The week in brief January 26, 2014 Telefonica plans £200m media planning pitch The Spanish telecoms company is preparing to launch a media planning and buying review across its European business, according to Campaign. The review, thought to be statutory, is expected to start in April and will be run from Madrid. It includes Telefonica’s £50m account for O2, whose UK media [...]
WPP takes a stronger hold of its Russian media investment firms January 13, 2014 GLOBAL advertising giant WPP has taken a majority stake in its WVI Group joint venture, comprised of Russian media investment businesses including GroupM, MediaCom and global marketing communications company JWT. WPP will hold an 80 per cent stake in the WVI Group following the deal, with an agreement to purchase the remaining 20 per cent [...]
Advertising giants Omnicom and Publicis get EU merger approval January 9, 2014 A tie-up between advertising mega firms Omnicom (the world's second biggest agency) and Publicis (the third) has been granted approval by EU antitrust regulators. When the deal was announced in July, the combined market capitalisation of the two stood at $35.1bn (£21.3bn). "The merged entity would be sufficiently constrained by several competitors, including large international [...]
Entertainers and sporting stars brought together in agency deal December 18, 2013 TALENT and marketing agency IMG Worldwide has been sold to William Morris Endeavour Entertainment in a deal believed to be worth $2.3bn (£1.39bn). The deal creates a global talent management agency representing top athletes including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova, and Hollywood clients such as Christian Bale and Matt Damon. IMG’s sale was [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 18 December 2013 December 17, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES French seek EU defence fund Plunged into its second African military mission in under a year, France is showing increasing frustration at what it sees as a lack of spine among European partners on defence issues. In an effort to put its allies on the spot, President François Hollande is poised to demand, [...]
Christmas cheers December 15, 2013 Our very own wine buff Neil Bennett quizzes the City glitterati about their Christmas wine plans AMID the piles of Christmas wrapping paper and credit card bills, there is one gift wine lovers can give themselves on Christmas Day – setting aside a special something to share with the family. Personally, I spend far too [...]
City bosses call for shake-up of UK education December 3, 2013 BUSINESS leaders railed against the UK’s lacklustre education system yesterday, as international rankings showed that Britain is slipping behind many other countries. The UK did not make the top 20 list for mathematics, science or reading, according to the OECD’s latest Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), with the points awarded to UK students stuck at [...]
City names join forces for new comms agency December 1, 2013 THE FORMER PR chief of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and the ex-communications director of Heathrow Airport are teaming up to launch a new communications business, it was announced yesterday. Andrew Wilson, who was head of group communications at Royal Bank of Scotland and currently at WPP, will join forces with former BAA-man Malcolm Robertson [...]
WPP buys South African Cerebra November 27, 2013 WPP has acquired a majority stake in Cerebra Communications, a South African based advertising agency. Cerebra was founded in 2006 and employs 35 staff, with clients including the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Nedbank. The acquisition adds to WPP’s presence in South Africa, where it has 25,000 employees and revenues of $550m (£340m). WPP said that [...]
WPP lands majority stake in Cerebra Communications November 27, 2013 WPP has announced that it has acquired a majority stake in the South African based agency, Cerebra Communications. The strategic communications company was founded in 2006 and employs 35 people with clients including Vodacom and Nedbank. Cerebra offers services such as community management, crisis management, social business strategy and creative communication campaigns. The acquisition adds [...]