An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally independent of the client; it may be an internal department or agency that provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services, or an outside firm. An agency can also handle overall marketing and branding strategies promotions for its clients, which may include sales as well.
WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It is the world's largest advertising company, as of 2023. WPP plc owns many companies, which include advertising, public relations, media, and market research networks such as AKQA, BCW, CMI Media Group, Essence Global, Finsbury, Grey, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Mindshare, Ogilvy, Wavemaker, Wunderman Thompson, and VMLY&R. It is one of the "Big Four" agency companies, alongside Publicis, The Interpublic Group of Companies, and Omnicom Group. WPP has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
David Mackenzie Ogilvy was a British advertising tycoon, founder of Ogilvy & Mather, and known as the "Father of Advertising." Trained at the Gallup research organisation, he attributed the success of his campaigns to meticulous research into consumer habits. His most famous campaigns include Rolls-Royce, Dove soap, and Hathaway shirts.
Ogilvy is a New York City-based British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It was founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather as a London-based agency. In 1964, the firm became known as Ogilvy & Mather after merging with a New York City agency that was founded in 1948 by David Ogilvy.
Sir Martin Stuart Sorrell is a British businessman and the founder of WPP plc, the world's largest advertising and PR group, both by revenue and the number of staff. Upon being ousted in April 2018, Sorrell was the longest-serving chief executive of a FTSE 100 company.
Ian Raymond Ogilvy is an English actor, playwright and novelist.
Samson Raphaelson was an American playwright, screenwriter and fiction writer.
Grey Group is a global advertising and marketing agency with headquarters in New York City, and 432 offices in 96 countries, operating in 154 cities. It is organized into four geographical units: North America; Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.
Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains offices in London, New York, Shanghai, Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong, Delhi, and Johannesburg.
Research International was a British-based international marketing research company, created in 1962 as a daughter company of Unilever and originally known as Research Bureau Limited, RBL. The company was the result of a merger of the central Unilever Market Research Department and the research unit of Unilever's in-house advertising agency, Lintas. The purpose was to offer Unilever's long-standing market research knowhow as a service to other companies, thus converting two internal cost centres to a profitable daughter company.
Edward H. Vick is a former US naval officer, businessman, American author and a volunteer advocate worker for veterans' causes. He served two tours of duty during the Vietnam War and received two Bronze Star Medals with Combat "V", the Combat Action Ribbon, the Presidential Unit Citation and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. His business career was spent in the marketing communications business, including most recently, the chairmanship of Young & Rubicam Advertising and its parent, Young & Rubicam Inc. Vick has also been active in veterans' causes and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Vietnam Veterans of America for his volunteer work.
Robert Alexander Polhill Bevan CBE was a significant figure in British communications and advertising during the mid-20th century. He was the second child of the artists Robert Polhill Bevan and Stanisława de Karłowska and was born at the Bevan house, Horsgate, in Cuckfield, Sussex.
David S. Muir is a Scottish marketing and political communications professional. He was Director of Political Strategy for British prime minister Gordon Brown between 2008 and 2010.
Andrew Thomas McDonald, O.S.B., was a Roman Catholic clergyman who served as the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Credos is an advertising think-tank established in early 2010 by the Advertising Association, as part of their mission to re-build public trust in advertising and maintain the freedom to advertise responsibly in the UK. It is funded by the advertising industry and overseen by an advisory board to assure the quality of its work. Credos' mission is to 'understand advertising': its role, how it works, how it is perceived and its value to UK society and the economy.
Hogarth Worldwide is a WPP-owned global company that provides marketing Implementation services, including all-channel production and language services to international companies.
Martin A. Nisenholtz is an American businessman and educator who has been active in the advancement of digital media and marketing.
VMLY&R, now known as VML, after the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson in October of 2023, was an American marketing and communications company specializing in advertising, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the merger of VML, founded in 1992, and Y&R , founded in 1923. It was a subsidiary of WPP plc multinational advertising and public relations holding company.
Peter Miles Young is a British former businessman and the incumbent Warden of New College, Oxford. Until September 2016, he was worldwide chairman and CEO of the international advertising, marketing, communications, consulting and public relations agency Ogilvy & Mather.
Jane Maas was an American advertising executive and author.
