FOR
IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
10 September 2024
WPP plc
("WPP")
WPP acquires New Commercial
Arts
NCA joins Ogilvy to drive
further momentum in the UK
WPP today announces that it has
acquired New Commercial Arts (NCA), a leading independent creative
and customer experience agency. NCA will join Ogilvy's global
creative network to further accelerate the agency's momentum in the
UK market.
NCA was founded in 2020 by a team
including industry leaders James Murphy and David Golding and
became one of the fastest-growing agencies in the UK in 2023. Since
its inception, NCA has worked with local and global clients
including Sainsbury's, MoneySuperMarket, Vodafone, Nando's,
Paramount+, Alzheimer's Society and Cityfibre.
Murphy and Golding previously
founded Adam&Eve in 2008 and built it into one of the most
influential agencies to launch in the UK, with success on the
international stage. NCA employs approximately 90 people and is
currently based in Fitzrovia in London and Merchant City in
Glasgow, in partnership with the Glasgow School of Art.
Both Ogilvy UK and NCA will come
under the leadership of James Murphy as CEO Ogilvy Group UK. This
marks a return to Ogilvy for Murphy who began his career as a
graduate trainee with the agency.
Fiona Gordon, who has led a
resurgence for Ogilvy in the UK as CEO since 2021, has been
promoted to Global CEO of Advertising at Ogilvy. In this new role
Gordon will report to Ogilvy Global CEO Devika Bulchandani, working
closely with Global Chief Creative Officer Liz Taylor and Ogilvy's
Worldwide Creative Council.
Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: "NCA is one of the UK's most exciting new agencies with a
great team, an impressive roster of clients and a track record of
elevating beloved British brands. Its capabilities and client base
make NCA highly complementary to Ogilvy; bringing together these
two very successful agencies will drive growth both for our clients
and our own UK business."
James Murphy, co-founder and CEO of NCA and incoming CEO of
Ogilvy Group UK, said: "Ogilvy is
rightly recognised as the world's pre-eminent creative network, and
to be joining with the remit to unlock our collective potential in
the UK market is irresistible. For our team and
our clients this will be a game-changer in what we can bring to
their careers and their brands. Plugging into Ogilvy and WPP's
network will give us access to data and AI tools at scale through
WPP Open and to a broad set of Ogilvy capabilities that were simply
out of our reach as an independent - from influencer marketing, PR,
CRM, commerce and service design to business transformation and
brand innovation through Ogilvy Consulting."
Devika Bulchandani, Global CEO of Ogilvy,
said: "James, David and their
partners are pioneers in our industry. When they created New
Commercial Arts, they deliberately chose the word commercial
because growing our clients' brands and businesses is core to what
our industry does - an ethos mirrored in David Ogilvy's famous
words: 'We Sell, Or Else'. Fiona's stellar leadership has been
instrumental in propelling Ogilvy UK forward, playing a critical
role in the growth and momentum of our global network. I'm thrilled
that her impact will now be felt on a global stage."
Fiona Gordon, newly appointed Global CEO of Advertising at
Ogilvy, added: "I'm invigorated
every day by the boundless potential of creativity to not only
propel businesses forward but to leave an indelible mark on
culture. To have the opportunity to collaborate more closely with
Dev, Liz, and Ogilvy's Worldwide Creative Council to harness the
creative brilliance of our network on behalf of our clients is a
tremendous opportunity. In my new role I'm excited that the UK will
make a vital contribution as a key market."
Ogilvy UK ranked as the #1 agency in
the UK on WARC's 2024 Creative 100 list, the definitive benchmark
for creative success based on results from the most prestigious
global and regional industry competitions. The agency
currently has capabilities that span Advertising, Customer
Experience, PR & Influence, Health and Consulting. Ogilvy
Consulting was named in the Financial Times' 2024 list of the UK's
Leading Consultants for the seventh consecutive year and has been
recognised for its award-winning Behavioral Science practice, which
hosted the 12th annual Nudgestock event, the world's biggest
festival of behavioural science and creativity, in July. Most
recently, Ogilvy PR's Influence team was recognised as the Best
Large Influencer Marketing Agency at the Global Influencer
Marketing Awards. Ogilvy UK's clients include Unilever, Mondelēz,
Sainsbury's and F1; and it recently added Molson Coors to its
client portfolio.
Ogilvy was named the Network of the
Year at the 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
and was recognised by WARC as the World's #1 Creative Agency
Network (2020-2024) and Most Effective Creative Network in
consecutive years (2023, 2024).
Further information
WPP Communications
press@wpp.com
About WPP
WPP is the creative transformation
company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for
our people, planet, clients and communities. For more information,
visit wpp.com.
About Ogilvy
Ogilvy has been creating impact for
brands through iconic, culture-changing, value-driving ideas since
the company was founded by David Ogilvy 75 years ago. It builds on
that rich legacy through Borderless Creativity - innovating at the
intersections of its advertising, public relations, relationship
design, consulting, and health capabilities with experts
collaborating seamlessly across more than 120 offices spanning 90
countries. Ogilvy currently ranks as
the #1 global agency network for creative excellence and
effectiveness by WARC, signifying its ability to deliver creative
solutions that drive unreasonable impact for clients and
communities. Ogilvy is a WPP company. For more information,
visit ogilvy.com.
About NCA
New Commercial Arts is an agency
that unites brand and customer creativity, to make brands more
desirable and easier to buy. For more information visit
newcommercialarts.com.