owl image title for WPP note
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overview

holdings

landmarks





section heading icon     landmarks

This chronology is indicative only.

It covers -

Context is provided by the broader communications and media timeline on this site.

subsection heading icon     antecedents

1917 Grey Studios founded by Larry Valenstein

1923 Young & Rubicam founded by Raymond Rubicam and John Orr Young

1934 J Walter Thompson invents soap opera with Lux Radio Theater in US

1948 David Ogilvy founds New York-based Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather

1953 name changed to Ogilvy Benson & Mather

1959 Grey opens office in Montreal

1962 acquires agency in London

1963 Grey establishes Grey Public Relations

1965 Mather & Crowther becomes Ogilvy & Mather International

1965 Grey goes public

1975 Martin Sorrell joins Saatchi & Saatchi

1980 J. Walter Thompson corporation communications division becomes Brouillard Communications

1984 Ogilvy renamed Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

subsection heading icon     WPP

1986 Sorrell buys Wire & Plastic Products (WPP)

1987 WPP buys J Walter Thompson for US$566m

1989 WPP buys Ogilvy & Mather for US$825m

1993 buys Kantar

1998 buys Smith & Jines Communications

1999 buys Marketing Perspectives

2000 buys Young & Rubicam group for US$4.7bn

2000 Grey absorbs Callegari Berville in Paris

2001 WPP buys Forward

2001 buys MCA

2001 buys Penn Schoen & Berland

2001 buys Global Sportnet

2001 buys Tempus group for US$640m

2001 Grey acquires Tunheim Group

2002 buys Atlanta-based 360

2003 WPP buys Dutch market research agency Centrum voor Marketing Analyses

2003 successfully bids for Cordiant group

2003 buys 30% stake in Mediapro Group (active in Spain, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, US and Hungary)

2003 buys Washington PR firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates

2003 Grey buys Darwin oncology communications company

2004 buys Japanese advertising and medical education company MIT

2004 WPP buys Grey Global for US$1.3bn (£720m)

2005 pays £33m for The Communications Group (TCG) - Australian ad agency George Patterson Partners, majority stake in Ideaworks and outdoor advertising firm Media Puzzle

2007 buys internet advertising broker 24/7 Real Media for US$649m

2007 buys Blast Radius (Vancouver), Aqua Online (South Africa), These Days (Belgium) and Schematic (Los Angeles)

2007 buys controlling interest in DataCore Marketing (Kansas)






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