Direct/Digital Comprise Nearly A Quarter Of WPP Revenues

  • by August 20, 2007
Digital and direct services accounted for $1.3 billion--or 23%--of WPP Group's revenues in the first half of 2007, and Chief Executive Sir Martin Sorrell said he'd like the share to increase to a third of all revenues. Working toward that goal, of course, WPP recently acquired 24/7 Real Media.

To arrive at the $1.3 billion/23% figure, Sorrell used what he termed a "wide definition" of digital and interactive services that includes total revenue coming into the group's Direct/Digital Networks from all sources, rather than just direct.

WPP's Direct/Digital Networks -- which include Ogilvy One, Wunderman, rmg:connect and G2 -- thus had revenues of $997 million, or 18% of total WPP revenues, as opposed to $284 million, or 5% under the narrower formula.

The remainder of WPP's digital revenues came from Information, Insight & Consulting companies (Millward Brown, RI and Lightspeed) with $170 million, Group M with $113 million, and other sources with $54 million.

One area not included, even in the "wide definition," was public relations -- which Sorrell noted is "one of our highest growth areas," helped along by the growth of social networks that "have reconfirmed the power of editorial publicity over paid-for publicity."

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