REG - WPP PLC - Acquisition

WPPAnnouncement

06/12/2021 07:00

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RNS Number : 5959U  WPP PLC  06 December 2021

 

 

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  6 December 2021

 

WPP PLC ("WPP")

 

Creative studio Made Thought joins WPP

 

WPP today announces the acquisition of a majority stake in branding and design
agency Made Thought.

 

Made Thought will be integrated into AKQA and will join forces with Universal
Design Studio and Map Project Office to form The New Standard, an
industry-leading collective that provides clients with transformational design
and creative thinking. The partnership will enable each studio to maintain
creative independence while facilitating greater collaboration to deliver
connected, cross-platform work, harnessing the specialist talent from across
all design disciplines.

 

Founded in 2000 by Paul Austin and Ben Parker, Made Thought employs 55 people
across offices in London and New York, the latter of which opened in January
2021. Made Thought partners with clients including Pinterest, Unilever, LVMH,
MoMA, Sonos, Paul Smith and Rosewood Hotels to produce work rooted in
beautiful design that also creates a meaningful connection with consumers and
drives behavioural change.

 

The acquisition of the majority stake is aligned with WPP's accelerated
growth strategy (https://www.wpp.com/news/2020/12/accelerating-growth)  and
focused M&A approach to further strengthen its core creative capabilities
in marketing, communications and design, and follows the acquisitions of
Universal Design Studio and Map Project Office, which both joined WPP in 2018.

 

Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: "WPP is known for its creative excellence and
our award-winning work that helps drive transformative growth for our
clients. Bringing Made Thought together with Universal Design Studio and Map
Project Office to create The New Standard will further strengthen our position
as a creative leader and raise the bar for design that speaks to people across
different platforms."

 

Further information

Niken Wresniwiro, WPP

+44 (0)20 7282 4600 / +44 (0)7876 005 489

niken.wresniwiro@wpp.com (mailto:niken.wresniwiro@wpp.com)

 

About WPP

WPP is a creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to
build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more
information, visit www.wpp.com
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http*3A*2F*2Fwww.wpp.com*2F&data=04*7C01*7Csam.kelly*40akqa.com*7C893d8279fd7047dcd72f08d9b67decf2*7C957cceeb98294dd9a6808ca4d2fe58f0*7C0*7C0*7C637741474240674073*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0*3D*7C3000&sdata=Vav3WqN*2BsvlWCjtGjNtp634yOk71OQZ1V*2BmTfVu8RA4*3D&reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJQ!!B1IJoQ!dgN3f3-hE9abFWX0g9Ji8PKPGipxoIDILVP8-FJt6p47Q7VujCcRBpcnZIupW0Z1tr4$)
.

 

 

 

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