In a major development at the heart of WPP, the British holding firm is set to merge two of its flagship agencies VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson to create ‘VML’.
WPP claims that the combined entity will now be the industry’s largest creative company, bringing together more than 30,000 employees across 64 markets.
The new group will be headed by VMLY&R’s current global CEO, Jon Cook – who will take up the same role at VML, whilst his Wunderman Thompson counterpart, Mel Edwards will become VML’s global president.
“The future of building strong brands and businesses requires the interconnectivity of brand experience, commerce and customer experiences,” Cook said.
“We recognised the immediate opportunity to create what every consultancy and advertising agency aspires to build with the formation of VML. We’re especially excited to present our new offering to the industry as we don’t believe there is another company as creatively awarded with our depth in customer experience and commerce.”
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Both agencies were founded in 2018 and have become global industry leaders. Further senior appointments include Debbi Vandeven as global chief creative officer; Eric Campbell as global chief client officer; Juan Pablo Jurado as CEO of LATAM; Ewen Sturgeon as CEO of EMEA; and Audrey Kuah and Yi-Chung Tay as co-CEOs of APAC.
WPP CEO, Mark Read added: “Scale matters in today’s world as AI and technology transform marketing and global clients look to simplify their relationships. VML will combine world-class creativity with deep expertise in data, marketing technology and platforms to deliver competitive advantage for ambitious brands.
It’s another important step forward for WPP as we continue to reshape our offer for the future, simplify our business and unlock further benefits of scale.
He continued: “Separately, Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R are two of WPP’s strongest and best-performing agencies. Together, they will deliver an even wider, fully integrated suite of capabilities to our clients in every market.
“Marketers today expect seamless links between their brand advertising and technology solutions and platforms. VML provides an immediate solution to this business imperative.”
