Newsroom
Wunderman Reflects on 2010
by Wunderman
NEW YORK, March 7, 2011 — Driven by the mantra that all relationships are local Wunderman experienced an overall strong performance in 2010. Strong revenues and profits surpassed nearly every pre-economic crisis financial milestone. Asia and Latin America were hotbeds of activity, growing 47% and 30%, respectively. Partner companies like AGENDA, Blast Radius, Designkitchen and ZAAZ also excelled, validating Wunderman’s purposeful expansion and successful incorporation of their skills and resources.
Development in Asia
Asia serves as a microcosm of the Wunderman value proposition. Its strong foundation is rooted in four key accounts (Microsoft, Nokia, Ford and Colgate), which increasingly draw on the digital and analytics power of the network from KBM Group and ZAAZ. With the power of the network behind it, AGENDA won Disneyland, Gap and Pepsi in local Asian markets. Wunderman World Health, a new global service group, captured early traction in Japan, South Korea and China, that led to significant new business from Baxter, Pfizer, Guthy-Renker, and Sanofi. Wunderman also expanded by acquisition (Comwerks Interactive) and partnership with JWT in India.
Gifted & Talented
Wunderman’s global view of talent provides nimbleness to serve clients’ diverse global and local demands. Wunderman has a developed practice to track, manage and move talent—especially it’s most promising mid-level managers. The result is 80% of its top leaders have been in place for more than five years. In 2010 alone, 100+ people advanced their careers and Wunderman’s business through international assignments. Wunderman put its own twist on the search for new talent through Wunderman Zed Academy. This new take on apprenticeship taps into the world’s best design and digital marketing schools for the next generation of digital talent.
Media Acknowledgment
As a mark of its stature as a powerful global network, Advertising Age ranked Wunderman the world’s largest marketing services agency. In 2010 Wunderman’s presence grew to 142 offices in 59 countries, enabling us to execute everywhere and lending further credence to this mantra.
Advertising Age also ranked Wunderman number two on its 2010 A-List of “Stand-Out” agencies, citing new business from AARP, CVS Caremark, Tommy Hilfiger, Best Buy, Lilly, Cisco and Kodak, ever growing relationships with existing accounts (Microsoft, Nokia, Burger King, Sears and Citibank) and digital prowess as reasons for our strong showing. Senior creative talent was also recognized in Australia by Campaign Asia-Pacific (Best Digital Creative), in the U.K. by Campaign (Top 10 CD list) and in Austria by Horizont, which ranked Wunderman in its top 10 Advertising Agency list.
Analyze This
Analytics remains at Wunderman’s core, especially as its all relationships are local mantra gains relevancy. KBM Group, with presence in 21 countries, significantly expanded. Global clients like Microsoft and Nokia are leveraging its innovative Tagging Services Center, which creates and tracks tags across bought, owned and earned media. Acquisitions further broadened its service offering: I-Behavior’s predictive analytics and SKU-level purchase transaction data optimize performance across all channels; and, Marketing Direct Inc. deepens existing healthcare expertise. The results were recognized as KBM Group was ranked a leader in The Forrester Wave™: U.S. Database Marketing Service Providers, Q1 2011 with the highest scores in both corporate and global strategy.
A Lasting Gift
Wunderman’s founder and industry legend, Lester Wunderman, is still active in the company, meeting with both colleagues and clients every day. Mr. Wunderman marked 2010 with the opening of the Wunderman Archives at Duke University: a donation of documents and material compiled from the agency’s 50+ year history. The Wunderman Achives will provide researchers and students with a wealth of information on the industry from its earliest days to the present. Remarked Wunderman’s Chairman and CEO Daniel Morel on Lester Wunderman: “Lester serves as a reminder of the strength of vision and courage of conviction that are vital to be successful in our industry.”
