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

WPP Atticus Award winners announced; Ogilvy PR CEO takes top prize

The 2011 Atticus Grand Prix was awarded to Christopher Graves, Global CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations, for his essay on the Japanese Government´s efforts to boost its economy through the ´Cool Japan´ initiative. The judges included Jeff Randall (Editor at Large, The Daily Telegraph), Emma Walmsley (President of Consumer Healthcare Worldwide, GlaxoSmithKline) and Judie Lannon (Editor, Market Leader).

See full list of winners at: http://www.wpp.com/wpp/marketing/atticus/

Possible Worldwide takes stake in UK digital marketing services agency, Fortune Cookie

Possible Worldwide has acquired a majority stake in Fortune Cookie, a full service digital marketing services agency. The agency specialises in providing design and build, mobile and tablet apps and site development, online marketing services and digital strategy. Fortune Cookie will combine its business with that of Possible Worldwide Limited in the UK to provide an enhanced service offering to its global clients. Founded in 1997, Fortune Cookie is headquartered in London with operations in Poland, the Netherlands, US and Australia. The agency employs over 190 people and clients include Canon, AEGON, NetJets, BP and Legal & General.

GroupM revises global ad spend forecast to 5.1% growth in 2012

An uncertain economy in both Europe and the US has led GroupM to project a 5.1% increase in 2012 global advertising spending in measured media to $506.3 billion, down from the 6.3% hike ($522 billion) forecast late last year. The revised spending forecast was made in GroupM´s biannual worldwide report, This Year, Next Year, which also said that 2011 advertising spending in measured media hit $482 billion, a 5% increase over 2010 spending of $459 billion. The 70-country forecast also predicted that global ad spending in 2013 will increase 5.3 percent compared to 2012, representing $533.2 billion.

More information from: Adam Smith, adam.smith@groupm.com

New Offers

Commarco acquires majority interest in leading German-based digital agency, KKLD

WPP´s Commarco group has acquired a majority interest in KKLD, a leading German-based digital agency. Founded by Alexander Diehl in 2005, KKLD specialises in brand and digital communication strategies, creative solutions, ecommerce and social media. KKLD is based in Berlin and employs 30 people in its offices in Germany and New York. Clients include BMW, MINI, Baume and Mercier, Bayer and Swarovski.

WPP Digital takes majority stake in Acceleration

WPP Digital has acquired a majority stake in the holding companies of Acceleration, a leading marketing technology solutions group. Founded in 1999, Acceleration has offices in Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Dubai, Johannesburg, London and New York and employs 148 marketing technologists. Acceleration helps its clients architect, implement and orchestrate digital marketing and publishing technologies to enhance their digital business initiatives. Acceleration´s clients include Celebrity Cruises, The Economist, South African Tourism and UEFA.

Millward Brown acquires Cadem Advertising in Chile

Millward Brown has acquired Cadem Advertising, a leading consumer insights company in Chile. Founded in 1997, Cadem has operated as a licensee of Millward Brown for many years, providing brand tracking, quantitative and qualitative research services. Cadem employs 87 people and key clients include Coca-Cola, Falabella Retail, Nestle, Telefonica and Unilever.

New Business

SAB Miller appoints MEC in Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and UK.

Burson-Marsteller China appointed branding and communications partner by HNA Real Estate.

People

Former White House Communications Director Donald Baer named Worldwide CEO of Burson-Marsteller.

Roy Haddad takes on the role of Chairman, JWT Middle East & Africa (MEA), following his appointment at WPP as Director, WPP Middle East and North Africa.

Vatche Keverian appointed CEO, JWT MEA.

Awards

WPP named in Top 10 of the world´s most successful digital media companies by paidContent50.

Kantar Media took the Judges´ Platinum AMEC Award 2012 for the most outstanding entry across all categories for Drinkaware.

Grey/Ogilvy agency INGO named by Swedish students as the most desirable workplace for media, advertising and communications. MediaCom was ranked 5th.

At the American Business Awards, MediaCom USA took two Golds for VW´s ´Winning the Super Bowl´ campaign.

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

GroupM Knowledge and Hurun release 2012 Wealth Report

GroupM Knowledge - Hurun Wealth Report 2012 is the fourth wealth report by Hurun and the second consecutive report working in association with GroupM Knowledge. The report analyses the number of millionaires broken down according to their regional distribution across China, including analysis of their investments, consumption trends, charitable donations, social responsibilities and media use. For the first time, this report also includes research on the media placement of high-end brands. Hurun Report conducted face-to-face interviews with 503 of these millionaires, including 54 billionaires. The findings provide a fascinating insight into the demographics and lifestyles of wealthy Chinese.

Download the pdf report in English or Chinese

Millward Brown and Affectiva bring new emotional insights to emerging markets

An extension of Millward Brown´s Link^TM ad copy evaluation and optimization solution is now available with facial coding for emerging markets, including Latin America and Asia Pacific regions. Developed by Millward Brown and Activa, an MIT Media Lab spin-off, facial coding yields sophisticated yet intuitive emotional and cognitive metrics to gain a deeper understanding of emotional engagement. These insights lead to better and more purposeful decision making regarding ad content, messaging, creative development, cut downs and more.

More information from: Delyth Hughes, delyth.hughes@millwardbrown.com

Burson-Marsteller asks: how connected are world leaders?

Burson-Marsteller has released Twiplomacy - the first-ever global study of world leaders on Twitter. The study shows that while almost two-thirds of world leaders have a Twitter account, almost half of world leader accounts don´t follow any of their peers. Burson-Marsteller analyzed 264 government accounts in 125 countries.

To access the complete analysis of these findings, visit: www.twiplomacy.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:

Collaboration and Co-Creation for Brand Innovation
By Y&R (2012). Brand communication has evolved from one-to-many and one-to-one-to-many.
The 2012 TGI Product Book
By Kantar Media (2012). Extracts from TGI´s immense database of product usage information from around the world

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