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

Stop Press

China’s 50 most valuable brands revealed

The third annual BrandZ™ Top 50 Most Valuable Chinese Brands study, commissioned by WPP and undertaken by Millward Brown, shows that brands are becoming ever more important to the Chinese consumer. Despite a challenging economic environment, strong brands outperformed their competitors and the broader stock market.

AKQA arrives in Japan

AKQA has further expanded its international network by opening an office in Tokyo, with Nike and Nissan as launch clients. Tokyo is the fourth new office AKQA has opened this year.

Mobile internet usage in China’s "lower tiers" grows 351% in three years

GroupM China’s Project Deep Dive research shows that almost a third of “lower-tier” consumers accessed the Web via mobile devices this year – an increase of 351% compared to 2009.

New Offers

H+K aims high with Flight School crisis simulation

Hill+Knowlton Strategies has launched Flight School, a comprehensive crisis simulation tool developed through close collaboration between crisis communications professionals, digital strategists and engineers.

Clarion launches digital arm

Clarion Communications is launching a new digital division working across all aspects of social media, social advertising and online PR, called influenceD.

GroupM takes majority stake in Netbooster Asia

GroupM has agreed to acquire a majority stake in NB Agency Asia Holding Limited ("Netbooster Asia"), the Hong Kong holding company of digital marketing agencies in the Philippines and Indonesia, subject to regulatory approval.

New Business

AKQA selected as Anheuser-Busch’s first ever lead digital agency for Budweiser, Bud Light and Stella Artois.

MEC wins Kingfisher’s consolidated £45 million media planning and buying business for its B&Q, TradePoint and Screwfix brands.

People

Brian Maloney and Margie Fox, co-founders and co-CEOs of Maloney & Fox, have been appointed Managing Directors of Ogilvy PR’s US Consumer Marketing Practice.

Sconaid McGeachin, Chief Operating Officer of H+K Middle East and Turkey, becomes Regional President and Chief Executive Officer for Hill+Knowlton Strategies’ India, Middle East, Africa and Turkey operations.

MEC names Susan Schiekofer as President of Digital for North America.

Ogilvy & Mather South Africa Chairman Nunu Ntshingila-Njeke receives her second Lifetime Achievement Award this year at the AdFocus Awards.

Awards

Ogilvy & Mather Latina wins Best Network in El Ojo de Iberoamérican for the third consecutive year.

Wunderman Sydney wins Digital Agency of the Year at the Digital Asia Awards, as well as three Golds for its Share a Coke campaign in collaboration with Ogilvy, Ikon and Naked.

MediaCom UK is the most awarded agency at the Campaign Media Awards, scooping the Grand Prix award.

Media Magazine names WPP Media Agency Holding Company of the Year.

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 finds missed opportunity for country promotion on Twitter

Burson-Marsteller has released the second part of its Twiplomacy study, looking specifically at country branding on Twitter. The study shows that only nine governments out of 193 UN member states own their country name Twitter handle, and that @GreatBritain, @Israel and @Sweden are the best examples of country promotion.

Kinetic Worldwide predicts UK Out of Home media spend will top £1 billion in 2015

Kinetic Worldwide’s updated Future of Out of Home report predicts continuous growth in digital revenues through the short to medium term and an acceleration towards the end of the decade with Digital OOH becoming a £200 million medium in 2014. Kinetic expects total Out of Home media spend to break the £1 billion mark in 2015.

Kantar Media showcases news monitoring and evaluation capabilities

Kantar Media has launched an online video to drive awareness of its news and media monitoring services.

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:

The Futures Company says Latin America remains a complex continent, and global businesses will need to think locally if they want to succeed, rather than trying to impose generic business models on their Latin American operating companies. For more, read The Coming Decade for Latin America: Belleza Del Sur.
In The Adaptive Election, Mindshare says that brands can learn from the tactics used during the recent US presidential election campaign, to help them win over undecided consumers.

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