Welcome to e.wire, WPP's public monthly round-up of news and initiatives from across our worldwide network. WPP people can also access the full version on the Group intranet. If you can't see this news bulletin properly, you can also view it here

HEADLINERS

Stop Press

WPP School of Marketing and Communications opens at Shanghai Art and Design Academy

WPP and the Shanghai Art & Design Academy (SADA) have established the WPP School of Marketing and Communications. Located on SADA´s 218-acre campus in Shanghai, the WPP School of Marketing and Communications marks China´s first professional marketing and communications three-year diploma program, bringing together a strong academic and creative curriculum combined with practical application.

WPP's third quarter trading statement reports revenues up 9%

Third quarter reported revenues up 9%
Third quarter like-for-like revenues up almost 5% and gross margin up 5.5%
Reported revenues up over 7% in first nine months
Like-for-like revenues up 5.6% and gross margin up 6.4% in first nine months
Operating margin forecast up over previous target of a 70 basis point improvement over last year

Digital Life: largest-ever global study into online behaviours launches 10 November

TNS´s Digital Life study is based on in-depth interviews with over 70,000 people in 60 countries and pinpoints the range of growth opportunities available to brands in the online world. To register interest and for more info go to: www.tnsdigitallife.com.

New Offers

Australia´s The Campaign Palace and Y&R form creative powerhouse in Asia

Y&R has launched boutique sister agency The Campaign Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia to further strengthen its integrated offering to clients across Asia. This is the first office to be opened in Asia by the award-winning Australian creative agency as part of their expansion plans in the region, and will be led by Andrew Dowling & Kevin Le, CEO and ECD of Y&R Jakarta.

JWT acquires majority stake in leading Chinese digital agency, A4A

JWT is taking a majority stake in A4A, a leading full service digital agency in China, subject to regulatory approval. Founded in 2003 and based in Beijing, A4A´s offering includes digital strategy, social media communication strategy, rich media, online advertising, search marketing, e-marketing and media investment management. The agency employs 80 people and clients include Audi, Lenovo, Mamibuy and Nokia.

New Business

BMC Software selects Ogilvy PR Worldwide as global agency of record.

Maxus China picks up Pfizer´s OTC media planning account.

Landor and VML to redesign Wholefoods.com.

People

Tor Myhren, Chief Creative Officer of Grey New York named as one of Fortune magazine´s 40 under 40.

GroupM China announces three major promotions in Trading unit.

Eric Hanna returns to Grey as CEO of Grey Group Middle East and Africa.

Awards

Possible Worldwide wins Gold IAB MIXX Brand Destination Site Award for its work on innovative Google Art Project.

Saint@RKCR/Y&R and VICE (www.vice.com) take Gold at the Lovie Awards.

New Business Enquiries

Are you looking for an advertising or marketing services partner? WPP can help point you in the right direction - find out how.

Insights

Burson-Marsteller releases Asia-Pacific Corporate Social Media Study 2011

More than 80% of companies listed on The Wall Street Journal´s Asia 200 Index have a corporate social media presence, up from 40% last year. Showing dramatic growth, the top companies in Asia closed the gap with Fortune 100 companies, where 84% of companies use social media channels for corporate marketing and communications

TNS and Yahoo! present ´Eve-olution: Why Women Rule the Web´

Women now spend more time online doing certain activities - more time emailing, shopping and connecting via social media - surpassing their male counterparts. This report, presented at the ESOMAR 3D Digital Dimensions 2011 conference by TNS and Yahoo!, paints a comprehensive picture for understanding the lives of digital women around the world and how marketers can use this information to improve their digital advertising campaigns.

For a white paper on this report, contact: brian.cooper@tnsglobal.com

WPP Reading Room

Find the latest and best published thinking from Group professionals in WPP´s popular Reading Room: groundbreaking articles, research, books, videos, blogs and more.

Some recent features include:

The Google Art Project - Bringing New Meaning to "Digital Art" technology creates interesting new opportunities for any business with a product that involves a physical space. By RTCRM.
Visible Metrics is the ability to measure the visible time an ad is displayed on the visible window of the user browser. By Mindshare.
FITCH: Mobile internet and the emergence of the ´always on´ consumer means the way shoppers think about, validate and act on their purchasing decisions has become splintered. For more, read Understanding the New Customer Journey.

The Social Network

Follow @WPP on Twitter for the latest news, insights, research and much more from WPP marketing professionals across the world.

Additionally, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel and Facebook page, and add the WPP gadget to your iGoogle page.

And don´t forget you can also add our RSS feeds to your news reader.