertising agencies, which includes Ogilvy & Mather, JWT, Y&R, Grey, the United Network and bates; Media Investment Management such as MEC, Mindshare, Maxus and tenthavenue. The Consumer Insight segment helps to optimize its worldwide research offering to clients, which includes global research and strategic marketing consultancy businesses through Kantar Group. The Public Relations and Public Affairs segment includes national and international corporate, financial and marketing communications, crisis management, reputation management, public affairs and government lobbying. The Branding and Identity segment provides services, which includes consumer, corporate and employee branding and design services, covering identity, packaging, literature, events, training and architecture through B to D Group, Fitch and BDG architecture + design. The group’s history dates back to its founding in 1985 and it is headquartered in London, UK.“

“WPP history

Below is an abbreviated history of WPP. 

1985

• Martin Sorrell takes stake in Wire and Plastic Products Plc , a UK manufacturer of wire baskets, following his search for a public entity through which to build a worldwide marketing services company

1986-87

• Sorrell becomes chief executive of the renamed WPP Group
• Builds below-the-line capabilities with acquisition of marketing services companies in the UK and US

1987

• Acquires J. Walter Thompson Group for $566m, including ad agency JWT , PR firm Hill & Knowlton Inc and market research network MRB Group

1988

• Listed on NASDAQ exchange in New York
• Continued acquisition of US and UK-based marketing services companies

1989

• Acquires The Ogilvy Group for $864m, including ad agency Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide ,  Ogilvy Direct and  Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
• Research firms Millward Brown and Research International join WPP

1990-92

• WPP named the world’s top agency group by Advertising Age
• Group financial re-structuring

1992

• Launches CommonHealth , an international healthcare communications network drawing on specialist skills of professionals across the Group

1994

• IBM consolidates its global advertising at Ogilvy & Mather, moving from 40 agencies to a single global agency

1995

• Establishes Kantar as internal parent company for the Group’s research interests
• WPP makes a number of strategic acquisitions and investments in new media (digital) companies

1997

• Introduces worldwide stock option program for all WPP people
• Launches new generation media planning, buying and research company Mindshare , in Europe and Asia
• Invests in Batey Holdings, Singapore-based advertising group, Chime Communications and Latin American media research business IBOPE

1998

• Forms strategic alliance with Asatsu-DK Inc , Japan’s third largest advertising agency
• Continued acquisitions (30+) across all disciplines to strengthen existing networks, including US-based global retail consultancy Management Ventures Inc
• Joins the London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 100 Index

1999

• Mindshare launches in the US
• Kimberly-Clark consolidates its global advertising account with JWT
• Acquires corporate identity specialists Lambie-Nairn,and sports marketing company PRISM Group

2000

• Acquires Young & Rubicam Group , including Y&R Advertising , Burson-Marsteller , Landor ,Wunderman ,  Cohn & Wolfe and Sudler & Hennessey
• 35+ acquisitions including Spafax (in-flight media) and  Premiere Group (the sports marketing/sponsorship company)
• Commissions  BrandZ research tool from Millward Brown

2001

• Launches Red Cell , fourth agency network; acquires US creative advertising agency Berlin Cameron & Partners
• Acquires Tempus Group plc. Tempus’ media agency CIA joins forces with The Media Edge to form  Mediaedge:cia
• Acquires majority interest in Korean advertising agency AD Venture Worldwide; 25+ further acquisitions including Penn, Schoen & Berland , MJM, VML , Finsbury ,  Glendinning and Ziment

2002

• Strengthens presence in China and Taiwan through stakes in Shanghai Advertising Agency ,  H-Line Worldwide (China) and  Era Public Relations (Taiwan)
• Ogilvy & Mather and Young & Rubicam take controlling stake in LG Ad Inc , Korea’s largest ad agency

2003

• Acquires Cordiant Communications Group, bringing Bates , Fitch , 141 Worldwideand HealthWorld into the Group. Bates re-launches as a standalone Asian agency brand
• WPP forms  GroupM to oversee Group’s media investment management interests
• Red Cell strengthens in UK via stake in HHCL

2004

• WPP teams win global HSBC and Samsung accounts, representing more than $1 billion in new business
• Strengthens creative and media presence in China and Taiwan
• AGB and Nielsen Media Research create international TV ratings company AGB Nielsen Media Research

2005

• WPP acquires  Grey Global Group
• Poster Publicity and Portland merge to create global outdoor media company  Kinetic
• WPP strengthens position in Russia via new venture with Video International
• WPP acquires Bridge Worldwide, a leading US-based interactive and relationship marketing specialist

2006

• China presence further strengthened by acquisitions in advertising, media, specialist marketing and market research
• WPP invests in digital partnerships with Visible Technologies, WildTangent and Spot Runner
• Launch of BrandAmp, a musical and brand partnership between WPP’s GroupM and Universal Music

2007

• WPP Digital created to harness digital media opportunities; forms further digital partnerships with 24/7 Real Media, JumpTap , iconmobile and mMetrics
• WPP adopts carbon neutral strategy by introducing a Groupwide carbon offset program and setting CO2 reduction targets
• Continued acquisitions and investments in strategically-important regions and disciplines
• Dell appoints WPP as worldwide marketing partner

2008

• Launch of PARTNERZ, a powerful sponsorship research tool covering the fields of sport, the arts, music, film, festivals and entertainment
• The Group’s digital capabilities strengthened with further acquisitions in China, Hong Kong, Europe and the US
• WPP creates a new UK-listed, Jersey incorporated parent company to be called WPP plc and changes its domicile to Dublin, Ireland
• TNS is acquired by WPP and joins the Kantar Group, which becomes the world’s second largest market research group
• Google and WPP launch a Marketing Research Awards Program to support research into online media and its influence on consumer behaviour

2009

• Kantar streamlines its structure and combines TNS Custom with Research International to create the world’s largest custom research group
• WPP forms strategic partnership with leading analytics company Omniture to help clients optimise their marketing spend
• Group companies accumulate a record number of awards at the Cannes International Advertising Festival
• WPP strengthens its presence in Africa through investments in Kenya-based Scangroup and The Jupiter Drawing Room & Partners and Smollan Group in South Africa
• OgilvyInteractive, VML and Wunderman named as Leaders in the Forrester Wave TM report on US interactive agencies

2010

• Through GroupM, WPP forms a new corporate trading division, The Midas Exchange, to help clients secure media credits in exchange for under-performing assets
• The Group continues to build its digital expertise through acquisitions, joint ventures and partnerships, with investments in China, Brazil, Singapore, the UK and the US
• WPP forms a strategic partnership with Buddy Media, the Facebook management system of choice for seven of the world’s top 10 advertisers, to help the world’s largest brands scale their marketing efforts on Facebook more effectively
• RECMA, the agency research firm, ranks WPP No.1 for the number of digital staff employed, with more than 17,400 digital specialists, or over 12% of its people (including associates) worldwide
• WPP and Millward Brown launch the inaugural BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Chinese Brands, the first time China’s brands have been ranked through financial data and consumer perception

2011

• WPP develops further its presence in Africa with additional stakes in Mindshare South Africaand Ogilvy South Africa
• WPP Digital combines four of its interactive agencies, Schematic, Bridge Worldwide, BLUE and Quasar, to create a new global network, Possible Worldwide
• WPP expands its digital presence further in Latin America by taking majority stakes in two leading Brazilian digital agencies, F.biz and Gringo
• WPP is named Holding Company of the Year at the 2011 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
• The Group co-launches China’s first professional marketing diploma course
• WPP is ranked 41 out of 500 in Newsweek’s Green Rankings 2011

2012

• For the second year running, WPP was named Holding Company of the Year at the 2012 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
• WPP ranked the Most Effective Holding Company in the 2012 North American Effie’s Effectiveness Index Rankings
• Acquisitions and investments continue in strategically-important geographic markets and disciplines, including a stake in multinational retail marketing agency, Barrows and the acquisition of the world’s top independent digital agency, AKQA
• GroupM named Holding Company of the Year in the Gunn Report for Media
• The Group’s international footprint increases to 110 countries, with Ogilvy & Mather taking a stake in Myanmar’s Today Advertising
• WPP forms The Data Alliance, a cross-Group initiative to help clients interpret and get value from big data
• In December 2012, Martin Sorrell named Britain’s Most Admired Leader by Management Today and received the UK Marketing Society’s Outstanding Leadership Award

2013

• Following changes to the UK Government’s tax policy, WPP moves HQ back to London, from Dublin
• For the third year in a row, WPP named Holding Company of the Year at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
• WPP ranked Most Effective Holding Company in the Effie Global Effectiveness Index for the second year running
• WPP links up with D&AD in workshop and apprenticeship programs for young creative talent
• Strategic partnerships and acquisitions in new markets and digital media continue to strengthen Group

2014

• WPP launches global Government & Public Sector Practice
• For the fourth consecutive year, WPP named Holding Company of the Year at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
• WPP ranked Most Effective Holding Company in the Effie Global Effectiveness Index for the third year running.”

*Information from Forbes.com **Video published on YouTube by “Groupm Argentina“