Dive Brief:
- WPP has been increasing its European holdings via its Grey arm, acquiring French digital agency Sensio last week — a move that comes on the heels of it buying the German creative agency thjnk, according to MediaPost.
- WPP's moves are part of an effort to increase its holdings outside of the U.K. given the tensions around Brexit negotiations, MediaPost said. Last year, WPP forecast Brexit and a weakened pound would actually bolster its bottom line, but continued political and economic uncertainty might have stymied some of those growth plans.
- In related news, Revlon has chosen WPP's Grey and Mediacom shops for its $400 million-plus multi-brand global advertising account, per Ad Age. Grey also handles P&G's Pantene and Herbal Essences brands, which might bump up against competition with Revlon, Ad Age said.
Dive Insight:
WPP, the largest ad holding group in the world, has been looking to meet some of the challenges facing the traditional agency space through a two-pronged approach of structural simplification and deepening its marketing expertise. Acquiring specialty shops like Sensio and thjink, and then incorporating them into established arms like Grey, should bolster the latter effort.
Netting a major global client like Revlon can't hurt, either, especially since WPP this month weathered a downgrade in its stock from analysts and has, in recent quarters, reported underwhelming growth spurred in part by tumultuous political times. On the company's Q4 earnings call, in March, CEO Martin Sorrell warned that the firm was expecting growth of only 2% this year, which would make for the slowest period since 2012.
Other major ad holding groups including Omnicom were hit by similar sluggishness during earnings reports last week, and cited political uncertainty stateside as a strong contributing factor.
Even though it's grappling with a tough business climate, WPP is still working to stay on top of cutting edge technology through a recent partnership between its Wunderman shop and the startup incubator and accelerator Founders Factory, on top of the acquistions.