Big WPP Ad Agency Gets New Leader -- WSJ
14 Settembre 2018 - 9:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Nick Kostov
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (September 14, 2018).
WPP PLC has tapped Mel Edwards to run one of its largest ad
agencies, as the world's biggest advertising company grapples with
upheaval across the industry.
Ms. Edwards succeeds Mark Read as chief executive of Wunderman,
the agency said, after the latter was promoted to CEO of WPP
earlier this month. She was previously head of Wunderman for
Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Wunderman is WPP's direct marketing and customer-relationship
marketing business, a behemoth operation that has returned to
growth in recent years after a period of lackluster financial
performance.
It had been run by Mr. Read since February 2015. While there, he
consolidated Wunderman offices that were scattered across the globe
and reduced the number of brands through which the agency pitched
for business. He also broadened Wunderman's operations, which had
been focused on direct marketing, to include consulting, business
transformation and e-commerce.
Ms. Edwards, who will be based in London, joined Wunderman as
head of its U.K. business in 2012, helping to win new business with
clients including Coca-Cola Co. and Shell PLC. She was promoted to
the role of chief executive for EMEA in 2015, occupying an office
adjacent to Mr. Read's as the two worked together to revamp the
business.
"What I'm not going to do is change everything and reinvent the
wheel," Ms. Edwards said. "We've got something brilliant and my
plan is very much to build on what we've been successful at."
Mr. Read has pledged to revamp WPP's organizational structure
that has become out of step with a digital age.
Last year, WPP merged digital ad firm Possible Worldwide --
which works on behalf of clients such as Procter & Gamble Co.,
AT&T Inc. and Starbucks Corp. -- into Wunderman, part of the ad
giant's effort to streamline operations and get its companies to
work more closely together.
Wunderman is based in New York and employs 9,200 people across
70 markets.
Write to Nick Kostov at Nick.Kostov@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 14, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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