• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, February 1, 2012

WPP has launched a new shopper marketing initiative that the holding company says makes it easier for clients to harness the tools, specialists and agencies that the firm devotes to the discipline worldwide.

The new offering, dubbed The Shopper Marketing Store, is being managed by WPP’s global retail practice, called The Store, which is run out of Chicago and London. The operation has two CEOs, including Chicago-based Gwen Morrison, who oversees the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and neighboring Pacific islands, and London-based David Roth. who oversees Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Shopper marketing encompasses a wide variety of different capabilities and consumer touchpoints, including shopper research and insights, store design, customer relationship management, in-store communications, packaging and e-commerce. 

As client demand has grown, agencies are paying more attention to retail and shopper marketing disciplines. A recent study by the Grocery Manufacturers Association estimates that shopper marketing across the retail sector is now a $50 billion to $60 billion category, up from an estimated $35 billion in 2009.

The new WPP service brings together the resources of 15 of the holding company’s agencies around the world that specialize in this sector, accessed by a single Web site.  The service also offers an online dashboard that clients can use to create customized solutions tailored to their own specific needs. Roth and Carl Hartman, head of shopper marketing at The Store, will serve as the primary go-to executives.

Client Kimberly-Clark, the fast-moving consumer goods giant, has bought into the new service. Don Quigley, president, consumer sales for Kimberly- Clark, stated it was "critical" for the company to secure "more integrated strategies and flawless execution for both brand and retail."

“Kimberly-Clark wanted deep, category-changing insights that actually make it into their activation plans,” added Hartman, who is also global client lead for the WPP Kimberly Clark account.

The WPP specialist companies collaborating in The Shopper Marketing Store are The Brand Union, Fitch, The Futures Company, G2, JWT Retail, Kantar Retail, Landor, Lunchbox, OgilvyAction, Rockfish, Shopper2Buyer, The Smollan Group, TNS, Wunderman and Y&R Retail.