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.
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.
J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was an advertisement holding company incorporated in 1896 by American advertising pioneer James Walter Thompson. The company was acquired in 1987 by multinational holding company WPP plc, and in November 2018, WPP merged J. Walter Thompson with fellow agency Wunderman to form Wunderman Thompson. In October 2023, WPP announced yet another merger in which Wunderman Thompson, along with another group agency VMLY&R, would cease to exist and create a new combined entity named VML. This is to be effective January 1, 2024.
The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG) is an American publicly traded advertising company. The company consists of five major networks: FCB, IPG Mediabrands, McCann Worldgroup, MullenLowe Group and Marketing Specialists, as well as several independent specialty agencies in the areas of public relations, sports marketing, talent representation and healthcare. It is one of the "Big Four" agency companies, alongside WPP, Publicis and Omnicom. Phillippe Krakowsky became the company's CEO on January 1, 2021.
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.
D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles was an advertising agency in the United States with 131 offices in 75 countries.
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.
Wunderman Thompson was a New York–based global marketing communications agency with 200 offices in 90 markets. It was part of international advertising group WPP Group. Wunderman Thompson was formed in 2018, when parent WPP merged agencies J. Walter Thompson and Wunderman. On 17th October 2023, WPP announced the merger of Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R into a new agency VML. On January 01, 2024, Wunderman Thompson ceased to exist.
A branding agency is a firm that specializes in creating and launching brands and rebranding. The role of a branding agency is to create, plan, measure, and manage branding strategies for clients, including support in advertising and other forms of promotion.
Tony Granger is the global chief creative officer of the New York-based global advertising agency Young & Rubicam.
Maxus was a global media agency, with services including communications strategy, media planning and buying, digital marketing, search engine marketing (SEM) through search advertising and search engine optimisation (SEO), direct response media, data analytics, and marketing ROI evaluation. In December 2011, Maxus became Campaign magazine's Global Media Network of the Year.
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.
Carter Murray is an investor and public speaker and formerly chief executive officer of FCB, one of the world’s largest global advertising agency networks. On March 6, 2013, holding company parent Interpublic Group (IPG) announced that Murray would become CEO of Draftfcb. Murray officially joined the agency in his new role on Sept. 9, 2013. Based in New York, he oversees the agency’s 120 offices in 80 countries. Previously, Murray served as president and CEO of Young & Rubicam’s (Y&R) North American operations. He also served as a member of the Global Y&R Executive Committee.
Stephanie Kugelman is a retired advertising executive, branding expert and executive mentor. She is the former Vice Chairman and Chief Strategic officer of Young & Rubicam Inc, which was a publicly traded S&P company until its acquisition by British holding company WPP plc in 2000 for $4.7 billion. Her career at Y&R started as a junior researcher and she remains a Vice Chairman Emeritus of the company. As a brand strategist, since 2011 has most recently served on the public boards of Whole Foods Market, and Young & Rubicam Inc, and sits on the board of Home Shopping Network(HSN). She is also Vice Chairman of Solera Capital, a New York private equity firm.
GTB, formerly known as Team Detroit, is an advertising agency based in Detroit, Michigan. It is the primary creative agency for the Ford Motor Company. GTB is a subsidiary of WPP, one of the Big Four advertising firms.
Mediahub, formerly known as MullenLowe Mediahub, is a global media planning and buying agency. It is part of the IPG Mediabrands advertising network, itself a component of multinational advertising and marketing company Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG). Launched in 2005 as part of MullenLowe Group's predecessor Mullen, Mediahub has offices in 15 cities worldwide as of 2021.
Wunderman was a New York City-based global digital agency. It was part of Young & Rubicam Brands and a member of international advertising group WPP Group.
GroupM is a U.S. based media investment group of the multinational Holding company WPP plc. GroupM is the world's largest media buying agency, as of 2023.
