WPP merges Grey and Ogilvy Paris

WPP, the British holding company, has joined two of its creative forces in France. Grey Paris will merge with Ogilvy Paris and from July, Grey's team will work at Ogilvy’s Paris office on Rue Marbeuf.

The two agencies will keep their brands after this merger which, by the way, is one of the biggest ones this year and comes a short while after Deloitte's Andy Main was announced the successor to John Siefert as Ogilvy's new global CEO.

PRovoke Media quoted Matthieu Elkaim, co-president, Ogilvy France, “We are very pleased to join forces with Grey's network with which Ogilvy has always had a great deal in common. We look forward to welcoming Romain and Régis, who we know well. We share their entrepreneurial spirit acquired over the last few years at Grey; a value we are keen to inspire at Ogilvy.”

WPP France country manager Mathieu Morgensztern added: “This partnership perfectly illustrates the strength of the WPP model which, through its agility, allows us to imagine solutions to meet the current challenges brands are facing. This type of alliance is already at work in other countries. These alliances have proven their effectiveness. I wish the Grey teams every success in this new chapter of their history.”

The report also mentioned the difficulties British and American agency holding companies have sometimes faced against the local groups Publicis and Havas in France.

The last big agency merger was seen in 2018 when WPP merged Wunderman and J. Walter Thompson - to form Wunderman Thompson, a creative, data and technology agency.