WPP, WPP Scangroup’s parent company, will shed off 3,500 jobs worldwide due to market competition from digital disruptors including Facebook and Google.
According to Financial Times, the global advertising media giant that owns Ogilvy and J. Walter Thompson, among other agencies, will combine 100 offices and close 80 shops where business is slow.
On Tuesday WPP said that the restructuring would enable it to focus on four areas where it anticipates future growth. They include a commerce business that helps brands increase their presence on Amazon and Alibaba, experience-based marketing, marketing technology and its core traditional communications such as advertising and public relations.
“Each of these areas is critical to success for modern clients, and by bringing them together the company will better serve clients’ needs as they react to the changing marketplace, and expand WPP’s own business in high-growth sectors,” WPP said.
Kenyan faction, WPP Scangroup, registered Ksh196.4 million net profit for the six months of operations ending June 2018. It also saw customer billings drop by 6.8 per cent to Ksh6.3 billion during the period compared to last year.
WPP Scangroup acquired 70 per cent of Kantar TNS by receiving 3,660 shares, while Russell BV, Kantar TNS’ largest shareholder settled for 53.2 million shares, translating to 6.1 per cent of equivalent of a 6.1 per cent stake in WPP Scangroup.
It also owns Ogilvy & Mather Africa, SCANAD Africa, JWT and Grey EA. Others are Group M Africa, MediaCom Africa, Mindshare Africa, MEC Africa, H+K Strategies, Roundtrip, Squad Digital and Millward Brown.
A call to Bharat Thakrar, the company’s chief executive, went unanswered.
Globally, WPP’s shares have dipped by around 40 per cent in the past year. In the Tuesday statement, the media firm has announced it will spend £300m to restructure its businesses in the next three years as it anticipates to reap £275m in savings by 2021.
