WPP names merged MEC-Maxus agency Wavemaker

The new agency to be created from the merger between MEC and Maxus will be named Wavemaker, WPP has announced – saying the name reflects the agency’s heritage, born from WPP and GroupM.

Tim Castree, who will act as global CEO, said of the new business: “Our purpose is to provide advertisers with the power to transform and grow their business through our purchase journey obsession; and importantly to do this through the integration of purchase journey insights and data with [m]PLATFORM, GroupM’s proprietary global audience technology.

“Our Wavemaker brand and positioning is a compelling manifestation of that purpose.”

In June GroupM, the investment arm of WPP, announced it was merging the global operations of its agencies MEC and Maxus, with Jason Dormieux taking on the role of UK CEO and reporting to Castree.

GroupM’s portfolio will now comprise three global media agency networks – Mindshare, MediaCom, and Wavemaker – each with more than one billion dollars in annual revenues.

Wavemaker, a brand name which is already a division of MEC, will have offices in 90 countries and over 8,500 employees. Clients include L’Oréal, Vodafone, Marriott, Colgate-Palmolive and Paramount.

The new brand, along with a new identity, will go live locally as the merger completes in each country, to be finalised by January 2018.