WPP Group

WPP Group
WPP Group
Type	Public; (LSE: WPP); (NASDAQ: WPPGY)
Founded	1985 (acquired by Sorrell)
Headquarters	London, England, UK
Key people	Martin Sorrell (founder); Paul Richardson; Howard Paster; Marie Capes; Mark Read
Industry	Communications
Products	Advertising; Media planning and buying; Public relations; Lobbying
Revenue	£6.18 billion (2007)
Operating income	£805 million (2007)
Net income	£515 million (2007)
Employees	c. 100,000 (2007)
Subsidiaries	GroupM; Grey Global Group; Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide; Young & Rubicam; JWT; Hill & Knowlton; Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide; Burson-Marsteller; Cohn & Wolfe; Mediaedge:cia; Mindshare; MediaInsight; Maximize; GCI Group
Website	www.wpp.com
	[2]

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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.

[edit] History

Wire and Plastic Products plc was founded in 1971. In the early 1980s Martin Sorrell was searching for a public entity through which to build a worldwide marketing services company; what he wanted was a shell company, a vehicle for buying up other companies. Sorrell with a partner, needing a quoted company as the nucleus for acquisitions, bought a controlling stake of just under 30% in Wire and Plastic Products Plc at a cost of $676,000. Wire and Plastic Products plc at that time was a UK manufacturer of wire shopping baskets, wine racks, filing trays and assorted oddments. The holding company was renamed WPP Group in 1985 and Sorrell became its chief executive.

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 1985, the same year Sorrell acquired control of WPP, the company acquired ten marketing companies in the US and the UK.

WPP Group's advertising agency 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),its public relations company holdings including Hill & Knowlton acquired via a hostile takeover in 1987, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide in 1989 for $864 million,^{[citation needed]} 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 research 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.^[2]

[edit] Industrial division

During 1986 WPP became the parent company of Picquotware. In November 1987 a fire destroyed the Northampton factory. Production restarted at another WPP group factory located at Burntwood in West Midlands. On the 25th November 2004 Wire & Plastic Products Ltd, part of WPP Group plc, closed the Burntwood factory and stopped manufacturing Picquotware. All assets were sold on 14 December 2004.

Delfinware Domestic Wireware, established in 1963 and manufacturing kitchen and bathroom wire racks, is a subsidiary of WPP Group (Wire & Plastic Products).

[edit] Governance

The company is governed by a board of directors, whose current members include Esther Dyson, Orit Gadiesh, David Komansky, Philip Lader, Christopher Mackenzie, Stanley Morten, Kōichirō Naganuma, Lubna Olayan, Howard Paster, John Quelch, Colin Day, Mark Read, Paul Richardson, Jeffrey Rosen, Martin Sorrell,and Paul Spencer.

[edit] WPP companies

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[0] WPP - WPP at a glance

[1] Kantar Operations

[2] Free Preview - WSJ.com

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WPP Group

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Industrial division

[edit] Governance

[edit] WPP companies

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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WPP Group

Type	Public (LSE: WPP) (NASDAQ: WPPGY)
Founded	1985 (acquired by Sorrell)
Headquarters	London, England, UK
Key people	Martin Sorrell (founder) Paul Richardson Howard Paster Marie Capes Mark Read
Industry	Communications
Products	Advertising Media planning and buying Public relations Lobbying
Revenue	£6.18 billion (2007)
Operating income	£805 million (2007)
Net income	£515 million (2007)
Employees	c. 100,000 (2007)
Subsidiaries	GroupM Grey Global Group Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Young & Rubicam JWT Hill & Knowlton Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide Burson-Marsteller Cohn & Wolfe Mediaedge:cia Mindshare MediaInsight Maximize GCI Group
Website	www.wpp.com
[2]