WPP Uses Social, Mobile to Drive Profits

WPP,  the world’s largest advertising group, which includes Ogilvy and Mather and the Young and Rubicam Brands,  earned 1 billion pounds in profit for the first time in its history, up 27.9 percent from 2009. Why? Social and mobile network advertising were an integral part of the group’s offerings, and this attracted skittish companies looking for creative advertising with high ROI. During tough economic times, like we’ve experienced in 2010, companies look to advertising as a sound investment, according to CEO Martin Sorrell.

 

“In Western markets we are seeing companies who are not investing in capacity, they’re afraid of making a mistake, so they instead invest in the brand,” Sorrell told Reuters. “You have $2 trillion sitting on the balance sheet of Western multinationals and they’re not spending it.” Sorrell recently stated during a presentation at the Mobile World Congress that the company was planning investment in “middle-stage, interesting companies that enhance our mobile offerings.” Sorrell also stated that although consumers are now spending 20-25 percent of their time online, WPP’s client base is only devoting 14 percent of their budgets to online. The potential to grow that percentage, according to Sorrell, is huge, as brands are drawn towards the “holy grail” of mobile advertising; effective location-based services.

Go to WPP’s reading room to download a multitude of resources from the group’s roster of digital agencies.

https://digiday.com/?p=834

More in Media

Media Briefing: Efforts to diversify workforces stall for some publishers

A third of the nine publishers that have released workforce demographic reports in the past year haven’t moved the needle on the overall diversity of their companies, according to the annual reports that are tracked by Digiday.

Creators are left wanting more from Spotify’s push to video

The streaming service will have to step up certain features in order to shift people toward video podcasts on its app.

Digiday+ Research: Publishers expected Google to keep cookies, but they’re moving on anyway

Publishers saw this change of heart coming. But it’s not changing their own plans to move away from tracking consumers using third-party cookies.