MxMIndia

Tag: Michael Houston

  • AKQA and Grey launch new network, to offer clients “outstanding creativity, innovation and brand-building at global scale”

    Grey to merge with Akqa. WPP creates AKQA Group

    By A Correspondent

     

    It should’ve been a no-brainer. JWT and Y&R both lost their age-old identities thanks to mergers with other group entities. Communications agencies Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe also merged to form BCW. Now WPP has announced that’ AKQA and Grey are uniting to form a new network model, AKQA Group. Grey is the well-known creative-led agency and AKQA is accomplished for its innovationand experience design skills. “With heightened demand for digital transformation and technology-driven capabilities, the combination will create a powerful new proposition for clients as a leading creative solutions company with a worldwide footprint,” notes a communique, adding: “The AKQA Group will have 6,000 people in more than 50 countries and a blue-chip client roster that includes more than half of the Fortune 500’s top 20. It will provide a full range of brand experience capabilities across all communications platforms, strengthening the skills and services of both companies for clients.”

     

    AKQA founder Ajaz Ahmed and Grey Worldwide CEO Michael Houston will partner to lead the new Group. Ahmed will become Chief Executive Officer and Houston will become Global President and Chief Operating Officer of AKQA Group. The AKQA Group will launch with the AKQA and Grey brands, which will be integrated over time into a single company based on client and market needs. The management team and creative leadership will be announced in the coming weeks, comprising leaders from AKQA and Grey.

     

    Said Ajaz Ahmed: “Our goal is to expand horizons, combining the curiosity, ambition, imagination and pioneering spirit of a startup with the reach of a global enterprise. This is an unparalleled opportunity for AKQA and Grey to bring our shared assets to life into a modern, creatively-led company, building upon our inspiring and useful work to create value for our clients, people and communities.”

     

    Added Michael Houston: “This exciting new partnership begins with what consumers expect, clients value, and brands need. Forming a new company that can deliver culture-driving ideas through technology at speed and scale is a potent proposition for our clients, large and small, and will allow us to offer the most powerful creative solutions in the industry.”

     

    Said Mark Read, CEO of WPP: “Our clients want outstanding creativity, powered by technology expertise and delivered at a global scale. This new company is designed precisely to meet those needs and is another important step forward in building our future-facing offer for clients.”

     

     

  • Singh will retain the position of Chairman and CEO of Grey Group Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and will be in Singapore.

    Nirvik Singh is Global COO, Grey Group (scooped by MxM on Jan 30)

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nirvik Singh
    Nirvik Singh

    We told you so. On January 30, 2019, MxMIndia scooped the news that Nirvik Singh was to be Global COO. We had heard then the news was to be revealed in a few weeks (Do see: https://www.mxmindia.com/2019/01/exclusive-nirvik-singh-to-be-worldwide-coo-grey-group/

    ). Add a few dozen weeks, and Michael Houston, Worldwide CEO of Grey group, has announced the appointment of Singh as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Grey Group, a new global position.

     

    A thirty-year veteran of Grey Group and having started his career in Grey India, Singh has served as Chairman and CEO of Grey Group Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa since 2016, a post he will retain, headquartered in Singapore.

     

    As COO, Singh will lead the development of Grey’s borderless integrated marketing model; identify acquisition targets and new capabilities to enhance the agency’s best-in-class offering and build its future-facing digital, social, shopper marketing and design practices, notes a communique.

     

    Said Houston: “For three decades, Nirvik has been a prime mover in Grey’s growth and development in Asia, and most recently, in the Middle East and Africa.  I know he will bring the same single-minded dedication and achievement to his expanded responsibilities.  He will work closely with me to broaden our reach and resources for the future.”

     

    Added Singh: “I am looking forward to implementing Grey’s global strategic plans and working with diverse talents and teams from across the different regions.  We have seen success in pulling in our collective resources for our borderless strategy, which encompasses agility and seamless creativity.  There are ample opportunities to leverage the agency’s centers of excellence and promote collaboration across all our offices.  We are always thinking of how best to serve our clients, and I am excited and motivated to be a part of this journey.”

  • Autumn Worldwide is a leading Bengaluru-based independent social media and digital marketing agency

    Grey acquires majority stake in Autumn Worldwide

    By A Correspondent

     

    So we thought that WPP’s Grey Group is struggling to retain its place as a leading creative agency in the country. Perhaps it is. But we now have news it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Autumn Worldwide, a leading independent social media and digital marketing agency headquartered in Bengaluru.

    Autumn Worldwide was founded in 2005 by Anusha Shetty and Abhay Rajankar as a brand consulting and advertising company. Shetty soon saw the opportunity and proceeded to expand Autumn into a 360-degree social media and digital agency which provides a multitude of services, including digital and social media campaigns, influencer and blogger marketing, online reputation management, content marketing, marketing big data and insights and Command Center Management Services (CCMS).

    Said Michael Houston, Worldwide CEO of Grey Group: “We are delighted to welcome Autumn Worldwide to Grey.  This acquisition represents another step forward in building our borderless creativity and providing seamless solutions for our clients across platforms. Shetty will continue to head the Autumn operations while working closely with Nirvik Singh, Chairman & CEO for Grey Group Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa, to set the overall strategic digital growth plan for the region.

    Added Singh: “Grey has a strategic plan to increase its digital footprint in the region. Having Autumn as our partner ensures we have a digital and social media agency with expertise across the digital landscape. They are a forward-thinking company who share our common vision of a world-class digital eco-system that will deliver only the very best to our clients. Combining creative, digital, data and technology will strengthen our presence not only in India, but also throughout the region.”

    Autum has over 165 employees across their offices. Its client roster includes clients such as PepsiCo (all 26 brands such as Mountain Dew, Quaker Oats and others), Reckitt Benckiser (Mortein, Durex, Dettol, Moov and more), Samsonite, PVR Cinemas, Exide Life Insurance, Tata Salt, Raymond, Luminous and Freecharge, to name just a few.

    “The convergence of consumers and mediums has already happened, and agencies need to not just reflect this thinking, but be a part of that journey. Grey’s famously effective 100-year history in creative thinking combined with Autumn’s 13-year ‘young’ fervour to constantly unlearn and learn across data, creativity, and mediums creates a potent agency of the future,” said Shetty.

    The communique received from Grey doesn’t detail out how Shetty and Autumn will work with the team at Grey Group, India, but then it’s early days still.