WPP launches data company, Choreograph, to help clients realize the value of their first-party data

• The newly launched Choreograph brings together the specialist data units of GroupM and Wunderman Thompson into a single company with global reach, accessible to all WPP clients and companies.
• Choreograph aims to create market-leading tools to support its clients in the appropriate and responsible application of data in advertising.
• WPP said Choreograph’s role is to orchestrate and integrate data sets, including managing first-party data as a service, to expand audiences for growth, and to use data to optimise and improve media, creative and consumer experiences.

WPP has today launched Choreograph, a new global data company, to help clients realize the value of their first-party data, consult on and implement their data and technology strategies, and advise on privacy-first approaches to navigate the fast-changing data landscape. Choreograph brings together the specialist data units of GroupM and Wunderman Thompson into a single company with global reach, accessible to all WPP clients and companies.

Choreograph’s core belief is that marketers own their first-party data with consumer permission; respect for privacy and the intentional use of data is at the heart of its approach. Guided by this philosophy, Choreograph will continue to create market-leading tools to support clients in the appropriate and responsible application of data in advertising. Choreograph’s role is to orchestrate and integrate data sets, including managing first-party data as a service, to expand audiences for growth, and to use data to optimise and improve media, creative and consumer experiences.

The company will offer four key product categories – audience insights and planning; private identity solutions; AI-based media optimization; and predictive analytics – and services including strategy consultancy, custom technology development and data management operations.

Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: “We are at an inflection point in the industry, where brands have an imperative to leverage their own first-party data to make advertising more relevant, effective and personal while fully respecting consumer privacy. We must also use data to gain insights, shape our creative work and measure results – and this requires a holistic approach that this integrated offering brings by enabling data to flow across client, agency, and media owners. Uniting the powerful and established data units of GroupM and Wunderman Thompson into a single global data company is another important step in our simplification strategy.”

Choreograph builds on WPP’s extensive data and consultancy capabilities within its creative, media, PR and specialist agencies. Leveraging the common data and technology platform, WPP Open, Choreograph has a commitment to agnostic data partnerships, including cleanroom partners by market, creating unrivalled flexibility for clients.

Choreograph will operate as part of GroupM, with Kirk McDonald, the GroupM North America CEO, extending his remit to lead the new company. McDonald is joined by a seasoned data and technology leadership team from across WPP along with more than 700 technologists, product developers and data scientists. Choreograph works in partnership with the thousands of agency-embedded data and platform technology experts across the WPP network.

Walgreens Boots Alliance is a premier Choreograph launch client, as part of the selection of WPP as its global marketing and communications agency in 2020. “Choreograph delivers a unified identity-based approach, providing unique insights to fuel brand growth and power personalized experiences for our customers while fully respecting their privacy and preferences,” said Matt Harker, VP Global Marketing Strategy & Transformation, Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Christian Juhl, GroupM Global CEO, said: “Data management today should reflect the data and technology savvy of the consumer. Choreograph is built on common-sense principles that allow marketers to manage and use their data. Our framework of manage and earn, expand and enrich, and activate and optimize is flexible, modular and designed for the future of data-based businesses, enabling marketers to create better experiences, stronger brands and trusted customer relationships.”

The new company has the scale advantages of WPP, the world’s leading creative transformation company, and GroupM, the largest media investment company with an annual investment of over 60B USD. Choreograph launches in all major markets globally, with support hubs in Karlsruhe (Germany), Lille (France), London (U.K.), New Delhi (India), New York and San Francisco (U.S.), Shanghai (China) and Sydney (Australia).