“The Poisoned Dwarf,” WPP CEO, Sir Martin Sorrell must be having a fit right now. The thing he has often warned the ad industry about has finally come to pass. One of WPP’s biggest clients, Ford Motor Co., has asked Accenture to take a look at its upcoming marketing plans. Management consultants could be the biggest threat yet to the long held stranglehold of BDA’s (Big Dumb Agency’s) over multinational clients. This means Accenture’s media measurement and optimization program might possibly recommend changing Ford’s launch-ad spending and media mix—which would jeopardize the type of work done by Ford’s agencies, almost all of which are owned by WPP. It would also put a serious dent in WPP’s income if money is shifted from traditional media buys to online activities. Ford is probably WPP’s biggest client, worldwide. The Dwarf is not amused!
I'm going for a drive in my Accenture convertable!
Maybe Sir Martin should purchase Accenture.
Doesn't Y&R (and unit of WPP) produce Accenture's advertising? Based on the style, production values (Yo Tiger!), and media buy, which one expects is vetted by Accenture's methodologies, I think WPP agencies are safe for the moment.
Posted by: efo3rd | January 30, 2006 7:36 PM | Permalink to Comment