WPP Group plc (LSE: WPP) (NASDAQ: WPPGY), based in London, United Kingdom, is the world's largest communications services group (and one of the big six advertising holding companies, the others being Omnicom, Interpublic, Publicis, Dentsu and Havas) employing 100,000 people working in more than 2,000 offices in 106 countries.[1] Its self-conceived characterization is a "parent company," able to bring together the right combination of capabilities to serve a client's analytic and creative brand marketing needs.
History
Wire and Plastic Products plc was founded in 1971 making wire shopping baskets. In 1985 Martin Sorrell, searching for a listed company through which to build a worldwide marketing services company, bought a controlling stake of just under 30% at a cost of $676,000.[2] The holding company was renamed WPP Group and in 1987 Sorrell became its chief executive.[2]
Sorrell had been the financial director for the advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi from 1977 to 1985, managing its takeovers of companies in the US and the UK. In 1987 the Company acquired J. Walter Thompson (including JWT, Hill & Knowlton and MRB Group) for $566m.[2]
The Company was first listed on the NASDAQ in 1988.[2] In 1989 it acquired Ogilvy Group for $864m[2] and in 1998 formed an alliance with Asatsu-DK Inc. of Japan.[2]
Operations
WPP's advertising agency company holdings include the Grey Global Group, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, Young & Rubicam, and JWT (formerly known as J. Walter Thompson Co.), Asatsu-DK (a.k.a ADK).
WPP's public relations company holdings including Hill & Knowlton, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe.
WPP's media investment management company holdings are operated by GroupM and include Mediaedge:cia, Mindshare, Maxus and MediaCom.
WPP's research insight and consulting companies, forming a separate umbrella group known as Kantar Group, comprise BMRB, Added Value, Indian Market Research Bureau, Millward Brown, Management Ventures Inc. and Research International. Recently, in a drive to streamline processes and save costs, Kantar fused the operational groups within the UK, US and Canada to form Kantar Operations.[3]
Industrial division
During 1986 WPP became the parent company of Picquotware, a manufacturer of teapots and jugs, based in Northampton. In November 1987 a fire destroyed the Northampton factory and production was restarted at Burntwood in Staffordshire. On 25 November 2004 WPP closed the Burntwood factory and stopped manufacturing Picquotware: all assets were sold on 14 December 2004.[4]
Delfinware Domestic Wireware, established in 1963 and manufacturing kitchen and bathroom wire racks, is also a subsidiary of WPP Group.[5]
Governance
The company is governed by a board of directors, whose current members include Colin Day, Esther Dyson, Orit Gadiesh, David Komansky, Philip Lader, Christopher Mackenzie, Stanley Morten, Kōichirō Naganuma, Lubna Olayan, John Quelch, Mark Read, Paul Richardson, Jeffrey Rosen, Timothy Shriver, Martin Sorrell and Paul Spencer.
WPP companies
This is a list of WPP companies:
References
- ^ WPP - WPP at a glance
- ^ a b c d e f WPP History
- ^ Kantar Operations
- ^ Piquotware History
- ^ Delfinware website
- ^ Find Out more about 141sercon.com
- ^ Free Preview - WSJ.com
- ^ A. Eicoff & Company Corporate Website - DRTV Marketing
External links
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