WPP said the AKQA and Grey brands “will be integrated over time into a single company based on client and market needs.”
Photo: toby melville/Reuters
WPP PLC is combining two large agencies, continuing the company’s plan to simplify its structure.
The change prioritizes digital agency AKQA over Grey, a traditional creative agency brand, and comes after similar reorganizations at WPP that reflect marketers’ increasing focus on digital marketing.
AKQA founder Ajaz Ahmed will become chief executive officer of the newly merged business, which will be called AKQA Group, WPP said Wednesday. Grey CEO Michael Houston will become global president and chief operating officer of the new group.
WPP said AKQA Group will launch with both the AKQA and Grey brands, but it added that they “will be integrated over time into a single company based on client and market needs.”
Two years ago, shortly after Mark Read took the helm as WPP’s CEO, the advertising holding company consolidated creative agency Young & Rubicam with digital shop VML, creating VMLY&R, and combined creative agency J. Walter Thompson with digital agency Wunderman to form Wunderman Thompson. The restructure was an effort to simplify a company that had become unwieldy.
“Our clients want outstanding creativity, powered by technology expertise and delivered at a global scale,” said Mark Read in a statement. “This new company is designed precisely to meet those needs and is another important step forward in building our future-facing offer for clients.”
The consolidation comes as ad holding companies confront shrunken client budgets, layoffs and financial challenges during the global pandemic. According to a report from Forrester, layoffs at U.S. agencies could reach 52,000 by the end of 2021.
Write to Alexandra Bruell at [email protected]
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