WPP's GroupM on Tuesday announced the merger of two separate media agencies, Media Marketing Solutions and Maxus.
MMS's 30 employees will now become part of the New York office of
Maxus, which also has North American offices in Chicago, Atlanta, Toronto, and, most recently, Los Angeles.
Maxus began U.S. operations in January 2005 as a separate communications company. From
that point, the agency has attracted a network of clients, including Estee Lauder, Welch's, T. Rowe Price, and Church & Dwight Co. The agency was also recently awarded the global media assignment for
Palm, maker of the Palm Treo Smartphone.
MMS, meanwhile, boasts a client roster that includes Barnes & Noble, Vespa, Chubb, and the WNBA's New York Liberty.
"The merger of MMS into MAXUS
joins two GroupM units with tremendous growth potential," said Maxus president and CEO Carla Loffredo.
MMS was founded in 1995 as the SMNY Marketing Consulting Agency by Loretta Volpe, and was
sold to Young & Rubicam in 1999. It was acquired by WPP in 2000 when the holding company purchased Y&R and all its assets. In the agency's new configuration Volpe will remain at Maxus as chief
operating officer, reporting to Loffredo.
GroupM's units have been performing particularly well of late, generating an estimated $4.361 billion in net new billings during 2006.
Media
services such as planning and buying showed the greatest growth of all of WPP's service sectors during 2006, while digital media played an increasingly larger role within that mix, the holding company
reported earlier this year.
Along with Maxus and MMS, GroupM also includes media services operating units MediaCom, Mediaedge:cia, and MindShare.