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. Dell’s advertising and marketing business had been spread among 800 firms worldwide. The new agreement will allow the company’s partner to spend 100% of its time thinking about customers, rather than how it will get the next assignment, said Casey Jones, Dell VP/global brand marketing."Dell has made world-changing advances in the management of the supply chain. We are now applying that same discipline to our marketing," he said in an interview. "We are making a mutual investment in people, processes and technology to provide greater continuity of the Dell brand globally. And we will operate together as one marketing and communications team."
The Dell agency, which will be given its own name, will handle creative, planning CRM and PR. Buying duties will handled separately, to continue to allow Dell to take advantage of a buying agency that has negotiation clout with many large media budgets. We assume WPP’s GroupM would be a consideration when that decision is made, right?
