Group history

Below is an abbreviated history of WPP.

1985

Martin Sorrell takes stake in Wire and Plastic Products Plc , a UK manufacturer of wire baskets, following his search for a public entity through which to build a worldwide marketing services company

1986-87

Sorrell becomes chief executive of the renamed WPP Group
Builds below-the-line capabilities with acquisition of marketing services companies in the UK and US

1987

Acquires J. Walter Thompson Group for $566m, including ad agency JWT , PR firm Hill & Knowlton Inc and market research network MRB Group

1988

Listed on NASDAQ exchange in New York
Continued acquisition of US and UK-based marketing services companies

1989

Acquires The Ogilvy Group for $864m, including ad agency Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide , Ogilvy Direct and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
Research firms Millward Brown and Research International join WPP

1990-92

WPP named the world's top agency group by Advertising Age
Group financial re-structuring

1992

Launches CommonHealth , an international healthcare communications network drawing on specialist skills of professionals across the Group

1994

IBM consolidates its global advertising at Ogilvy & Mather, moving from 40 agencies to a single global agency

1995

Establishes Kantar as internal parent company for the Group's research interests
WPP makes a number of strategic acquisitions and investments in new media (digital) companies

1997

Introduces worldwide stock option program for all WPP people
Launches new generation media planning, buying and research company Mindshare , in Europe and Asia
Invests in Batey Holdings, Singapore-based advertising group, Chime Communications and Latin American media research business IBOPE

1998

Forms strategic alliance with Asatsu-DK Inc , Japan's third largest advertising agency
Continued acquisitions (30+) across all disciplines to strengthen existing networks, including US-based global retail consultancy Management Ventures Inc
Joins the London Stock Exchange's FTSE 100 Index

1999

Mindshare launches in the US
Kimberly-Clark consolidates its global advertising account with JWT
Acquires corporate identity specialists Lambie-Nairn,and sports marketing company PRISM Group

2000

Acquires Young & Rubicam Group , including Y&R Advertising , Burson-Marsteller , Landor , Wunderman , Cohn & Wolfe and Sudler & Hennessey
35+ acquisitions including Spafax (in-flight media) and Premiere Group (the sports marketing/sponsorship company)
Commissions BrandZ research tool from Millward Brown

2001

Launches Red Cell , fourth agency network; acquires US creative advertising agency Berlin Cameron & Partners
Acquires Tempus Group plc. Tempus' media agency CIA joins forces with The Media Edge to form Mediaedge:cia
Acquires majority interest in Korean advertising agency AD Venture Worldwide; 25+ further acquisitions including Penn, Schoen & Berland , MJM, VML , Finsbury , Glendinning and Ziment

2002

Strengthens presence in China and Taiwan through stakes in Shanghai Advertising Agency , H-Line Worldwide (China) and Era Public Relations (Taiwan)
Ogilvy & Mather and Young & Rubicam take controlling stake in LG Ad Inc , Korea's largest ad agency

2003

Acquires Cordiant Communications Group, bringing Bates , Fitch , 141 Worldwide and HealthWorld into the Group. Bates re-launches as a standalone Asian agency brand
WPP forms GroupM to oversee Group's media investment management interests
Red Cell strengthens in UK via stake in HHCL

2004

WPP teams win global HSBC and Samsung accounts, representing more than $1 billion in new business
Strengthens creative and media presence in China and Taiwan
AGB and Nielsen Media Research create international TV ratings company AGB Nielsen Media Research

2005

WPP acquires Grey Global Group
Poster Publicity and Portland merge to create global outdoor media company Kinetic
WPP strengthens position in Russia via new venture with Video International
WPP acquires Bridge Worldwide, a leading US-based interactive and relationship marketing specialist

2006

China presence further strengthened by acquisitions in advertising, media, specialist marketing and market research
WPP invests in digital partnerships with Visible Technologies, WildTangent and Spot Runner
Launch of BrandAmp, a musical and brand partnership between WPP's GroupM and Universal Music

2007

WPP Digital created to harness digital media opportunities; forms further digital partnerships with 24/7 Real Media, JumpTap , iconmobile and mMetrics
WPP adopts carbon neutral strategy by introducing a Groupwide carbon offset program and setting CO2 reduction targets
Continued acquisitions and investments in strategically-important regions and disciplines
Dell appoints WPP as worldwide marketing partner

2008

Launch of PARTNERZ, a powerful sponsorship research tool covering the fields of sport, the arts, music, film, festivals and entertainment
The Group’s digital capabilities strengthened with further acquisitions in China, Hong Kong, Europe and the US
WPP creates a new UK-listed, Jersey incorporated parent company to be called WPP plc and changes its domicile to Dublin, Ireland
TNS is acquired by WPP and joins the Kantar Group, which becomes the world's second largest market research group
Google and WPP launch a Marketing Research Awards Program to support research into online media and its influence on consumer behaviour

2009

Kantar streamlines its structure and combines TNS Custom with Research International to create the world's largest custom research group
WPP forms strategic partnership with leading analytics company Omniture to help clients optimise their marketing spend
Group companies accumulate a record number of awards at the Cannes International Advertising Festival
WPP strengthens its presence in Africa through investments in Kenya-based Scangroup and The Jupiter Drawing Room & Partners and Smollan Group in South Africa
OgilvyInteractive, VML and Wunderman named as Leaders in the Forrester Wave TM report on US interactive agencies

2010

Through GroupM, WPP forms a new corporate trading division, The Midas Exchange, to help clients secure media credits in exchange for under-performing assets
The Group continues to build its digital expertise through acquisitions, joint ventures and partnerships, with investments in China, Brazil, Singapore, the UK and the US
WPP forms a strategic partnership with Buddy Media, the Facebook management system of choice for seven of the world's top 10 advertisers, to help the world's largest brands scale their marketing efforts on Facebook more effectively
RECMA, the agency research firm, ranks WPP No.1 for the number of digital staff employed, with more than 17,400 digital specialists, or over 12% of its people (including associates) worldwide
WPP and Millward Brown launch the inaugural BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Chinese Brands, the first time China's brands have been ranked through financial data and consumer perception

2011

WPP develops further its presence in Africa with additional stakes in Mindshare South Africa and Ogilvy South Africa
WPP Digital combines four of its interactive agencies, Schematic, Bridge Worldwide, BLUE and Quasar, to create a new global network, Possible Worldwide
WPP expands its digital presence further in Latin America by taking majority stakes in two leading Brazilian digital agencies, F.biz and Gringo
WPP is named Holding Company of the Year at the 2011 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
The Group co-launches China’s first professional marketing diploma course
WPP is ranked 41 out of 500 in Newsweek’s Green Rankings 2011

2012

For the second year running, WPP was named Holding Company of the Year at the 2012 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
WPP ranked the Most Effective Holding Company in the 2012 North American Effie’s Effectiveness Index Rankings
Acquisitions and investments continue in strategically-important geographic markets and disciplines, including a stake in multinational retail marketing agency, Barrows and the acquisition of the world's top independent digital agency, AKQA
GroupM named Holding Company of the Year in the Gunn Report for Media
The Group’s international footprint increases to 110 countries, with Ogilvy & Mather taking a stake in Myanmar’s Today Advertising
In December 2012, Martin Sorrell named Britain's Most Admired Leader by Management Today and received the UK Marketing Society's Outstanding Leadership Award

2013

Following changes to the UK Government's tax policy, WPP moves HQ back to London, from Dublin