REG - WPP PLC - Acquisition

WPPAnnouncement

10/09/2024 12:00

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RNS Number : 6002D  WPP PLC  10 September 2024

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
10 September 2024

 

WPP plc ("WPP")

 

WPP acquires New Commercial Arts

 

NCA joins Ogilvy to drive further momentum in the UK

 

WPP today announces that it has acquired New Commercial Arts (NCA), a leading
independent creative and customer experience agency. NCA will join Ogilvy's
global creative network to further accelerate the agency's momentum in the UK
market.

 

NCA was founded in 2020 by a team including industry leaders James Murphy and
David Golding and became one of the fastest-growing agencies in the UK in
2023. Since its inception, NCA has worked with local and global clients
including Sainsbury's, MoneySuperMarket, Vodafone, Nando's, Paramount+,
Alzheimer's Society and Cityfibre.

 

Murphy and Golding previously founded Adam&Eve in 2008 and built it into
one of the most influential agencies to launch in the UK, with success on the
international stage. NCA employs approximately 90 people and is currently
based in Fitzrovia in London and Merchant City in Glasgow, in partnership with
the Glasgow School of Art.

 

Both Ogilvy UK and NCA will come under the leadership of James Murphy as CEO
Ogilvy Group UK. This marks a return to Ogilvy for Murphy who began his career
as a graduate trainee with the agency.

 

Fiona Gordon, who has led a resurgence for Ogilvy in the UK as CEO since 2021,
has been promoted (https://www.ogilvy.com/ideas) to Global CEO of Advertising
at Ogilvy. In this new role Gordon will report to Ogilvy Global CEO Devika
Bulchandani, working closely with Global Chief Creative Officer Liz Taylor and
Ogilvy's Worldwide Creative Council.

 

Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: "NCA is one of the UK's most exciting new
agencies with a great team, an impressive roster of clients and a track record
of elevating beloved British brands. Its capabilities and client base make NCA
highly complementary to Ogilvy; bringing together these two very successful
agencies will drive growth both for our clients and our own UK business."

 

James Murphy, co-founder and CEO of NCA and incoming CEO of Ogilvy Group UK,
said: "Ogilvy is rightly recognised as the world's pre-eminent creative
network, and to be joining with the remit to unlock our collective potential
in the UK market is irresistible. For our team and our clients this will be a
game-changer in what we can bring to their careers and their brands. Plugging
into Ogilvy and WPP's network will give us access to data and AI tools at
scale through WPP Open and to a broad set of Ogilvy capabilities that were
simply out of our reach as an independent - from influencer marketing, PR,
CRM, commerce and service design to business transformation and brand
innovation through Ogilvy Consulting."

 

Devika Bulchandani, Global CEO of Ogilvy, said: "James, David and their
partners are pioneers in our industry. When they created New Commercial Arts,
they deliberately chose the word commercial because growing our clients'
brands and businesses is core to what our industry does - an ethos mirrored in
David Ogilvy's famous words: 'We Sell, Or Else'. Fiona's stellar leadership
has been instrumental in propelling Ogilvy UK forward, playing a critical role
in the growth and momentum of our global network. I'm thrilled that her impact
will now be felt on a global stage."

 

Fiona Gordon, newly appointed Global CEO of Advertising at Ogilvy, added: "I'm
invigorated every day by the boundless potential of creativity to not only
propel businesses forward but to leave an indelible mark on culture. To have
the opportunity to collaborate more closely with Dev, Liz, and Ogilvy's
Worldwide Creative Council to harness the creative brilliance of our network
on behalf of our clients is a tremendous opportunity. In my new role I'm
excited that the UK will make a vital contribution as a key market."

 

Ogilvy UK ranked as the #1 agency in the UK on WARC's 2024 Creative 100 list,
the definitive benchmark for creative success based on results from the most
prestigious global and regional industry competitions. The agency currently
has capabilities that span Advertising, Customer Experience, PR &
Influence, Health and Consulting. Ogilvy Consulting was named in the Financial
Times' 2024 list of the UK's Leading Consultants for the seventh consecutive
year and has been recognised for its award-winning Behavioral Science
practice, which hosted the 12th annual Nudgestock event, the world's biggest
festival of behavioural science and creativity, in July. Most recently, Ogilvy
PR's Influence team was recognised as the Best Large Influencer Marketing
Agency at the Global Influencer Marketing Awards. Ogilvy UK's clients include
Unilever, Mondelēz, Sainsbury's and F1; and it recently added Molson Coors to
its client portfolio.

 

Ogilvy was named the Network of the Year at the 2024 Cannes Lions
International Festival of Creativity and was recognised by WARC as the World's
#1 Creative Agency Network (2020-2024) and Most Effective Creative Network in
consecutive years (2023, 2024).

 

 

Further information

WPP Communications

press@wpp.com

 

About WPP

WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to
build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more
information, visit wpp.com (http://www.wpp.com) .

 

About Ogilvy

Ogilvy has been creating impact for brands through iconic, culture-changing,
value-driving ideas since the company was founded by David Ogilvy 75 years
ago. It builds on that rich legacy through Borderless Creativity - innovating
at the intersections of its advertising, public relations, relationship
design, consulting, and health capabilities with experts collaborating
seamlessly across more than 120 offices spanning 90 countries. Ogilvy
currently ranks
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.ogilvy.com/ideas/ogilvy-becomes-first-network-top-both-warc-creative-100-effective-100-consecutive-years__;!!B1IJoQ!Im9JizO4yPFb6zDzPA1KFQVUzKcL1_aMNdj0042bHlyGwJ39MFLRgT2PzehM01PQqViHfoIsNNiaZ1ETyrdH$)
 as the #1 global agency network for creative excellence and effectiveness by
WARC, signifying its ability to deliver creative solutions that drive
unreasonable impact for clients and communities. Ogilvy is a WPP company. For
more information, visit ogilvy.com
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.ogilvy.com/__;!!B1IJoQ!Im9JizO4yPFb6zDzPA1KFQVUzKcL1_aMNdj0042bHlyGwJ39MFLRgT2PzehM01PQqViHfoIsNNiaZ5ietHyT$)
.

 

About NCA

New Commercial Arts is an agency that unites brand and customer creativity, to
make brands more desirable and easier to buy. For more information visit
newcommercialarts.com (https://www.newcommercialarts.com/) .

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