• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, July 7, 2022

WPP announced its latest agency consolidation move today: the merger of design firms Design Bridge and Superunion.

The combination will be effective in January 2023 and resulting agency will be known as Design Bridge and Partners.

The move is part of a years-long effort by the holding company to simplify and streamline operations in part by combining agencies with complimentary capabilities. Other recent combinations include the creation of the AKQA Group which includes AKQA and Grey Advertising, EssenceMediacom, VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson. And last fall the firm created FGS Global by combining several PR agencies.

Superunion itself is the result of the 2018 merger of a handful of the holding company's design specialists.

John Morris, currently CEO of Design Bridge, will assume the role of CEO of the newly formed business and Jim Prior, currently CEO of Superunion, will serve as Chair.

Design Bridge focusses on consumer brands with clients including Diageo, Unilever, Mastercard and Fortnum & Mason. Superunion is known more for its expertise in corporate branding and brand experience work for clients such as NASA, Bank of America, Intel and the BBC.

WPP said the two agencies will continue to operate as separate entities until the end of the year as the structure and market-facing brands of the new company will be assessed and determined market by market. Additional leadership roles will be announced later.

WPP CEO Mark Read stated, “Design Bridge and Partners will be a leader in design and an important part of our simpler, future-facing client offer. Formed from two successful companies in Design Bridge and Superunion, it will create new growth opportunities both for our people and our clients.”