Report by Nick Emery, chief executive officer
Nick Emery, chief executive officer
Our view is that everything begins and ends in media, from equations that would challenge a ‘beautiful mind’ to Hollywood, from digital shelf space to addressable content. All humankind can be mapped and engaged. At the same time we face the dual pressures of low inflation and a slowdown in the South and East of the world. Mindshare is better served than many of our competitors with a more balanced global footprint. We were born in Asia and continue to lead there as well as a growing presence in Africa and the Middle East.
Our approach in 2014 was based on the twin pillars of Automation and Invention.
Automation is rooted in technology, to drive both efficient reporting and programmatic media, leading to the creation of outcome-based solutions that marry expertise in branding with addressability. A key part of this is working closely with Kantar to create integrated and actionable targeting solutions.
In the area of Invention we have created a content partnership with POSSIBLE, Content+, to address the challenge of fast-moving micro-content, as well as Life+ on wearable technology and Audio+ with Shazam. We launched The Loop – the first tool of its kind that enables clients to plan more adaptively and to benefit from more collaborative and adaptive decision-making powered by data, as well as the ability to shift media spend quickly to leverage opportunities uncovered by real-time data during campaigns. We now have 26 Loop rooms around the world, which bring together data and insights for our clients into one actionable arena – one of the many ways we are delivering integrated solutions addressing the complexity of media and plurality of data sources.
Automation and Invention are underpinned by our values of speed, teamwork and provocation. We believe that working quickly as a team with the aim of challenging convention is the key to fulfilling media’s potential.
This approach in 2014 saw us win $1.5 billion of new business and Agency of Year and Digital Agency of the year accolades in Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa and Vietnam. We also garnered 20 Effies and, importantly, two WPP Atticus awards!