e.wire is WPP's monthly public bulletin of news and initiatives across the Group's worldwide network. The following are edited highlights; view the full version here.

HEADLINERS

Stop Press

Latest BRANDZ^TM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study released

The world's biggest brands have continued to grow in value during the current economic uncertainty, according to Millward Brown's annual BrandZ^TM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study. The No.1 brand for the second year, Apple, rose 19% in value and is now worth $182.9 billion. IBM grew 15% in value to $115.9 billion and overtook Google, which dropped to third place in the ranking and is now worth $107.8 billion. Facebook rose 74% in value, making it the fastest brand value riser in the ranking, up to No.19 from No.35. Africa's economic progress is underlined with the arrival of the first African brand in the Top 100 - South African mobile company MTN at No.88.

KBM Group to take stake in French digital data agency Predictys SAS

KBM Group, the global leader in knowledge-based marketing solutions, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Predictys France. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Grenoble, Predictys is a marketing company specialising in digital data and campaign technology. Predictys' cooperative database includes information from 140 million opted-in consumers from among more than 25 co-op partners. The majority of Predictys' clients are affiliation networks which use Predictys as a third party provider to supply their own clients with direct marketing services.

WPP's 24/7 Media and Microsoft announce digital advertising partnership

24/7 Media and Microsoft Advertising have announced an extensive partnership to support their customers in the rapidly-changing digital advertising marketplace. As a result of this agreement, that brings together two of the largest players in the advertising industry, clients of both companies will benefit from markedly-enhanced scale, optimization and automation.

Hogarth and Deliver join forces in digital production

WPP companies Hogarth Worldwide and Deliver are joining forces to bring together best-in-class broadcast, print and digital production capabilities. Hogarth is an international marketing implementation agency that uses technology and production expertise to deliver cost-savings for global brands. The addition of Deliver's global digital marketing production network will significantly enhance Hogarth's online offering. Deliver will retain its name and will continue to operate as a division within Hogarth Worldwide. The new organization will provide unprecedented access to a wide array of technical expertise, as well as on-shore and off-shore production resources and a proven work method. The combined entity will be headquartered in London and New York.

Possible Worldwide acquires Russian digital agency, Grape

Possible Worldwide has acquired Grape, Russia's largest, pure-play digital marketing agency. Based in Moscow, the 124-person Grape creates award-winning campaigns for global and local brands, helping them connect with Russian consumers across online, mobile, video and social platforms. Since launching in 2002, the firm has consistently ranked as one of Russia's fastest-growing creative agencies.

Ogilvy & Mather takes stake in Myanmar's Today Advertising

Ogilvy & Mather has agreed to acquire a stake in Myanmar's leading advertising agency, Today Advertising. This continues Ogilvy & Mather's pioneering spirit that goes back to being the first international agency to set up in Vietnam in 1994.

New Offers

JWT Bangkok launches Degree as a regional design hub

JWT Bangkok has launched Degree, a standalone design company which will serve as JWT's design centre of excellence, servicing both network and independent clients in South East Asia and beyond. The company's services included brand consulting, corporate and visual identity development, retail space design and packaging innovation, as well as interactive and 3D design.

Sudler & Hennessey forms new partnership in Brazil

Sudler & Hennessey has formed a new partnership with Grupo Triunfo in Campinas and São Paulo, Brazil. Grupo Triunfo is a full-service healthcare communications company with core expertise in promotion, medical education, sales training and digital services. Grupo Triunfo consists of Triunfo Propaganda (advertising), Track Digital (digital marketing) and Triunfo Consultoria e Treinamento (coaching and consultancy).

Ogilvy Public Relations launches global behaviour change practice

Ogilvy Public Relations has launched a new global behaviour change practice, OgilvyEngage, to help companies motivate and assist consumers and other stakeholders to adopt socially-beneficial behaviours that are good for individuals, good for society and good for business. OgilvyEngage uses science-based behaviour change models and theories to craft award-winning public health and safety campaigns to get people to buckle up, get screened for colon cancer, purchase flood insurance and more.

New Business

WPP's Team Bank of America named global agency of record for Bank of America.

Tommy Bahama names Burson-Marsteller international agency of record.

H+K Strategies to handle three international events in Singapore.

People

South Africa Industry AdReview Awards honours Ogilvy South Africa Chair Nunu Ntshingila with Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ogilvy & Mather India's Piyush Pandey named winner of the Clio Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.

Awards

At the North American Effie Awards, WPP ranked Most Effective Holding Company in North America and Ogilvy & Mather ranked Most Effective Agency.

Blue State Digital, Possible Worldwide , These Days, VICE, VML and Wunderman pick up 2012 Webby 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

G2 publishes pan-European study into consumers' digital behaviour

G2's new in-depth study, eCulturesEUROPE Report, analyses consumer habits and perceptions of the digital world across Europe. The study profiled 6,500 consumers in the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Romania and Russia, and explores internet users' everyday digital activity, delving deep into the relationships between consumers and brands online.

Fair pay and home ownership displace democracy as top priorities in ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller's Arab Youth Survey

Earning a fair wage and owning a home are now the two highest priorities for young people in the Middle East - displacing living in a democracy as the greatest aspiration of regional youth, according to the findings of the ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey 2012. Not only is this the highest collective priority among those surveyed - with 82% of all Arab youth citing it as 'very important' - but it is also the highest individual priority in each of the 12 countries covered. Informed by 2,500 interviews conducted by Penn Schoen Berland in 12 Middle East states one year after the start of the Arab Spring, the findings highlight how larger political concerns have now been superseded by more personal, economic anxieties.

See the report.

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:

Brought to you by Ogilvy, Making magic, using logic finds that advertising has never been more fun. The entertainment industry is booming, and brands are getting in on the action, investing an increasing share of marketing dollars into branded entertainment ('BE') programs. For more, read the full report.
What Chinese Want: Culture, Communism and China's Modern Consumer, where China expert Tom Doctoroff posits that China's distinguishing traits explain the country in profound ways.
In Google Knowledge Graph, Mindshare looks at the continuing evolution of the search engine's mission to serve more relevant results and move from being an information engine to a knowledge engine.

Follow WPP

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, like our Facebook page, join our Google+ circle, and add the WPP gadget to your iGoogle page.

And don't forget you can also add our RSS feeds to your news reader.