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 preliminary results 2011

Billings of almost £45 billion
Revenues and PBT over £10 billion and £1 billion for first time
Operating margin of 14.3% equals pre-Lehman proforma high
Headline profit before interest and tax £1.429 billion up over 16%
Headline profit before tax £1.229 billion up almost 19%
Profit before tax £1.008 billion up over 18%
Headline diluted earnings per share of 67.7p up over 19%
Dividends per share of 24.60p up over 38%

Gunn Report 2011 names GroupM Most Creative Holding Company

The global evaluation of media creativity, The Gunn Report for Media 2011, has named GroupM Most Creative Holding Company of the Year. Mindshare, MediaCom, Ogilvy & Mather and MEC ranked in the report´s top 10 Most Creative Agency Networks.

New Offers

Ogilvy China and The Brand Union launch Go Logo! China

Group companies Ogilvy & Mather Group/China and The Brand Union have joined forces with leading brand guru Mac Cato to launch Go Logo! China. This movement encompasses four different platforms created especially for China´s branding and design community. These include a bilingual website (www.gologochina.com) where visitors can learn, exchange ideas and showcase their best work through blogs, articles and interviews with experts, a video contest for young talent and a series of seminars.

Hill+Knowlton Strategies´ sustainability practice launches integrated reporting offering

Hill+Knowlton Strategies has launched a new offering that will advise companies on how to use sustainability efforts to improve their financial performance through integrated reporting, a comprehensive method for reporting value, performance and impact. The firm´s new partnership with Harvard Business School Professor Robert G. Eccles, one of the world´s foremost experts on integrated reporting, and Eccles´ firm, Glenelg Partners, will support this industry-leading offering.

VML launches operations in Australia

Digital marketing agency VML has launched its Australian operation in collaboration with Y&R. The new office in Sydney is being led by Managing Director Aden Hepburn and offers a comprehensive suite of digital services across its core pillars of digital account management, channel activation, creative, project management, research and analytics, strategic planning, technology and user experience.

New Business

Burson-Marsteller China lands Dragonair and Cathay Pacific Airways.

JWT Bangkok appointed agency of record for Thai Airway´s new light premium carrier Smile Air.

Maxus wins PepsiCo Foods digital business in Mexico.

People

Shane Atchison appointed CEO of Possible Worldwide.

Peter Knapp Peter Knapp takes on newly-created role of Global Creative Officer at Landor Associates.

Jim Joseph named President at Cohn & Wolfe North America.

Awards

Five Group companies named in The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2012, in the UK.

JWT Shanghai´s Samsonite “Heaven and Hell” named the most awarded print/press campaign worldwide by The Gunn Report.

VML and Ogilvy named Strong Performers in the The Forrester Wave: US Digital Agencies Mobile Marketing Strategy and Execution, Q1 2012.

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

Mindshare identifies Gen Y entrepreneurial spirit in trend study

Mindshare has launched the first edition of its new quarterly trend series, Culture Vulture, which identifies the entrepreneurial spirit of Gen Y across 30 countries globally.

The report, which was led globally out of the agency´s Asia Pacific hub in Singapore, examines over 300 Gen Y entrepreneurial businesses across 38 cities including New York, Buenos Aires, London and Shanghai to understand how the youth´s innovative ideas can inspire and fuel game-changing communication behaviour.

Culture Vulture is available on iTunes as an iPad app and and as a pdf.

TGI publishes 2012 product book with usage data from 62 countries (free download!)

TGI´s 2012 product book, based on its immense database of product usage information covering 52 product categories from around the world, from beer and potato crisps to headache remedies, has just been published.

Go to globaltgi.com/freedata to download your copy.

Kantar puts social media in context

Social media continues to challenge brand owners, marketers and researchers alike, all of them trying to understand and unlock its commercial potential as well as the business insight it can generate. The digital experts at Kantar collaborated recently on a series of thought-pieces entitled Social Media in Context covering a wide variety of topics relating to social media and their application.

Get the lowdown at: www.kantar.com/socialmedia

Burson-Marsteller offers perspective on how to manage corporate reputation online in China

Burson-Marsteller China´s social media strategy guidebook outlines an actionable framework towards online reputation management, crisis preparedness and brand communications on weibo – China´s home-grown Twitter-like microblogging services – from developing a social media strategy to measuring results. The weibo guidebook shares B-M China´s perspectives on how to plan stronger digital communications, track issues and listen to communities in real-time and mobilize corporate and brand reputation campaigns.

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