Phil Cowdell, WPP’s Global Media Director and International Ford Media Team Leader, commented about the news this week that Dell has selected WPP Group to create a new 1,000-person strong marketing agency that would handle 4.5 billion in Dell accounts over three years (1.5 per year), beating out a seven-month “review” shootout with IPG. Cowdell was very involved in the pitch: “We have really enjoyed working through the pitch process with the Dell team—it’s been very stimulating and provocative. We are honored to be appointed and are excited about now transitioning from concept to reality. They are great partners and its going to be both groundbreaking, effective and fun.”
Cowdell also notes WPP’s GroupM does indeed get the media portion as well: “All advertising, media, digital, CRM, etc. is included–one winner gets all and we will be launching a new agency brand within the WPP family for this. It will be a full service marketing services agency including analytics and consulting-type functions…not another version of a traditional ad agency.”
