WPP’s media network GroupM has found solace in a partnership with massive listcile and news site BuzzFeed.
The global partnership gives GroupM agencies and WPP agencies and clients access to BuzzFeed’s creative and data assets.
The arrangement involves no investment or equity exchange between the companies.
Rob Norman, chief digital officer of GroupM said, “The future of advertising lies at the intersection of creativity, data, media and technology; that’s where BuzzFeed has built its business and proved its value to brands. This is a terrific opportunity for our clients to move swiftly and succeed in the fastest growing media platforms. We have appointed partnership leaders from each GroupM agency, and other WPP agencies will do the same.”
Dominic Proctor, president of GroupM said, “WPP’s investments in content demonstrate its commitment to creating socially and culturally resonant content for millennials. GroupM’s partnership with BuzzFeed adds a new dimension to this capability and amplifies our other partnerships.”
Greg Coleman, president of BuzzFeed added, “This is an exciting time for our company. Our audience is growing on and off platform. Our Motion Pictures studio is booming and now reaches 1.5 billion video views a month – from shorter than short form on Snapchat, to original scripted series. We’re excited to take our unique approach and voice in branded content, data and iterative learning in a big way with GroupM and their clients.”
Led by GroupM, WPP agencies will benefit from:
- the first beta partnership with POUND, BuzzFeed’s proprietary data technology that offers insights and analytics around how content shares across the social web;
- a dedicated creative group at BuzzFeed Motion Pictures to produce branded video content for WPP clients;
- a creative residency allowing WPP creative teams access to BuzzFeed’s expertise producing social content for all platforms; and
- preferential media pricing for clients of GroupM agencies.
